[getbak]

I did a trip similar to #3 two years ago to coincide with the start of Oktoberfest in Munich.

What I did was fly direct to Frankfurt and back and took the train between cities. I went from Frankfurt to Leipzig, to Berlin, to Prague, to Vienna, to Munich, to Stuttgart, then back to Frankfurt, with a final day trip to Cologne from Frankfurt.

I went to Frankfurt because it's one of the few cities in Europe that has a direct flight from Calgary. I don't know what options you have from Ottawa. I'm sure there are a lot of options from Montreal or Toronto.

Frankfurt has a great airport, but there isn't much to see in the city. I chose Leipzig because I had a two day hole in my schedule between Frankfurt and Berlin and needed somewhere in between the two to stay. It's a nice little city and has the history as being where the protests against Communist rule in East Germany started in the late 80s, but there's not much there.

If you want great nightlife, Berlin is the city for that. If you do either trip 2 or 3, you need to make sure you include some time in Berlin along the way. Definitely one of my favourite cities.

Prague is incredible in every conceivable way. Again, crazy nightlife. Cheap beer, and the best looking women of any city I've ever visited.

For some reason, I wasn't as impressed by Vienna as I expected to be. I did get pleasantly drunk on a boat tour on the Danube. You can easily go to Bratislava and Budapest from Vienna, but I haven't been to either, so I can't comment.

I love Munich too. Munich during Oktoberfest is the one thing I've seen that puts Calgary during Stampede to shame. Even outside of Oktoberfest time, the beer halls are a fun experience. Try to go to the ones other than Hofbrauhaus, which is where they send all the tourists.

If you're not a car guy, there isn't much to see in Stuttgart. If you are a car guy, the Mercedes and Porsche museums are nice (the BMW building in Munich is nice too, but I didn't go to the museum there).

If you do find yourself in the Frankfurt area, you should go to Cologne. The Cathedral is pretty amazing and the high-speed train from Frankfurt gets you there in about an hour. Unless you're flying into or out of Frankfurt, I wouldn't bother with going there.


If you do trip #2, I'd take out both Brussels and Frankfurt. I'd make it Amsterdam-Cologne-Berlin-Hamburg-Copenhagen instead. Brussels and Frankfurt are both business cities, and Cologne and Berlin are nicer.