Trip planning

[WonderinAland]

We are going on our first ABD (Germany) this summer. I'm curious how much planning you experts do before you go and how much you just let them do it all for you. We have one pre-day in Heidelberg that I want to plan, but what about "free" time during the tour? I don't want to waste time planning things we won't ever do, but I don't want to wander aimlessly. TIA

 

[TXTransplant]

Out of curiosity, which tour are you booked on? We have reservations for the June 12-20 Germany tour, but I haven't booked our plane tickets yet because they are $2000 each!

 

[WonderinAland]

We're going July 17-25. My husband has been checking the fares weekly. The lowest he's seen is about $1600. We need to get them soon!

 

[carpenta]

We are going on our first ABD (Germany) this summer. I'm curious how much planning you experts do before you go and how much you just let them do it all for you. We have one pre-day in Heidelberg that I want to plan, but what about "free" time during the tour? I don't want to waste time planning things we won't ever do, but I don't want to wander aimlessly. TIA

We just did this trip last June. Heidelberg is very easy to walk around. So many little shops especially a Christmas shop you can spend a lot of money. There are many shops to explore. Across the river on the "Old Bridge" there is a trail called Philosophers' Walk that goes high up on the hill and follows the river where you get some fantastic views of the castle. On the tour itself you really don't cross the river and there are quite a few older homes and buildings belonging to the University. It is a really nice hike especially to get the legs in shape after a long airline ride. Also there is a summer palace , Schwetzinger Schloss, that we traveled and toured on our own. Only 12 kilometers west of Heidelberg. It is an easy bus ride (bus #717)from the main bus/train terminal and cost was minimal. We had a great tour guide in English that really did a wonderful job on the history of the palace and surrounding countryside. On the river there are a few river boat tours that leave from the area and tour the river and offer lunch. Your hotel will give you a lot of info. The main focus for ABD is the castle so go with ABD but there are so many older churches and buildings you can explore on your own as well as drinking beer and eating German foods. Eyewitness Travel has a great book on Germany which highlights the "biggies". Also there is another book "Heidelberg on the Neckar" by Shonings travel guide that is a great handbook that really goes into most of everything in Heidelberg as well as maps to use as your guide.

 

[WonderinAland]

Thank you so much!

 

[kristilew]

We are going on our first ABD (Germany) this summer. I'm curious how much planning you experts do before you go and how much you just let them do it all for you. We have one pre-day in Heidelberg that I want to plan, but what about "free" time during the tour? I don't want to waste time planning things we won't ever do, but I don't want to wander aimlessly. TIA

In terms of down time during your actual adventure, I would advise against doing any specific planning. The guide will offer numerous suggestions, and will be able to make those work for you. If there is something specific that you don't want to miss, it's best to let your guides know early on, and they will figure out how you can do it. If there are popular things to do, that aren't covered on the adventure, they will be aware of them and will let the group know or offer to make reservations if needed.

I haven't done the Germany trip, but on all my ABDs this has been the case. In Quito, the guides helped us plan a visit to a local attraction with another family and to arrange a driver. In Moab, the guides took reservations for the ATV rides while we were on the bus a few days before. In Italy, as we did walking tours, the guides pointed out good shopping and dining to visit later on our own.

If you make set-in-stone plans for your ABD downtime, you could end up stressed or disappointed, as the itinerary timing can change from the official version. It's far better to go with the flow. By all means, enjoy reading up on your destinations, and have a general idea of extras you might want to see/do, but trust your guides to give you an awesome experience even when you are on your own.

 

[Rapunzellover]

I so agree with everything you just said, Kristilew.

Research and know what you want to see for sure and plan that for before/after the tour. That way, everything you do on your own during the tour is bonus.

There's always so much to do or see that your time will not go wasted. The guides will see to that.

Plus remember, you might be tired during on your own time and want to rest. It's best not to overbook yourself.

 

[WonderinAland]

That's exactly the advice I was looking for! Thank you so much!!

 

[Calfan]

While I agree that you shouldn't necessarily book tours or activities for your ABD on-your-own time, depending on the trip I do think it is a good idea to have some ideas of sites you might want to visit or things you might want to do during this time. On our Scotland ABD, we had minimal on your own time, and there was no issue filling it with a quick souvenir buying expedition or a bit of rest. However, on the Central Europe ABD, there was significant on your own time in Vienna that I was not expecting (5-6 hours on two afternoons, if I recall correctly), and I felt unprepared to utilize this time effectively because we had not done any prior research on Vienna.

 

[WonderinAland]

Good thing I like reading travel guides...
Thanks again!

 

[Woodview]

If you can get a copy of " EyeWitness Travel " Germany

Then go to page 296 and you have All the info on Heidelberg Castle.


It just happens that I will be in that area in late June . ( going, by self drive car from

Munich to Zurich , Basle , Black Forest , Stuttgart & back )

 

[SingingMom]

We are going on our first ABD (Germany) this summer. I'm curious how much planning you experts do before you go and how much you just let them do it all for you. We have one pre-day in Heidelberg that I want to plan, but what about "free" time during the tour? I don't want to waste time planning things we won't ever do, but I don't want to wander aimlessly. TIA

We took this trip July 2013 and loved it! We arrived the day before and took a river cruise down the Neckar, which was lovely. We walked through the shops and went to Saturday evening mass at a pretty Catholic Church. The prayers and hymns were so pretty in German. We ate outside in a pretty garden. Lots to see right outside the hotel in Heidelberg. The following day we had time in between to even take a dip in the pool.

We had time in Waldeck but there wasn't much to do in the area. Rothenberg had great shops and was fun to walk around. Munich was fabulous but simply not enough time. I wish we had an extra day there. All in all - not a tremendous amount of on your own time to plan much.

 

[sayhello]

While I agree that you shouldn't necessarily book tours or activities for your ABD on-your-own time, depending on the trip I do think it is a good idea to have some ideas of sites you might want to visit or things you might want to do during this time. On our Scotland ABD, we had minimal on your own time, and there was no issue filling it with a quick souvenir buying expedition or a bit of rest. However, on the Central Europe ABD, there was significant on your own time in Vienna that I was not expecting (5-6 hours on two afternoons, if I recall correctly), and I felt unprepared to utilize this time effectively because we had not done any prior research on Vienna.

Was that 5-6 hours total, or 10-12 hours for both days? That's a lot of on your own time in one place. I'll definitely have to make plans for that! Thanks!

Sayhello

 

[Calfan]

Was that 5-6 hours total, or 10-12 hours for both days? That's a lot of on your own time in one place. I'll definitely have to make plans for that! Thanks!

Sayhello

It was 10-12 hours for both days. Way more than I was expecting, and not ideal in my viewpoint. I think it played into my liking Vienna least of the places we visited on the ABD.

 

[sayhello]

It was 10-12 hours for both days. Way more than I was expecting, and not ideal in my viewpoint. I think it played into my liking Vienna least of the places we visited on the ABD.

Thanks! This is a very good thing to know!

Sayhello