Going to Europe!! Need help/advice!!

[freethought]

Roughly a week ago I made an identical post. Fellow DUers were very helpful in giving me some tips and pointers. Well work got a little crazy this week so, like an nitwit, I am back asking for, you guessed it, MORE ADVICE!!

WHERE DO I EVEN START!!

OK, here is the scoop. A good friend is working in Northern Italy and his housing is provided by his employer. Pretty sweet! He invited my sister and I to stay with him and use his place as a base of travel. We will be staying in a town called Reggio, not far from Milan, and close to the Italian Alps. To the North are the borders to France, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. I arrive in Milan on Nov 18 and depart Nov 29, 11 days is what I have. I have 5-7 days to myself. After that I come back to Reggio for day trips and a long weekend in Rome or Venice. Rome or Venice!? How do you choose?
I am considering a trip into Switzerland or Austria. Geneva, or maybe Vienna. I would love to do this at ground level, maybe see the Alps via a train.

Can anyone afford some suggestions that I might have overlooked or an alternative that I might not have considered? I am going in mid-November, what can I expect? All suggestions and advice are welcomed!
I do have two travel guides and I intend to make reservations and the like in the next few days.

Help!!

[madmax]

1. I don't know but, when you figure all this out

will you take me with you. PLEASE!

[freethought]

2. Can you fit in one of those suitcases on wheels? n/t

[Rick Myers]

3. Tell everyone you're from Canada!!!!

Have a great trip!!! :thumbsup:

[freethought]

5. And if they ask me for my passport?

I will be f____d!

[MrScorpio]

4. If you don't make at least one trip to Amsterdam, you've fucked up

AMSTERDAM, it's XXX rated

[freethought]

7. I have heard great things about Amsterdam!

(Nod, nod, wink wink). But on a more serious note, this is not a 'spare no expence' trip. I do have to use some restraint and judgement when it comes to the finances. And I tend to dislike 'whirlwind' type trips where you spend minimal time in one place. I like to have time to 'soak it up'. This trip could be once in a lifetime.

[Jean Louise Finch]

6. Ski...and more!

Ski ski ski ski ski. Even if you never have before, the French/Swiss Alps offer a whole new experience of delight, and I can't recommend it enough. Particularly the French Alps, as they truly and completely know how to live. You ski for a few hours, you eat fondue/gnocchi/filet mignon (whatever suits you), you drink coffee and wine, you ski a little more, you sunbathe, you putter about enjoying the magnificence of it all. and by mid or late november, things will be opening up. Oh, Ski. For me!

The Dolomites in Italy are also magnificent, they are sort of jagged and fresh-looking, and you can do these amazing via ferratas up and down the old military routes in the mountains (lots of ladders and steepness, and happy potential for very cute guides). They are nearish to Venice, so definitely do-able where you'll be.

There are some really truly amazing train trips you can do in Switzerland, and being Switzerland, everything runs very smoothly and very safely. there's that really expensive one, from Zermatt to St. Moritz, that is more than worth it, it's so magnificent, especially if you are at all into engineering: it's an amazing feat. And then you get to hang about in Zermatt and see the matterhorn, which is worth it, no matter how many pictures you've seen.

Oh I am so jealous. I was in Geneva for 3 years, just left in March, and am having such pangs as the winter months are rolling round. You can do no wrong! And Geneva at this time of the year is really lovely, though not too thrilling. the old town is cold and crisp and you can drink espresso and eat raclette (make sure you eat Raclette in the French-speaking part of Switzerland!) and drink hot wine, and take the train around the lake and explore Montreux or drive around the other side and hit up the small village Yvoire.

Oh goodness. i could go on forever, have SO much fun.

[freethought]

10. I love to ski!!

I live in Maine! The material I read puts the ski season in December.
I might be there a little early for any serious skiing. Does it open earlier? Sounds like Geneva is great. Keep it coming!

[Jean Louise Finch]

12. You can do some serious skiing...

depending on the season. we had the best day of the year last year on October 31. So, you might get really lucky. Oh, and if you're from Maine, you should make even more of a point of it. I'm from New Hampshire and spent a good week every year up at Sugarloaf...which was great, but the cold about shakes the teeth up out of you. The first few days of skiing in France? I thought I would pass out from delight: warm, sunny, and just the most beautiful, endless mountains.

Some places to consider within like a two hour drive/train from Geneva: Avoriaz, Megeve, Verbier, Flaine...OH! and if you have transport, and if it's open, for some serious skiing, you should check out this tiny little place called "Super Saint Bernard" (it's even funnier if you say it with a French accent). They have one gondola (a bit rackety) and three runs: two down the front (a "red" 4km and a "black" 6km), and one down the back: a 14km run into Italy, where you can arrange for someone to pick you up after a fantastic lunch at the local pasta shop. Oh the life! You can also snowshoe/randonee up to this monastery where they give you free soup! It's where they raise Saint Bernard puppies to rescue people, but sadly, i think the puppies are only there in the summer.

Here's the link: Super Saint Bernard

[supernova]

8. Gotta see Vienna!

It rivals Paris for art and beauty. The homes of great composers, works by famous architects and the father of modern psychiatry all wrapped up in an imperial art-nouveau dressing.

[Swamp Rat]

9. Take the train accross the Brenner Pass to Innsbruck, Austria

You can go East to Salzburg (Mozart and Haydn) and Vienna (awesome city) or go a little further to Budapast (very cool). If you go West, you'll run into Lichtenstein (you can walk across it!) and then Switzerland (ski the Alps!). North takes you to Bavaria (Schloss Neuschwanstein - Ludwig's castle) and then München where you can visit the Deutsches Museum (see the Red Baron's plane! - same model - http://www.deutsches-museum.de/e_index.htm). I've gone to all of these places and loved every minute of it.

Have fun! :D

[freethought]

11. Vienna is in the running!

I have read that it is a beautiful city with something for everyone!
I am well past my 'wild college days'. Now that I am in my thirties I would like to see some culture.

[Swamp Rat]

15. Go to Vienna!

Others have suggested going to Switzerland etc., but if you want a "cultural experience" like, museums, architecture, music, theater etc., Vienna (Wien) is the place to go. Want to see Beethoven's grave? Want to see Hieronymus Bosch's paintings or Göethe's statue? Go to Vienna. Budapest is not far away either! Get a Eurorail pass so you can get on and off the train along the way. Go to Melk and see wonderful terracotta buildings or some other small village. On your way back, go North to Munich and go to the museums there or to Dachau to see a real Nazi concentration camp. So much to see there!

I've been to most of the places folks have mention so far, and I am 39 yrs old. I don't know your tastes, but I have a feeling you'll enjoy my suggestions.

[Misunderestimator]

17. I went to Dachau .... I couldn't stop crying

A really beautiful town, known now mainly for the concentration camp. The museum there had pictures of the "medical experiments" done on the prisoners. There were ovens that they say were never used... since the liberation happened before they had the chance. I will never forget that place.

[Swamp Rat]

20. Me neither!

I was living in Innsbruck when I made a special trip there. I saw everything you did. When we were watching the "medical experiments" film, another American student started making jokes and suggesting we eat pizza - the professors literally had to hold me back from beating the tar out of him. Two Israelis followed him to the gate and stayed with him until the rest of us finished the tour. He was expelled from Florida State University, but I suppose it was reduced to a suspension later on. As for the place itself, I still wonder how folks could walk to work everyday and not notice the dozens of cadavers hanging from the gallows, quite visible from the surrounding streets. I wonder if Americans are really any different...

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

13. Start saying "Hello, I'm an American and I'm voting against Bush."

Softens 'em up considerably!

[Swamp Rat]

18. Eu disse isso cuando fui lá ao Rio, mas tres Americanos tentaram brigar

comigo. Depois, dezenove Cariocas eram muito bravo com eles e as gatinhas (Cariocas) que estavam com eles les deixaram sozinhos...

puta que pariu! é muito mais dificil escrever portugües que falar...

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

22. You mean the girls dumped the Americans for being pro-Bush? (nt)

[Misunderestimator]

14. You must visit Munich... considered the "Northernmost city in Italy"

...by some. I lived there for almost a year about ten years ago. Vienna is definitely worth the trip as well. (Try not to have an American accent though :) )

[freethought]

16. OK, score another for Vienna!

You mentioned not having an American accent. Are we that much disliked in Vienna? I am going over not knowing their Language. Last thing I want is trouble.

[Misunderestimator]

19. When I lived there we were not much liked for our boorishness...

I have a feeling the distaste for Americans has grown exponentially since then. Austrians were a bit more peevish about foreigners speaking German than Germans are, in my experience. Germans tended to insist on speaking English with me, even when I wanted to speak German. I really don't know what it's like now.

[amazona]

23. any more tips for Munich? I'll be going there

I know nothing about it really but I have a cheap ticket so what the hey.

Another traveler told me that they prefer to practice their English rather than to cope with American's mangled German, so she didn't think I should worry about my accent.

Any and all trip suggestions are welcome.

[Wwagsthedog]

21. If you like art,

try Florence, especially if you're close by. I won't attempt to tell you what any tour pub or guide can but having been in Italy for all the high spots, the place I'd return in a moment is Florence. PS: the food is yummy too!