Hi guys, long time reader first time poster!
Wow where to begin, im 30 and am married (wife also 30) and until this year we have never had time, money ect to travel. SO we finanly save up and go to Thailand, great first overseas experience, told by so many it was the perfect place for the newbie traveller and really enjoyed it.
1 Problem, bitten by the travel bug.......ahh get me on a plane now!!!!!
ok so i have plans for Germany travel March 2010. the background to my short story here is that my grandfather was German. Born in Germany, came to Australia in the 50%26#39;s had 3 kids and then got homesick and wanted to go home. Unfortunatly his wife (my grandmother) did not wish to go there so he went home alone. He visited Austarlia again in 1982 (when i was 4) and sadly he died very young in 1985. My mother had kept contact with his family for the first few years and his brother visited australia in 1988. from there ties were lost over time and contacts gone. over the last 18 months beoming more interested about my heritige I after months of searching found his brother and have since been writing many letters and emails to an array of family members in Germany.
Ok so thats the story heres the plan. As harsh as it may sound these relitives arent getting any younger and will never be making the trip out to Australia, so im going there, I have scoured the net for months and found a deal only this week that i am sure to book its a bit of a hike (via tokyo) but they are doing it for $1289 return inc taxes much much cheaper than direct $2000+.
so thats it were going. now it gets tricky, i only have 16 nights in europe. I will be arriving in Frankfurt and then quick flight to Berlin. they will be coming from Rheinland i think and others from neukoln (where my grandfather lived)
I guess other than the reunion we need to cram as much into our time as possible. we are pretty stereo typical so its a trip to the Brandenburg gate, check point charle, the berlin wall you know all the stuff you think of when you think of Germany. then its hopefully a weekend in London or Paris (or if we are really on time both) in those cities it is again major attraciotns like buckingham palace, london eye, effiel tower you know things you would relate to these places. A more indepth longer trip is planned for possible 2011/12 which is when we would have the luxury to discover europes hidden treassures so i guess in a round about way its these questions.
What are the must sees. BER, LON, PAR ?
Can we get really cheap flights between these cities once we are there or better if we organiase before we leave
cost for 3 stars hotels in these cities on average, i dont think (or hope) we want to be in the hotel too much, would rather be seeing things.
weather in march? any snow??? (never seen snow in my life!!!)
money saving ideas in europe, i think i am going to be shocked going from visiting thailand and living like a king on the coversion rate to living like a penny pincher on the euro so any help there would be fantastic.
whats the go with going to countires like uk and france do i need to do the whole customes thing again or is it more like a domestic flight Melbourne to Sydney minimal baggage, get on get off or is it checked bag for bag ect again with the early ealy check in times.
any help very very thankful
sorry so long very excited but have no clue :-)
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12 days would be just enough to scratch a bit on the surface of Germany. If you squeeze in London and Paris this will get hectic. And these places are considerably more expensive than Berlin.
You could travel from Frankfurt through the Rhineland to Berlin.
http://www.welterbe-mittelrheintal.de/
www.koeln.nicecity.de/english/index.htm
On this route you could also include a visit to the Harz mountains. Here a video from April 2006
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKg2N4D9tWc
(no guarantee that there will be that much snow)
Harzbahn is however always cute
www.hsb-wr.de/hsb_barrierefrei/hsb/hsb_e.htm
Like some of the small towns there
http://www.quedlinburg.de
http://www.wernigerode.de
http://www.goslar.de
Neukölln is a district/locality of Berlin
…wikipedia.org/wiki/…29
%26gt; whats the go with going to countires like uk and france do i need to do the whole customes thing again
UK is also in the EU (a customs union) - thus no customs if coming from Germany only immigration
France is in the EU and in Schengen (a treaty for free movement of people). Basically like to travel from one Australian state to another one.
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For Berlin I was there in April and it was SNOWING!!! But it was so pretty I really didn%26#39;t mind it. Actually it only snowed for half a day then the sun came out and we were just in sweatshirts so I would pack for both cold and nice.
As far as sightseeing I loved the Pergamom Museum, it was amazing to see the original Ishtar gate, the colorful and beautiful old walls of the city with mosaics of lions, some strange animals and palm trees (actually I think these came from old Babylon). But the temple of Pergamom was taken block by block and reconstructed in the museum. The artwork in the statuary the entryway of the altar is some of the best craftsmanship you will find anywhere,
Also in Berlin I never miss visiting Fassbender %26amp; Rausch Chocolate Shop. Oh my gosh, it is absolutely the best chocolate anywhere in Europe. Its filled with every kind of chocolate imaginable and during holiday times they will have floor to ceiling chocolate statues that make you drool. I love the Easter bunny. I especially enjoyed the champagne cream filled bon bons and the cappucino is really good too. Here is their address:
Fassbender %26amp; Rausch
Chocolatiers am Gendarmenmarkt
Charlottenstraße 60,
10117 Berlin-Mitte
Tel.: 030 20458440
The other thing not to be missed while visiting Berlin is take the short trip to Potsdam to see Sans Soucci. It has the feel of visiting Versailles. Large gardens filled with alcoves of beautiful architecture, and leisurly walks. The palace has a room that is just amazing, its made from seashells! It has a heavy oriental influence and it really is stunning!
I actaully found some very good information that I could print off and take with me at http://strictlyeurope.com/travelguides.html
In Paris our fav%26#39;s are Saint Chapelle Church, it has the best stained glass in Paris. (our opinion)
But the inside is decorated in a Morroccan style that is georgeous with its arched decor and marble columns. The ceiling is blue with yellowish stars and is very decorative also. The best time to visit is at sunset, the colors that come through the stained glass is stunning.
We also enjoy walking the old Road to Rome with all its cafe%26#39;s and tiny shops. There is even an ancient coliseum you can walk around from there.
And, of course we love Sacre Coeur, not only is it on the only hill in Paris and has great views of the city, but the Church is very nice and downstairs has some interesting artifacts. We love to walk from the top of the hill down to Mont Matre, there is so much Parisian flair. The artisan square has many artists selling their works and some are very unique but worth a look. Beware of the cafe%26#39;s that line the square....we sat and ordered a beer, we about fell over when we got the bill...it was 50Euro!!!!! We now have stories that crack up our friends over the price we paid for living the life of the rich and famous. Ha!
Don%26#39;t miss Versailles, that%26#39;s a must see. The Queens farm is like a fairytale. Pretty and relaxing. We enjoy just walking around the gardens and finding secret alcoves with interesting statues, ponds, and hidden restaurants.
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Why go to Berlin at all, unless you need to be in Capital for some reason, it%26#39;s not as nice or interesting.
Your folks are from the Rhineland so I would stay in that area, the Middle Rheintal and the Mosel area are very pretty.
Paris and London are 1 hour flight time away. That%26#39;s easy to do. Check low cost airline Ryanair flying from Hahn airport or check the german rail to get a high speed train to Paris. Your relatives can guide you.
May would be a great time to travel, March can be dull, sorry.
Go to the Paris and London forum for things to do there.
http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en
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It%26#39;s pretty good advice to leave London %26amp; Paris for a future trip. There%26#39;s a lot to do and see in Germany and in Berlin in particular. But I understand the motivation to see as much as possible when the flight to get here is so long.
Winters here in Berlin aren%26#39;t that snowy, and it%26#39;s unpredictable when you might get some snow that%26#39;ll actually stick. February is the darkest, coldest, deep-freeze time and personally I try to be in Thailand the entire month. I always hope that winter%26#39;s back will be broken when I get back in March (I grew up buried in snow; it%26#39;s no novelty). But often we come back to a few more weeks of winter, ice and snow or sleet, or cold rain. I must say it IS cool here when the lakes are frozen solid. A rare occurence in recent years.
There are some fairly nice hotels here for 80-odd euros a night per room.
http://www.whichbudget.com will tell you which low-cost airlines fly between various cities. Book as soon as you can nail down your timings for the best rates. Berlin has two airports: Tegel (TXL) and Schoenfeld (SFX). Many budget airlines fly into Schoenefeld, but Air Berlin (one of the best) serves Tegel.
Within the Schengen union, (including France and Spain) you no longer even have to show a passport anymore when you land, like going from one state to another in Oz. But the UK isn%26#39;t part of Schengen so there is passport control, but no customs.
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mmmmmmmmmmmm chocolate sounds fantastic
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I have just returned from Belin, London etc doing what you plan. I crammed it all into 17 days. We stayed in a Hotel on Ziegelstraße but right next door was the Baxpax Backpackers - see website it has double rooms as well as studio apartments at very reasonable prices. I used to go there every day for the internet.
http://www.baxpax.de/downtown/de/home/
We walked everywhere from this area, didn%26#39;t use any public transport. Heaps of cheap eateries close by. We did Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, Reichstag, Museum Island, Holocaust Museum, and heaps more. We were on the streets by 8.30am and stayed out until 10pm, so put in really full days, not for everyone but we managed (60 yr %26amp; 28 yr old). The bus from Tegel airport was about 2.10 euro. We flew BA London return for $328 but I didn%26#39;t check out the cheaper airlines so don%26#39;t know if this rate was reasonable. In London we stayed on Gower Street, lots of cheap hotels along this strip and easy walking distance to Covent Gardens, Trafalgar Sq, Piccadilly etc. Bus fare was 3.80 GBP daily ticket.
From London we went on the Eurostar to Paris for the day at 59 GBP return.
Also took a train from Berlin to Warsaw for 2 nights at $138 return 1st class. All of our hotels included full breakfast,so we ate up and that kept us going for a good part of the day. Had a light snack for lunch. In Trafalgar Sq you can get a really great filling hot meal (2 course specials) in the Cafe in the Crypt of St Martins in the Field Church
Hope this helps some what
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Yes thanks all this info helps.
I have now booked the main part beig flights aust to germany and back. have bee able to stretch it tio 15 nights so still not long but a few days longer than i had said.
going quickie trips to LON and PAR but have yet to organise. You mentioned something about getting to Paris, was that a ferry or someting (not a flight) if so how much was that, and more importantly how long did it take?
From here on i suppose what are the attractions, sights i should be aiming for (sterotypical remember) for ths trip to Germany Francne and London?
i have
Germany
Brandenburg gate
checkpoint charlie
Reichstag
berlin wall
London
Buckingham palace
London eye
Big ben
France
Eiffel tower
louvre
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The Eurostar is a train, going through the Channel Tunnel, that takes 2 hours and 20 minutes from London St. Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord.
http://www.eurostar.com/
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I am going to Berlin, London and Paris next May and have looked into prices to get around. You fly on Easyjet between Berlin and Paris quite inexpensively. Hope this helps
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hey Ash,
Your post is really good and entertaining as we feel the same about travel (once bitten), so I thought i would just put in a couple of extra things for you. We used www.easyjet.com for cheap flights in europe- if you can%26#39;t get to either London or Paris from were you are then as another poster suggested ryanair will get you there. Both have excellent prices. We are going back to Paris again for 2 wks (Germany is 2-3wks of our next trip) and if you have limited time I would suggest ditch the Louvre (only cause it is so big and requires alot of time) and do museum D%26#39;Orsay instead, this was my favourite out of the two and has artists such as Monet and other famous painters. It is in an old train station which makes it really interesting. Around the corner from there you could even fit in Hôtel des Invalides/Napoleon%26#39;s Tomb and then walk towards the Eiffel tower or visa versa. The Eiffel tower is fantastic during the day and spectacular at nite when it also twinkles for about 10mins on every hour- if you did this at night you probably could even fit in a Seine Cruise after seeing the Eiffel Tower. If you have 2 days I would then look at say Arc De Triomphe which is on the same line as the Louvre and then go on to the louvre. Hope this helps and definitely Post when you have been to germany as would love to see what you have to say.
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