Tips for Europe 2016

[MasterOfCows]

So TheBuddy and I are celebrating our 10 year dateiversary next year with a trip to Europe!

 

It'll be my first time out of N. America.  He's been to London once, but was with friends who lived there the entire time so just tagged along with whatever they were doing.

 

Here are the details:

Germany and Greece - assuming Greece doesn't completely implode on itself by May next year I guess.

 

We've got 21 or 22 days (including travel days) total I think, split approximately evenly between the two countries.  Munich (with some potential day trips - Rothenburg, Salzburg and Dachau are the front runners at the moment) and Berlin, then Athens, Santorini and Crete (Crete might change for another one of the islands).  Anything that's an absolute must do?  Anything to stay away from?  Tips on travel once we get there?  Train vs. plane?  
I'm interested in a lot of the history medieval through (and especially) WWII in Germany, he's interested in cultural stuff and beaches in Greece.  And scenery of course!  We're not really into organized tour groups, we'd prefer to do things on our own or with people we happen to randomly meet.

 

We're cheap but not quite "staying in a dorm hostel with 20 18 year old backpackers" cheap.  Currently looking at Home Away and AirBnB for options when we've got more than a couple nights in one place.  Anyone have experience using those sites?

Spill your knowledge all over me, nerds!
 

[Alocin]

I love Greece, but bear in mind all my travel was prior to recent events...

 

For the islands, I'd be looking into ferries and seeing what will work for you with their itineraries which can go via multiple islands. I haven't actually been to either Santorini or Crete, so no recs there, but my absolute favourite of the Greek islands I have been to is Patmos. It's a lot smaller, but has a gorgeous harbour, beaches where I didn't see a single other solitary soul (I hired a car for a day and went around the island), and amazing history - the Book of Revelations was written there and it's quite close to Turkey, so lots of fascinating Byzantine/Ottoman Empire history and a great museum. I booked ferry travel using this site: http://paleologos.forth-crs.gr/english/npgres.exe?PM=BB

 

Plus, if you book overnight ferries, your accommodation for the night's sorted - the cabins were quite reasonably priced, particularly if you share a four bed one. 

 

Athens is one of my favourite cities (or was...?).

 

Apart from the Acropolis, the Acropolis museum, and the Agora,  the other couple of museums I'd suggest going to are the Benaki Museum which has a fantastic collection spanning the prehistoric all the way through to the 1960s, and if you're into mediaeval history the Byzantine Museum would be good too. They're quite close by each other, from memory. I have two sunset suggestions... one is taking the funicular up Lykavittos Hill to watch the sun set over Athens. The other is having shots of ouzo in a little hole-in-the-wall bar right under the shadow of the Acropolis and overlooking the Agora... No idea what the place is called, but it has tables all over a pathway that leads up to the Acropolis. A friend and I stumbled across it on my first trip to Greece, and I've been back to it every time since.  I suspect on a quick poke-around on Google maps it's on Theoriou St - but the charm of Athens is those sorts of places are everywhere.

 

If you can, I'd suggest doing a day-trip to the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion - it's a day-trip from Athens. I thought that place was just gob-smacking. I'm not a religious person, but that place just has something special about it. You can see why a temple to a sea god was built there.

 

Berlin's great as well... one thing I'd suggest doing if you're into art/fashion/photography at all is going to the Helmut Newton museum near Zoo Station.

 

You didn't say you were, but just in case you are worried about not speaking Greek or German, I wouldn't - a lot of people, particularly in hotels/at train stations etc, have enough English (or more likely excellent English), as do a lot of people on the street, so you can make yourself understood, and people have always been very ready to help me. I try to learn at least a few words in the language - thank you is probably the most useful.

 

Accommodation-wise, a lot of hostels do private rooms, which can be a good deal, particularly if you are ok to share a bathroom - and you still get the hostel vibe where you can meet other travellers and make plans together etc without the downside of sharing a room. The other thing I'd suggest is joining Couchsurfing - not necessarily to find a person to stay with, but you can also make arrangements to meet up for a drink/dinner with locals and they can show you their town. I met lovely people in Madrid, Lisbon and Berlin that way, and got to have a bit more of a local experience.

[MasterOfCows]

Awesome, thanks so much for the suggestions!  So very helpful!!

 

A little worried about the situation right now in Greece, but if it doesn't resolve by the fall/winter, we have a back up plan.

[Alocin]

My pleasure - I'm sure Greece will be fine by then. If you aren't too fixed with your back-up plans, have a think about Croatia/Montenegro if you haven't 100 per cent decided (or that isn't your plan already). It pretty much fills the criteria for beaches and history, both ancient (mainly Roman) and mediaeval. 

[AugustaAdaByron]

I also wouldn't worry too much about the situation in Greece next year.

 

Alocin's post did an excellent job on describing Athens and Patmos, I don't have many things to add. What I wanted to add is that there is a war museum in Athens. 

 

Also, I'm from Athens so if you look at AirBnB and you find some places but cannot decide between areas in Athens I'd be happy to take a look and comment on those.

 

I have been to Patmos before (although when I was very young) and I liked it very much. I remember that at Hora the view is magnificent. Another island that is nice and it is close to Patmos is Ikaria. Icarus fell to the sea nearby and that's where the island get it's name from. As far as I recall the every day life on that island has a slower pace and it's residents are supposed to live for a very long time (reaching 100). Also, it has many thermal spas, if you're into it.

 

Santorini is nice, I went there two years ago. It's certainly picturesque and it's awesome to have a cup of coffee in the morning with the volcano being in your immediate view but I didn't enjoy the beaches too much. In my opinion it has been too advertised and it is way overpriced. Yes, the idyllic sunset is great but not all sunsets live up to their myth. Although they do have a very interesting excavation site (I didn't get to visit it ). I'd definitely visit but not for many days.

 

Crete is the largest Greek island. I've been there briefly so I can't give you details for the whole island but if you really want to see it you might need to consider spending more days there. Also, the local cuisine is delicious! (DarK_RaideR would most probably have a lot more information on Crete.)

 

Paros is one of the mainstream touristic islands, if you're into it.

 

Finally, you might be interested into visiting one of the Ionian islands. Apart from the larger islands, Paxi, a small island close to Corfu is picturesque with great beaches and it's small enough to rent a boat and go around the island fairly easy. Corfu itself, as well as all the other Ionian islands, has a long cultural history and many monuments.

 

I don't live in Greece anymore but if by any chance I'm in Athens for holidays when you are also there and would like to get to know a local, I'd be happy to meet.

 

Hm, that post turned out to be way longer than I originally planned. Any way I can help please feel free to ask me here or with a pm.

[Sympatico]

I wouldn't worry too much about the Hostels and 18 yr olds haha. I've been over to Europe a couple of times and found that all the hostels I stayed in had strict rules on drinking after hours and noise levels.

In my experience most people in a room are generally well behaved and are kind enough to try to minimise noise when someone else is trying to sleep.

[MasterOfCows]

I booked the flights today!!  It's really happening!  We are flying in and out of Germany, it made the most sense financially. So the Greece part of our trip is in the middle.  May 14-June 4, 2016.

 

I have a few more "cool things to see" nailed down and have narrowed down a bunch of AirBnB choices, but I don't have to book those right away.  Too bad our dollar has taken a dive recently.

 

 

I also wouldn't worry too much about the situation in Greece next year.

 

Alocin's post did an excellent job on describing Athens and Patmos, I don't have many things to add. What I wanted to add is that there is a war museum in Athens. 

 

Also, I'm from Athens so if you look at AirBnB and you find some places but cannot decide between areas in Athens I'd be happy to take a look and comment on those.

 

I have been to Patmos before (although when I was very young) and I liked it very much. I remember that at Hora the view is magnificent. Another island that is nice and it is close to Patmos is Ikaria. Icarus fell to the sea nearby and that's where the island get it's name from. As far as I recall the every day life on that island has a slower pace and it's residents are supposed to live for a very long time (reaching 100). Also, it has many thermal spas, if you're into it.

 

Santorini is nice, I went there two years ago. It's certainly picturesque and it's awesome to have a cup of coffee in the morning with the volcano being in your immediate view but I didn't enjoy the beaches too much. In my opinion it has been too advertised and it is way overpriced. Yes, the idyllic sunset is great but not all sunsets live up to their myth. Although they do have a very interesting excavation site (I didn't get to visit it ). I'd definitely visit but not for many days.

 

Crete is the largest Greek island. I've been there briefly so I can't give you details for the whole island but if you really want to see it you might need to consider spending more days there. Also, the local cuisine is delicious! (DarK_RaideR would most probably have a lot more information on Crete.)

 

Paros is one of the mainstream touristic islands, if you're into it.

 

Finally, you might be interested into visiting one of the Ionian islands. Apart from the larger islands, Paxi, a small island close to Corfu is picturesque with great beaches and it's small enough to rent a boat and go around the island fairly easy. Corfu itself, as well as all the other Ionian islands, has a long cultural history and many monuments.

 

I don't live in Greece anymore but if by any chance I'm in Athens for holidays when you are also there and would like to get to know a local, I'd be happy to meet.

 

Hm, that post turned out to be way longer than I originally planned. Any way I can help please feel free to ask me here or with a pm.

Awesome.  I didn't see that war museum in Athens in my internet searches, so I'll totally check it out.

 

 

You've also convinced me to have a conversation about moving some of the days from Santorini to Crete or maybe one of the Ionian islands.  If the beaches aren't great, it'll make my travelling partner a bit sad.

So much info, and thanks for offering to vet my AirBnB selections or meet up if we happen to be there at the same time

 

I wouldn't worry too much about the Hostels and 18 yr olds haha. I've been over to Europe a couple of times and found that all the hostels I stayed in had strict rules on drinking after hours and noise levels.

In my experience most people in a room are generally well behaved and are kind enough to try to minimise noise when someone else is trying to sleep.

 

It's not so much drinking or noise levels, haha, we'd probably out party most of them if we wanted to.  It's more that sometimes we like to not be around a bunch of other people - not that we're really anti-social or anything, just kind of private.
I actually haven't been finding significant price differences with most of the hostels (for private rooms) and the AirBnB places I've liked, so it's probably a non issue at this point.



 

[DarK_RaideR]

(DarK_RaideR would most probably have a lot more information on Crete.)

Took a bit to dig this thread up, but here I am! Born and raised in Crete, currently residing in Athens and having visited Santorini on more than one occasions, I'd say your plan looks ok. Alocin and AAB have most of the details covered, I have only two very important details to add

 

1) Crete is technically an island, but as AAB mentioned, it's the largest in the country. Many people make the mistake of hoping to do a tour of the island. You need several days for that and still you won't have enough time to stop and enjoy most of the places. It's not like the ones in the rest of the Aegean, where everything is a short drive away and you can find a spot where you can get that island feel by viewing water all around.

 

2) If it's beaches you're after, head to the south coast. Hands down the most beautiful ones, with minimal amount of human impact. It's good that you're visiting early, shouldn't be too crowded. May-early June and September are the best times of the season.

 

Let me know if I can help with anything else

[Raze]

I went to Germany in 2012 went to Munchen, Berlin, Anshbach, and Fulda. Didn't explore Munchen too much as I was there for Oktoberfest. I did walk around the Oktoberfest area a bit before Oktoberfest started and did the park when NO one was there which was awesome! missed the opening ceremony due to sleeping in past alarms due to being sloshed the night before. It is a bit out of the way, but in the Munchen area to hit up Neuschwanstein Castle. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuschwanstein_Castle

 

As for Berlin we stayed in a hotel right outside the Teirgarden. I went to all the typical places. The victory tower in the middle of the tier garden, brandenburg gate, checkpoint charlie, the TV tower, a few sections where the wall is still up, a couple of the memorials, and then I went to one or two of the museums there one was the Neues Museum, I dont remember what the others were. Did A TON of walking around the Teirgarden. there are so many paths there and it is so peaceful.

 

One thing you will notice in Berlin almost all of the older buildings (from WWII and earlier) will have bullet holes in them. touching and feeling these really hit me and reminded me of what the city looked like in 1945/6.

 

 

The only time I took the train was to go from Berlin to Fulda back to Munchen. Because a friend of mine who was stationed there come down to Munchen for a day and drove me up to Berlin.

[MasterOfCows]

Took a bit to dig this thread up, but here I am! Born and raised in Crete, currently residing in Athens and having visited Santorini on more than one occasions, I'd say your plan looks ok. Alocin and AAB have most of the details covered, I have only two very important details to add

 

1) Crete is technically an island, but as AAB mentioned, it's the largest in the country. Many people make the mistake of hoping to do a tour of the island. You need several days for that and still you won't have enough time to stop and enjoy most of the places. It's not like the ones in the rest of the Aegean, where everything is a short drive away and you can find a spot where you can get that island feel by viewing water all around.

 

2) If it's beaches you're after, head to the south coast. Hands down the most beautiful ones, with minimal amount of human impact. It's good that you're visiting early, shouldn't be too crowded. May-early June and September are the best times of the season.

 

Let me know if I can help with anything else

Awesome.

 

We weren't planning on doing a full tour of Crete, so our expectations aren't shattered there.  Right now I've got it split up like this:

2 nights in Athens -parthenon and acropolis, potentially war museum

5 nights in Santorini - 2 beach days, a day in oia, and a volcano tour

3 nights in Crete - Knossos and the gorge hike

But it sounds like I should shift some days from Santorini to Crete to take advantage of the south coast beaches.  Maybe 3 nights in Santorini and 5 nights in Crete instead.

 

What's the wi-fi like?  I've been resisting the idea of getting a European SIM card for my phone (or just a cheap phone over there) to not be so connected, but it is nice to send occasional emails back home.

 

And is the transit system fairly reliable?  We hadn't planned on renting a car anywhere at this point.

 

 

I went to Germany in 2012 went to Munchen, Berlin, Anshbach, and Fulda. Didn't explore Munchen too much as I was there for Oktoberfest. I did walk around the Oktoberfest area a bit before Oktoberfest started and did the park when NO one was there which was awesome! missed the opening ceremony due to sleeping in past alarms due to being sloshed the night before. It is a bit out of the way, but in the Munchen area to hit up Neuschwanstein Castle. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuschwanstein_Castle

 

As for Berlin we stayed in a hotel right outside the Teirgarden. I went to all the typical places. The victory tower in the middle of the tier garden, brandenburg gate, checkpoint charlie, the TV tower, a few sections where the wall is still up, a couple of the memorials, and then I went to one or two of the museums there one was the Neues Museum, I dont remember what the others were. Did A TON of walking around the Teirgarden. there are so many paths there and it is so peaceful.

 

One thing you will notice in Berlin almost all of the older buildings (from WWII and earlier) will have bullet holes in them. touching and feeling these really hit me and reminded me of what the city looked like in 1945/6.

 

 

The only time I took the train was to go from Berlin to Fulda back to Munchen. Because a friend of mine who was stationed there come down to Munchen for a day and drove me up to Berlin.

 

Thanks!  I think we're going to forgo Neuschwanstein in favour of Hohensalzburg.  

 

In Berlin we've got all the major points of interest covered.  In Munich we're looking at doing a day trip to Salzburg and a day trip to Rothenburg for the medieval crime museum.  

 

I'm honestly much more comfortable with the German part than the Greece part at this point.  The only tricky part I haven't figured out is whether it'll be worth my while to buy a German Rail Pass or not.  More number crunching!!

[DarK_RaideR]

Awesome.

 

We weren't planning on doing a full tour of Crete, so our expectations aren't shattered there.  Right now I've got it split up like this:

2 nights in Athens -parthenon and acropolis, potentially war museum

5 nights in Santorini - 2 beach days, a day in oia, and a volcano tour

3 nights in Crete - Knossos and the gorge hike

But it sounds like I should shift some days from Santorini to Crete to take advantage of the south coast beaches.  Maybe 3 nights in Santorini and 5 nights in Crete instead.

 

What's the wi-fi like?  I've been resisting the idea of getting a European SIM card for my phone (or just a cheap phone over there) to not be so connected, but it is nice to send occasional emails back home.

 

And is the transit system fairly reliable?  We hadn't planned on renting a car anywhere at this point.

 

2 nights for Athens sounds about right. Keep in mind that the acropolis museum is right opposite the acropolis rock (which has the Parthenon on top) so it's totally doable in one day. 5 for Santorini is probably too much. A volcano tour can take a morning and Oia less than an afternoon, just visit for a coffee/tea while waiting for the sunset. 2 or 3 nights should be enough. After Knossos, make sure you also visit the archaeological museum downtown, where all the minoan findings are kept. If you have the time, it might also be worth a walk around the Venetian walls and visiting the little castle at the port entrance. It is currently closed for restoration, hope it'll be done by then.

 

By "gorge hike" I assume you mean Samaria. That's to the west, so a bus ride to Chania would take at least 3 hours, plus whatever time it takes to get to the gorge itself. Its a narrow, twisting mountainous road after a while so vehicles have to go slow. Also, the gorge is closed during the winter due to the weather, so check the dates and make sure you won't go there to find it closed. Finally, the gorge leads to a little coastal village and the only way to leave (besides hiking back, obviously) is by boat. Last ones leave around 19:00 if I'm not mistaken, so make sure you don't get left behind. Unless you plan to spend a night at the village, of course. Bottom line, plan ahead.

 

I don't use internet on my mobile devices, but I hear the one provided by telephone companies is quite reliable, though I have no clue on pricing. Other than that, most places in cities have free Wi-Fi. Don't expect any of that in the villages however.

 

Transit in Athens is fairly reliable, especially subways because they're immune to traffic, protests and the like. Both trains and buses can get quite crowded however. Can't remember if there's any buses in Santorini, but taxis there are expensive to the extreme, so it might be more efficient to rent a car, motorbike, scooter or ATV. Crete relies on buses. Heraklion hasn't got ideal coverage, but there's a bus to take you from Knossos to the center alright. Out of town buses to Chania and the gorge of Samaria are a thing. As for the beaches down south, I think buses just go to the biggest villages. But that might just be me, I tend to snub those and explore the most rugged, obscure beaches completely untouched by civilization

[MasterOfCows]

Thank you so much!  I did mean Samaria!!  I had forgotten the name.  I did some more checking into this, and I might have to actually pass on the hike - from what I read, the first couple kms are a really steep downhill, and I'll be just under a year out from my 2nd ACL/ALL reconstruction - I'll have to check with my surgeon.

 

You are a treasure trove of info!  So glad you found your way here to comment.

[Finisterre]

A friend was in Greece pretty recently and said it actually wasn't particularly different to previous trips before the financial issues. Having a back up plan is a good idea, but as others have said it shouldn't be an issue.

[Shibara]

Rothenburg is a beautiful town, very medieval. You should take a walk on top of the old city wall, you can do almost a complete circle and look down at the old houses and tiny yards and gardens. Most of it has a roof, too, so you don't have to worry about rain. The crime museum is nice, but probably won't take that long to visit (I think I spent maybe a little over two hours there). It's well done, though, so definitely worth checking out if you're interested in that. Almost all exhibits have English panels, too, and I think there is an English audio guide (not absolutely sure about that one, though). There is also a small shop for medieval stuff, mostly weaponry. It's hard to miss, you should definitely take a look at their stuff!

 

When you are going from Munich to Rothenburg - why not take a detour to Nuremberg? It's about an hour from Munich, very well connected by trains (the highway can be a bit crowded at rush hour, but usually doesn't take that much longer). Nuremberg has a medieval castle (I've been up to the courtyard several times, the view over the historical city is nice, but never actually been inside), some old houses, crooked alleys and if the timing is right it has one or two medieval/fantasy fairs right in the moat next to the old walls. It's not as pretty as Rothenburg, but not too shabby to look at, either. Lots of historic churches, too, and the Youth Hostel is actually in an old castle. And then there is the Reichsparteitagsgelände with museum. I've never been there, too (huh, I should!), but from what I hear it has lots of information about WW2. Nuremberg was one of the favourite cities of the Nazis and they left a lot of buildings behind. It's easy to get around in the city, there is a subway, tram and lots of buses. You're probably not going in December, but if you were, you could visit the Christkindlesmarkt, too. Nice, but can be very crowded at times.

 

Anyways, Nuremberg is a bit similar to both Rothenburg and Munich - smaller than Munich, bigger than Rothenburg, lots of medieval and WW2 stuff and also some pretty places to go (just avoid the uglier parts of the city - probably all cities have those, Nuremberg is no exception ). And as you might have guessed, I live close by. I'm not from this area, just been living here for about five years now, but if you are interested in something and need more information, maybe I can help.

[Shibara]

Oh, and are you interested in the medieval Vikings? Check out Haithabu. It's a bit out of your way, almost 4 hours from Berlin, close to the Danish border, but maybe you want to see something of Northern Germany, too. Maybe visit Hamburg, a city as big as Berlin or Munich, but with a different way of people and buildings, formed by the sea and sea trade (have you heard of the Hanse? It was an old merchant union with trades to far cities and countries). Luebeck is smaller and very pretty, too. It was a major sea trade / Hanse city. If you have time and money, I'd recommend visiting the north. It's different from the south, both are an experience (and people are usually friendly to visitors, most speak English well or will at least try their best to help you, even if some might have an accent ).

[MasterOfCows]

Oh wow Shibara!  Thank you so much for the information!!

 

I was thinking about hitting Nuremberg as well, especially with the Trials that were held there, but I wasn't sure if there would be time for both in a day trip from Munich.

Given you're a bit of a local - tell me about the trains.

 

Is it economical to buy the German Rail Pass ahead of time, or can you get better deals on point to point tickets?  I understand that there is an area of Berlin that the pass doesn't apply to, but it should work in the rest of the cities for transport as well, right?

http://www.germanrailpasses.com

 

A friend was in Greece pretty recently and said it actually wasn't particularly different to previous trips before the financial issues. Having a back up plan is a good idea, but as others have said it shouldn't be an issue.

That's reassuring, thanks!

 

I haven't done much more concrete planning yet, other than buy the overseas airfare - I'm finding that it is not reasonable to try and book things too far in advance haha.

[Shibara]

Master, the prices for the railpass seem a little steep, but it totally depends on your planning. Deutsche Bahn (German Railwayservice; it's the most common and largest train service, but especially on local connections there are other train services available, sometimes a little cheaper) usually offers a "book a few days/weeks in advance, get a reduced price"-tickets. You can get a good deal there for the fast ICE trains (goes fast, stops only at major cities), but the tickets are limited and you can't book too far ahead of time. Play around at the linked homepage to get an idea In general, booking online gets you the best prices, but sometimes it's better to ask at the service point (but I think they charge a little more now).

 

There is also the Bahncard with different options (similar to the railpass, you buy that card for some money, then get 25 % - 50 % off each travel). Occasionally there are special offers like a trial Bahncard for three months. The Bahncard usually is interesting for frequent travellers, not so much for just an occasional ride. There are also special offers for the slower trains like Regionalexpress (connects major places but stops every now and then) and Regionalbahn (stops everywhere) on the weekend (weekend ticket) and when traveling through only one state (like from Munich to Rothenburg or Nuremberg -> Bavaria ticket). However, this might not be a good idea for longer distances like Munich -> Berlin, as these special tickets are usually not valid on the fast ICE, and it will take forever if you stop everywhere. Might be no other option going to Rothenburg, though - I don't know if the ICE stops there regularly.

 

In addition to the very well developed railway service (and a lot of trains are on time, but there are definitely delays here and there which can be uncomfortable at night - had that happen only last week, I took the last train back at night, it was delayed 70 minutes, I missed my connection, but in such an event, if you are really stuck, DB usually pays for taxi service or a night at a hotel) there are long-range bus services popping up everywhere, especially during the past two years (the DB regularly went on strike and a lot of connections were cancelled, and there still is a risk of new strikes!) These bus connections are way cheaper than DB and, depending on the distance, not too much slower (because the trains have to go slow occasionally due to construction works). If they get stuck in a traffic jam, they exit the motorway and go around that. Personally I can highly recommend Mein Fernbus/Flixbus. I've also heared good things about Postbus. You book ahead via internet and can even check in with a QR code on your smartphone - no printout necessary. I've been from Nuremberg to Berlin almost as fast as the train but for a fraction of the cost (train: 110 €, bus: 19 €). The only drawback is these coaches don't go everywhere yet (and are slightly less comfortable than a train where you can get up and walk through the aisle) but connect only major cities, but you might want to check them out for Munich -> Berlin and back. They have a (very) small toilet on board and offer a few snacks and drinks.

 

Nuremberg Trials exhibition: http://www.memorium-nuremberg.de

I've not been there, but I know the building, I've been there to testify once (it's still an active court!). Easy to get there by subway. The subway goes under the street that once had the first railway ever in Germany (1835), it connected Nuremberg with Fuerth. Today there is nothing to see of that at the surface anymore, but there is a small train museum in Nuremberg which displays a rebuilt "Adler" (eagle), the first steam engine to pull the carriages. Funny detail: at that time it was "in" to build your house close to the tracks (if you were wealthy enough) to show you embrace progress and are looking forward to a bright future. So a lot of Wilhelminian style houses can still be found in that area (I've actually lived in one for three years), should you be interested in architecture.

[MasterOfCows]

Awesome, great tips.  Thanks so much!!!

[Cherry Poppins]

This thread is great, thanks everyone for their tips and experiences!

[MasterOfCows]

I know, right?!?!

 

It also makes me want to rush out and BOOK ALL THE THINGS.  But given we're not leaving until May it's a little early yet

[MasterOfCows]

Thought I'd give an update on our plans for everyone who has been so gracious with their knowledge and experience.

 

We did end up shifting our Greece portion - 2 nights in Athens, 3 in Santorini, 2 in Heraklion and 4 in Chania.  

On the German end we've got 1 night in Munich right at the beginning, 5 in Berlin and then 4 in Munich at the end.  Unfortunately hotel prices in Munich have skyrocketed for the last leg of the trip, so I'm looking into other less conventional options.

 

We've got accommodations booked everywhere by Chania and Munich (hopefully nailing those down tonight) and found some great deals on places that look like they'll fit our needs - a couple of them look absolutely amazing, but we're not planning to spend much time at the hotel/apartments anyways, so we didn't need anything fancy.

We will be going over the activities list in the next couple of weeks and leaving time for spontaneous fun as well.  And I'll update that here when I get a chance.

Then it's just getting maps and directions all in order, packing lists, and getting odds and ends for the trip!  Any must have recommendations are welcome - we're hoping to do the whole trip carry-on only, but TheBuddy's bag might be slightly too big for the budget airlines over there, although I read a ton of reviews that said it was fine.

Also so far I'm $300 under my arbitrary budget, which is pretty sweet!

Just want to thank everyone again for all your help!

[Aetheriata]

Have you thought about Couchsurfing? At least in Germany?

Lots of people offer it, especially in the big cities, and it saves great amounts of money!

[MasterOfCows]

Thanks for the tip!  We actually ended up going with VRBO in Munich for the last part of the trip.

 

[Shibara]

So, how was your trip in the end? Just curious, especially how you liked Germany, of course Hope you had good experiences in all the places you visited (one day I want to go to Greece, too, my colleague loves that country and spends almost all of her vacations there).

[MasterOfCows]

The trip was amazing, thanks!  I totally am planning to go back to Germany one day, I loved it there, a lot.  Greece was great too - all of the historical artifacts were awesome, but I did enjoy the islands more than Athens.

 

And now I have the travel bug...