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Dear Brave and Adventurous people !
The following is how I planned out my trip to Europe. I used the Rick Steves website and guidebooks for basic information. Since I had been to Europe (and India in 98), I had a bit of experience to go on this time.
I flew to Rome with my Delta sky miles and stayed at the Alder/Bellsuite hotel. It was excellent and in a good central location. When you arrive at the Rome airport just go down to the rail station, purchase a ticket and ride into Rome. From the main station go to Pzzia Republic and then left down National street. The next day I took the on / off tour (you can find them back at the bus station which is beside the train station) just for an orientation. I went around the circuit twice so that I could catch most of the commentary. The next day I made plans to go to places that the bus doesn't go. The Treviso fountains, Pantheon, etc.
I took the train back to the Rome airport and then flew to Vienna. I think next time I will just buy a euro rail pass. It's just alot of hassle going through the airport security. But anyway, I stayed in the old town Vienna at Hotel Schweizerhof. Again a great place and location but it was a challenge to find. Again, you need to take the express train from the airport to the city center. I took the on/off tour and then stopped at different places the next day. The best place for lunch was in the Mozart gardens. There is a terrace resturant that overlooks part of the gardens. I wish I had planned for more time in Vienna. I didn't get a chance to go to the museums or tour the Opera house... well something to do next time. Also the Vienna orchestra takes a summer break in August so plan accordingly.
Then I went back to the Vienna airport to pick up the rental car. I have to say I did pretty good for not being able to read any of the road signs. I did get confused trying to get on the autobhan out of Vienna but once out I did fine. Here's another Tricia Travel tip: You only get ONE chance at an exit because there will only be ONE sign for it. I just followed the sign to each town as I went along. Along the Melk to Turrin area is just amazing. Lots of vineyards and small towns along the river. But do make reservations ahead of time because I almost got stuck without a room. Also be sure to ask what kind of gas the car takes (disel or unleaded)and be sure NOT to cross the border. I stayed at the Hotel Post in Groller kg . It was a wonderful hotel across the road from an alpine lake.
After the Danube I drove down the (or up ... as the case may be) to the alpine lakes just southeast of Salzburg. That was very beautiful. Besure to drive during the day to take in the scenery. I stopped in Halstatt that night. The best shopping was in Halstatt because it was mostly local handicrafts. The town looked like something from a movie set. Very clean and picureisque. The next day it rained as I drove towards Salzburg. It was tough finding a room their because of the festival going on. I didn't think it would be quite that hard but I really had to check lots of places for a room. In Halstatt I booked a room through the tourist info place. I stayed on the lake at Gasthof Simony. My room was on the top floor (lots of stairs) but it was worth it for the view.
THe next evening I stayed outside Salzburg and rode the bus to town. I stayed at Hotel Unterberg. It was located next to the cable car lift that takes you up into the mountains. Good location. I didn't care for the hour bus ride. The hotel was very nice for the price 64 Euro. But the front desk wasn't helpful nor friendly.
I did find a room finally next Residenceplazt( near Mozartplaz) Which again, can't beat that location. I dropped the car off at the Salzburg airport and took a taxi to town. It was easier than the train and the same price. I stayed at Hotel Am Don. I went to the ticket off which is in Mozartplaz (the tourist info is a seperate but a great place to go to too). I got lucky and scored a ticket to the Salzburg festival... they usually sell out of tickets in Jan for events. I had to hurry around and find something nice to wear and I was glad I did. It was a very swanky event. Although Salzburg wasn't cheap I kept hunting and found a dress and shaw. I took Bob's sound of music tour and that was excellent. They also take you to the Luge ride. The next day there were no tickets available for the festival but I did go to a concert in the church beside the Mirbelle gardens. It was flute and piano. excellent ! I was going to go on Maria's bike tours (which meets at the mirbelle gardens ) but I was just too beat.
The next day I bought a ticket to Germany via train
For myself personally I was just in Germany to train my recently promoted assistant to staff photographer. So I only toured the immediate area where she lived. Which I have to say was very beautiful. See my website for portraits in Europe to be posted by Dec 08 http://destin-beach-portraits.com
We then decided to drive to Paris. Which I have to say the GPS (called TomTom) was very handy. I will definitly get one next time with a rental car. It gives you a map and verbal instructions. I didn't realize how many toll road there were to Paris. Where I live in the south we don't have very many of those. We did get stuck in the wrong toll booth once but then we figured out that it took credit cards. We drove to Versailles and stayed at Cheval Rouge. The GPS found it for us.
Then it was hard to figure out parking her car in Versailles the next day. We had planned to take the train to Paris but ... also the parking was expensive. So we drove into Paris and the parking was even worse. But we found a space and then
TT tip : parking is free on Sunday in Paris (that's what the front desk lady said)
We stayed at Grand Leveque on Rue Cler . Wonderful place.
In Versailles we bought the museum pass which was great because we could skip the ticket line.
At the Eifel Tower the light show comes on late in the summer. 11pm, 12midnight and 1am.
I took the Big Fat bikes tour and it was great. I did the day and night ride. At night we got to ride around the Louve... there was a cello playing and it made it hauntly errie. !!!
The latin quarter was the place to be at night.
You can't rent a bike with an American credit card. You have to have a European one with a chip in it.
It's not worth getting a week's subway pass because they expire every Sunday. Unless you are there on Monday and plan to stay for the week.
From Paris I took a Ryan air flight to Dublin. But I wish I had taken the train. It's a long ways out to the Beavuis airport and you have to leave 3 hours early for the flight. But it was a good flight.
In Dublin, I did the hop on and off tour. I would take the one with the driver who narrates the tour.. while driving. That was the best hop on/off tour I've been on. Very funny. I stayed at Arlington Hotel but I think next time I would recommend Oliver St. Gregory's place. It's in Temple Bar and upstairs is Irish music every night. You also don't have to walk to far for shopping and food. I bought some very beautiful Irish sweaters too. I also took the same company's Malhide tour. Malhide is an 800 year old castle north of Dublin. It was nice to get out into the countryside.
Also everyone should go on the Musical Pub crawl tour. That was the highlight of the trip !
Then I flew to London on Ryan air. Good flight but Stanstead is so far away. I took the train to the grand central station and then the tube to Victoria Station. That was pretty easy. I stayed at Cherry Court B &B. Excellent location to the tube and for flying out of Gatwick. I did the on off tour to see the highlights. Everything is very spread out in London and walking was well.. very long. But the tube is quite expensive. I think the next time unless I'm planning on staying in England longer I'll just do a day trip there. They are not on the euro nor on the eurorail system.
I flew out of Gatwick (which was a real pain) on to Switzerland. I landed in Geneva. And I just took a direct train to Zurick and stayed there two nights and then flew home. I did the greyline tour (which was the best one there) They did a trolley ride and then my ticket included a train trip into the mountains... The Top of Zurick. There's also a hotel up there. Lets see I'll have to look up where I stayed at there. In Zurick I stayed at hotel iPR group. Division iPR house. It was actually a very nice place. I wish I had my own bathroom there but otherwise it was close to everything. There were shops and eateries. I would like to have had time to take the choclate train and shopped in the old town. But it was time to go home.
I did this whole trip on my own except for the week in Germany and the weekend in Paris. I had a blast and if I can do it so can you. There's no need to wait for someone to go with you. And besides, you can do what you want, when you want to do it... or change your mind !
Tricia
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