My intinerary

hi everyone. im flying to europe the first of january, and i have a rough idea of an intinerary. i dont have much time so i have to be more or less efficient. i post it here, in case anyone wants to give me an advice, of how to travel or about the places im going, or telling me about any unavoidable place within my route that i didnt know.

• spain*: i'll be in the madrid area for 5, 6 days the most. a couple of days in the city, and then some day trips to toledo and segovia

then i fly to

• portugal*: 5 or 6 days the most. i think im buying the eurail portugal pass. lisbon and sintra 2 or 3 days, then heading to coimbra i want to pass by tomar and batalha. then back from coimbra to lisbon, for a flight to
• germany*: ill be in freiburg for a month and a half for a scholarship. i think they are taking us to strasbourg and basel. im also interested in doing some day trips to french alsace, i checked colmar, and keysersberg and ribeauville.

thanks in advance

Note that around Freiburg is the Black Forest. It is one of the top tourist destinations in Germany, right along with the Rhine Valley. I don't know much about the area, but set at least 1-2 weekends aside for the Black Forest. Talk to locals where to go to. (I heard that Baden-Baden is very nice, mainly for its spa.)

http://www.germany-tourism.de/tmp/winterexperience_14823.htm
http://www.germany-tourism.de/ENG/destination_germany/master_tlkur-id1039.htm

http://www.blackforest-tourism.com/

Don't hesitate to contact the tourist information, they are usually very helpful in Germany. (They might reply to you in German though.)

Also note that there is a special ticket, called the Baden-Württemberg-Ticket. It allows you to travel all over the state Baden-Württemberg on regional trains for a day.

http://www.bahn.de/international/view/en/prices/germany/laender_tickets.shtml

You should also check out the "Lidl-Ticket". This is a special offer ticket from Deutsche Bahn that is currently on sale in certain shops in Germany. By the time you get to Germany it should be available on ebay.de because people who bought it now realise they don't need it or cannot use it. It allows you to travel all over Germany for 55 EUR return.

[ Edit: Edited on Dec 18, 2008, at 12:13 PM by t_maia ]

For something unusual:

http://p101306.typo3server.info/termine.html

It is a company that offers Winter-Canoe-Tours. The tour on the Elz that they do once or twice a month is very close to Freiburg and the ones in Alsace (on the Ill) and on the Rhine aren't too far either. Cost is about 40-50 EUR plus train ticket from Freiburg.

And this is the site where you can arrange for a snowshoe hike around the Feldberg, not far from Freiburg:

http://www.naturpark-suedschwarzwald.de/erlebnis/sport_wellness/sport/schneeschuh_wandern.php
http://www.naturschutzzentren-bw.de/servlet/PB/menu/1154938_l1/index.htm

There are guided tours every Sunday, starting at noon. These tours are free of charge, but you have to pay a rental fee of 10 EUR for the shoes. Call 07676 9336-30 (from Germany) to reserve a spot in the tour. Do this way in advance, these tours are very popular.

[ Edit: Edited on Dec 18, 2008, at 2:15 PM by t_maia ]