Europe holiday ideas please?

[Shodan]

We've decided to do a week in Europe this summer. Ds1 has chosen Berlin as one port of call, but I think we only need 3 days or so there.

There's so many places I'd like to visit but need to be realistic.

The plan ( very vague so far) is: fly to Berlin. Spend three days there. Then take a train somewhere else (or even two somewhere elses!) and fly back to the UK from there.

Where would you recommend? It could be anything- beach/city/countryside/mountains. We generally like to 'do' things- but that could include walking/hiking, visiting monuments/castles/museums/theme parks... you can probably tell why I'm having difficulty narrowing it down.

No small children- my sons are 27 and 15.

Anyone got any fab ideas to help narrow my search down??

I just didn't like the atmosphere there. It felt cold and preserved.

Other people like it, but that's how I've felt every time I've been there.

Budapest, on the other hand, is absolutely spectacular !

I quite fancied the sleeper to Vienna- but I also fancy Zurich. And also the Black Forest

I'd ditch Zurich and get off the train at Freiburg i Br... for the Blackforrest.
If you do your research, you'll find that the area has something called Konuskarte... choose accommodation with this little perk (€1.50 pp/ day Kurtaxe) and you have acess to local public transport plus some discounts for attractions.

Another vote for staying in northern Germany and looking at the Baltic coast, Lubeck and maybe going across to Hamburg. You could also get to Malmø/Copenhagen fairly easily, especially if you like the idea of the night train.

Sylt was mentioned upthread, but that island is on the Atlantic west coast (not the Baltic) and is hugely expensive - it is where the millionaires and "Schicki Micki" go to see and be seen. But - it is right on the Danish border, so hopping over to Denmark gives you the equally beautiful islands of Rømø and Fanø for half the price.

I'd drive - ferry then visit Cologne, Berlin, Munich, Heidelberg, Aachen and back to Calais for the ferry

Check out man in seat61 for train ideas. You could do sleeper to Berlin.

@gogohmm that's a lot of driving!

I'll have a look at man in seat 61, thank you.

At the moment we have 2 votes for Vienna, 2 votes for Budapest. The sleeper train from Berlin was voted a yes too😃

I wouldn’t do Berlin to Budapest in one trip, you will waste so much time travelling between the two. Leave Budapest for another trip, you can easily spend a whole week in Budapest or combine with lake Balaton.

Berlin to Budapest by train is a 12-14hr journey. It’s miles away

Berlin to Budapest

Depart Berlin Hbf at 18:52 and arrive at Budapest Nyugati 08:29 the next morning...

We just got back from Budapest, it was nice enough, but lots of cities I prefer including Berlin. They were renovating a building in the castle District, they were just building it from scratch to look like a building that used to be there! It's like Disney rather than renovation. Lots of nice restaurants and bars though. Definitely wouldn't travel 14 hours in the middle of a week long holiday to get there when you can fly in a couple of hours from the UK.
I also enjoyed Munich and the blackforest area, stay in Germany!

For a future trip if your DC enjoy history Krakow is a great long weekend, the salt mines, the Jewish quarter, the museums and of course Auschwitz

Sylt is in the North Sea, not the Atlantic!

@RewildingAmbridge The DC have already mentioned Auschwitz actually- although ds1 has already been. They're both very keen to go- but it's ds1's girlfriend's first trip with us and she looked slightly apprehensive so I discounted it.

I hear what you're saying about Budapest though.

@Caspianberg I wouldn't normally consider such a long trip during a one week jaunt, but....SLEEPER TRAIN!!!!!!!😂

Sylt is in the North Sea, not the Atlantic!

Acknowledged. The point was that it is not one of the Baltic islands, but is on the opposite side of the Schleswig/Jutland peninsula

It's also quite civilised for a sleeper. You don't arrive at stupid o'clock in the morning, and you've got plenty of time to linger in the restaurant car and enjoy the countryside until the sun goes down!

Cc