Stoked!

[brice618]

I just got my ticket to Berlin for a couple weeks of traveling.

Mostly this thread is just me being stoked, but if anyone has any advice, places to see, things to eat, rocks to climb, that would be awesome.

I'm going to get a Eurail pass for Germany, France, Switzerland, and Italy. I have 14 days before I will be in Italy for June doing some studies.

Er, thats all I got, just stoked.
Brice

[skinny_kid]

Sorry about the short response but my internet quit on me in the middle of my first response so I'm going to speed this one up.

If you can, I would hit up Interlaken Switzerland. I went last may and had an awesome time. My buddy and I stayed at Balmer's Herberge in the town www.balmers.com . It has two daily happy hours which consists of a pretty good local beer, a bar, full kitchen, hang over room, tons of stuff. It was a lot of fun.

If you want to do something pretty local I would sign up for one of the all day Canyoning trips. It was totally worth the hundred or so dollars the trip cost.

Up the valley from interlaken is a little hostel called Mountain Hostel. www.mountainhostel.com You have to bring all your food up with you because its up the side of a really steep and tall valley. I heard great things about it. They have a wood fired hot tub that everybody loves. I'm not sure about climbing around there but there are some good hikes that you can spend all day doing. The terain is amazing.

While you are studying in Italy I would try to take a few days and get to Cinque Terra if you aren't too far away. It consists of 5 little fishing villages that are surrounded by a national park. You can hike between the towns or take a regional train in between them. The water is beautiful and the weather was amazing. The locals are all layed back. Its deffinately a great place to chill. Its the prime region for fresh pesto so make sure to get some if you go.

I stayed in the middle town called Vernaza and it was my favorite by far. 2 minutes off the train we were staying in a two bedroom apartment in town for a decent price concidering we had our own bathroom, living room, kitchen, washing machine. Pretty nice set up.

This is part of Cinque Terra




And if you make it to Munich get to a beer garden and enjoy the weather.

[Jackie Treehorn]

2nded on Interlaken. That place is fun. I also stayed at Balmer's. If you're traveling with anyone else it's probably worth a couple extra bucks to book a private room. There are a shitload of outdoor activities to choose from.

There was an awesome restaurant down the street and around the corner from there, can't remember the name... it was downstairs, kind of dark, kind of small... oh well, I'm sure you'll be able to find something to eat.

[Tippster]

Berlin > Dresden > Prague, if Possible > Munich > Overnight Train to Paris > Geneva > Nice > Italy. Two weeks sounds like a lot but you'll be very busy.

Where in IT are you ending up?

[brice618]

I'll be in Verona. I am going to bring my climbing gear to head up to Arco on the weekends and hopefully a day while I'm traveling before hand. But also want to do some touring since I am an architect...

Thanks for the list, Prague could happen for a few extra dollars think.

I was thinking about heading to Chamonix from Paris and going through that part of france to get into italy. Is Nice better?



My ex went to both Interlaken and Cinque Terra. She loved them, and I'll definitely be going.

[skibuminwyo]

I wish I had better access to my buddy Tommy. He spent four months over there, just riding the Eurorail around. He would be the guy to talk to, but he is extremely difficult to get ahold of. Whatever you decide to do, it will be cool as hell.

[filthyfrenchbum]

In Germany, definitely hit up Dresden, maybe a stop over in Nuremberg (sp), and don't miss out on Munich.

More importantly, head to the Alpenstrasse, about 2 hours west if I remember correctly. It's a pretty popular circuit, but you gotta see the castles of Louix the 2nd of Bavaria (Neuschwanstein (sp) is incredible and inspired the Disneyland castle, Linderhoff very interesting as well), and if you can explore the little roads off the beaten path zig-zagging through typical little towns between Austria and Germany, green pastures and high peaks... It's simply beautiful. Konstanz lake just north of the swiss border is quite nice too.

In southeastern France, by the Italian border, lots of via ferratas for climbing. Riviera is pretty cool, check out Menton and maybe Monaco, but the landscape's not that different from Italy.

In Italy, check out Tuscany, San Geminiano is a very nice little town, but very touristic these days I hear. Rolling hills and wineries around there should please the eyes and the palate.