Planning the Grand European Alps Adventure - Developing the Itinerary

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In the summer of 2013 I said to my partner, “Hey, I have an idea! Let’s take a trip to Europe again.” When he said it was a great idea, I started planning for a trip to Europe in 2014. We had no dates set but we would like to travel sometime in the spring, summer, or early fall in 2014. We also plan to rent a car and drive from destination to destination. I started making a list of places that we would like to visit again or some new places to explore. Our initial plan it for two weeks give or take a few days. We toyed with the ideas of touring the Benelux (Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg) as an option but after much debate it was decided that the European Alps would be a great place to spend some time. So, I created a list of places that keep drawing us back and I looked at some new places to explore. Below is my first shot at a list of location to visit and explore:

· Fly into Frankfurt (A)

· Baden-Baden, Germany to experience the Roman Baths (B)

· Black Forest of Germany, Triberg and the world’s largest cuckoo clock (C)

· Lucerne, Switzerland (D)

· Lauterbrunnen, Murren, Schilthorn, & Gimmelwald, Switzerland (E)

· Zermatt, Switzerland & the Gornergrat (F)

· Vaduz, Liechtenstein (G)

· Lindau, Lake Constance, Germany (H)

· Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany to include the Zugspitze (I)

· Berchtesgaden, Germany & Lake Konigssee (J)

· Salzburg, Austria (K)

· Lake Chiemsee & Schloss Herrenchiemsee

· Munich, Germany (L)

· Fly home from Munich, Germany

I developed this list by quickly looking at an internet maps of the region; keeping in mind that we would like to fly into Frankfurt, Germany and fly out of Munich, Germany and that we will be driving from point A to point B. My goal is to make our drives short each day to allow us more time touring and exploring. This list is my first stab at creating a fun itinerary. I am sure as I dig deeper into my planning of driving routes and activities our itinerary will be tweaked. I will blog about the process in new blogs.

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