Central Europe, 2010

So how did that crazy-looking itinerary you see in the map at the top of the page come to be? It was the result of a common European trip planning affliction known as the "As long as we are already this close we might as well also see..." syndrome. To begin with, we wanted to delay going to Italy for another year or two so that the children would be a little older and even more likely to remember it in detail. Since we had already been to France and Switzerland the year before, it seemed like Germany was a logical country to focus on next. But we thought it would be fun to see some of the places near Germany as well and not focus on it as exclusively as we did France. This makes sense both historically and culturally as the area's borders were constantly in flux in centuries past.

The particular spelling of our oldest daughter's name - Anneliese - came from a newspaper story we read about Anne Frank years ago. So we definitely had to spend a couple of days in Amsterdam, both to see the amazing city and the Anne Frank house in particular. It is also an airport served by IcelandAir, so we decided to begin our trip by flying into Amsterdam. Naturally, as long as we were in that corner of mainland Europe, we might as well swing through Belgium and Luxembourg as well and get the full "Benelux" experience.

In reading about Germany, it became apparent that the highlights we wanted to see were located between the Rhine & Mosel rivers in the west and Munich in the south, connected by the "Romanic Road" and the photogenic Neuschwanstein castle in Bavaria. We felt awkward about not including Berlin, but is was not near anything else we wanted to see and while it's history would resonate with the adults, I'm not sure how well the children would appreciate the significance of the city.

Since the Neuschwanstein castle is only a 2-hour drive from Liechtenstein, we had to plan a day-trip there. I know it's silly, since there is little of note to see. But it's a pretty drive through the alps and I can still remember being about 10 years old, pouring over maps, and being struck by those two tiny countries in Europe with the funny names that both started with "L". Austria is right there, just over the mountains, and our family has seen The Sound Of Music numerous times, so we had to visit Salzburg.

The sensible thing at this point would have been to hop up to Munich next and fly home from there (also served by IcelandAir in a convenient "open-jaw" flight plan), making a perfectly nice 3-week trip. Being a music person though, how could I not go to Vienna? Once that far to the east, I couldn't help but wonder what else was nearby.

On a whim, I picked up a guide book on Budapest from the library one day months ago (knowing absolutely nothing about it before this) and was blown away by what I read. I had to see this city. This opened the doors to what used to be considered Eastern Europe (now more likely to be called Central Europe). The magic of overnight train travel meant that we could stay up late on our last night in Budapest and wake up early in Krakow to see Poland's most elegant city. While there, we will be able to visit Auschwitz/Birkenau and connect the Nazi sights we will see in Germany with the end result for the Jewish people. Another overnight train will get us into Prague for a visit, and back in the right direction to return home. A short stop in the rural Czech town of Cesky Krumlov will give us a chance to canoe and decompress from all the city experiences. Then we return to Munich for our flight home.

This is the most transitions we have done from one place to another and would be absurd on a three, or even four week trip. But we were able to take advantage of good prices on airfare, lodging (many hostels and low-cost B&B's), and cheaper food, to afford to extend the trip to five weeks. We have managed to mitigate the fact that we will sleep in so many different places by never staying just one night in any location. We have one 5-night cottage rental, another 4-night stay and several threes & twos. It will be a challenge compared with our relatively sedate stay in France. But it will also be good to change things up a little and not allow two trips to ever look the same.

So here is the itinerary in full;

• 3 nights & 2 1/2 days in Amsterdam, train to Cologne, Germany to see the cathedral and pick up our car.
• Quick stop in Brussles, 2 nights & 1 full day in Bruges, Belgium.
• Quick stop in Luxembourg City, 3 nights and 2 full days in Bacharach, Germany to see the Rhine and Mosel river valleys.
• 2 nights in Rothenburg with the day between spent in Nürnberg
• 5 nights in Füssen to see the castles, hike and relax
• 2 nights in Salzburg & nearby. Return car & start taking trains.
• Quick stop to see the abbey in Melk, then 3 nights and 2 1/2 days in Vienna
• Quick stop in Bratislava, then 4 nights in Budapest with a day trip to Eger
• (night train) 2 nights and 3 full days in Krakow
• (night train) 2 nights and 2 1/2 days in Prague
• 2 nights and 1 1/2 days in Cesky Krumlov
• 2 nights and 2 full days in Munich

The sheer number of stops suggests too busy a schedule, but staying multiple nights in each place makes it much more plausible, I think....I hope....