Three days adds Düsseldorf’s Altbier rivalry to the two-day base-and-Bonn pattern: settle into Cologne on day 1, day trip to Bonn on day 2, then Düsseldorf on day 3. Tighter on time? Drop to the 2-day version . More time to spend? Step up to 4 , 5 , 6 , or 7 days . Want all three days inside the city itself? Our 3-day Cologne itinerary never leaves town.

Three days in Cologne turns the 2 day core into something more complete: the Dom and Altstadt still open the trip, but now the Chocolate Museum, the Rheinauhafen harbor, and Sudstadt get a full day of their own. Need less time? Drop back to the 2 day itinerary . Want more? The 4 day plan builds straight on top of this one. Book these before you go Book Dom tower and treasury tickets on...

Four days folds a Brühl half-day onto the Cologne-Bonn-Dusseldorf pattern: settle in on day 1, Bonn on day 2, Düsseldorf on day 3, then Brühl’s Baroque palaces plus a free Cologne afternoon on day 4. Need less time? Drop back to the 3-day version . Want Aachen and the Rhine too? Step up to 5 , 6 , or 7 days . Prefer four days entirely inside the city? Our 4-day Cologne itinerary never leaves...

Four days in Cologne keeps the same spine as the 3 day version and adds a full day across the river: the Wallraf-Richartz Museum, the Rhine cable car, and Deutz. Came from the 3 day itinerary ? Days 1 through 3 are identical here. Want to keep going? The 5 day plan adds Ehrenfeld next. Book these before you go Book Dom tower and treasury tickets on GetYourGuide , the new 12 EUR sightseeing fee has...

Five days adds Aachen and Charlemagne’s UNESCO cathedral to the Cologne-Bonn-Dusseldorf-Brühl pattern: settle in on day 1, Bonn on day 2, Düsseldorf on day 3, Brühl on day 4, then Aachen on day 5. Shorter trip? Drop back to 2 , 3 , or 4 days . Want the Rhine and the Ruhr too? Step up to 6 or 7 days . Rather stay in the city the whole five days?

Five days in Cologne carries the same 4 day spine into Ehrenfeld and the city’s darker history at the EL-DE-Haus. Coming from the 4 day itinerary ? Days 1 through 4 do not change. Ready to push further? The 6 day plan adds Carnival culture next. Book these before you go Book Dom tower and treasury tickets on GetYourGuide , the new 12 EUR sightseeing fee has made the walk-up line...

Six days adds a full Romantic Rhine day to the Cologne-Bonn-Dusseldorf-Brühl-Aachen pattern: settle in on day 1, Bonn on day 2, Düsseldorf on day 3, Brühl on day 4, Aachen on day 5, then a Rhine castle cruise segment on day 6. Shorter trip? Drop back to 4 or 5 days . Want the Ruhr too? Step up to the full 7-day version . Rather stay entirely in the city? Our 6-day Cologne itinerary never leaves...

Six days in Cologne keeps the 5 day spine and hands the extra day to Carnival culture and a proper second pass through the city’s brauhaus scene. Coming from the 5 day itinerary ? Days 1 through 5 carry over unchanged. Going all the way? The 7 day plan closes the loop. Book these before you go Book Dom tower and treasury tickets on GetYourGuide , the new 12 EUR sightseeing fee has made the...

Seven days completes the whole Rhineland loop from a single Cologne base: settle in on day 1, then Bonn, Düsseldorf, Brühl, Aachen, the Romantic Rhine, and finally Essen’s Zollverein UNESCO site, one gateway per day. Shorter trip? Every shorter version of this itinerary, 2 through 6 days , is this same spine with the later days trimmed off. Rather stay entirely in the city for all seven...

Seven days in Cologne is the full city deep dive, no out-of-town day trips, just the whole place done properly. Coming from the 6 day itinerary ? Days 1 through 6 stay exactly the same. If a week in one city sounds like too much, the 4 day plan is the tighter version of this same route. Book these before you go Book Dom tower and treasury tickets on GetYourGuide , the new 12 EUR sightseeing fee...

Cologne wins the “where do I actually stay” argument for the whole Rhineland, and it is not close. Bonn is 20 minutes away by regional train. Düsseldorf is 21. Aachen’s UNESCO cathedral is 33 minutes by ICE. The Romantic Rhine’s castle stretch starts about an hour south, with KD boats running the river itself. Pick one Cologne hotel, buy a Deutschland-Ticket for EUR63 a...

Cologne hits different in 2026: the Kolner Dom just started charging a 12 EUR sightseeing fee, so half the “free things to do” lists about this city are already out of date. Here is the actual plan. Two focused days nail the essentials (the Dom, the Altstadt, a proper Kolsch crawl), and every extra day past that buys you Museum Ludwig, the Chocolate Museum, and neighborhoods most...

Two days is enough to hit Palermo’s historic core hard without turning it into a checklist sprint, the centre rewards a slow walk more than a rushed itinerary ever could. Got more time? Step up to the 3-day version and add Monreale, or go all the way to 7 days for the full spread. Full destination rundown is in our Palermo travel guide . Book these before you go Cappella Palatina...

Three days lets you add Monreale properly, non-negotiable in this itinerary, without cutting the historic centre short. Tighter schedule? Drop to the 2-day version . More time on your hands? Move up to 4 , 5 , or 7 days . Full background is in our Palermo travel guide . Book these before you go Cappella Palatina skip-the-line entry: check availability on GetYourGuide Teatro Massimo guided tour:...

Four days gets you Palermo’s centre at an easy pace plus a full day at the sea in Cefalu, no rushing required anywhere on the route. Shorter trip? Drop to 3 or 2 days . Got a fifth, sixth, or seventh day to spend? See 5 , 6 , or 7 days . Full background is in our Palermo travel guide . Book these before you go Cappella Palatina skip-the-line entry: check availability on GetYourGuide Teatro...

Five days is where Palermo stops feeling like a checklist and starts feeling like a place you’re actually staying in, with a full day free for Segesta’s temple on top of everything else. Tighter trip? Drop to 4 , 3 , or 2 days . Have a sixth or seventh day? Move up to 6 or 7 days . Full background is in our Palermo travel guide . Book these before you go

Six days lets the trip slow all the way down, room for La Martorana, Kalsa’s galleries, and a proper wine-bar evening on top of the city’s headline sights and three of its best day trips. Shorter trip? Drop to 5 , 4 , or fewer days. Have a full week? Move up to 7 days . Full background is in our Palermo travel guide . Book these before you go

Seven days is more Palermo than most guides know what to do with, so the extra day goes back to whichever market won you over rather than chasing one more distant ruin. Shorter trip? See 6 , 5 , or fewer days. Full background is in our Palermo travel guide . Book these before you go Cappella Palatina skip-the-line entry: check availability on GetYourGuide Teatro Massimo guided tour: browse time...

Palermo throws three thousand years at you in a single afternoon walk and somehow makes it work: a Norman cathedral standing on Arab foundations, a baroque fountain full of naked marble bodies, a market stall frying chickpea fritters, all inside fifty meters of the same street. The verdict up front: two full days covers the historic centre at a real pace, three lets you add Monreale properly, and...

Two days sounds tight until you realize the entire historic core fits inside a 20-minute walk. You’re not racing between far-flung sights, you’re looping through a compact city that hands you something good around every corner. Want more time to breathe? Step up to the 3-day , 4-day , or full week-long version. Book these before you go Hotel: check Grand-Place and Sablon availability...

Two days is enough to run this at full speed: one day earning Brussels as your base, one day proving why that base matters, a direct 55-65 minute train out to Bruges. Need more gateways? See the 3-day , 4-day , or full week version of this same route. Book these before you go Hotel near Central Station or Brussels-Midi: compare rates on Booking.com Bruges Belfry Tower timed ticket (sells out in...

Three days is the sweet spot: enough time to slow down instead of sprinting between landmarks, and enough to get past the postcard version into the neighborhoods locals actually love. Tighter schedule? Drop to the 2-day version . More time on your hands? Step up to 4 , 5 , or a full week . Book these before you go Hotel: check Sablon and Grand-Place rates on Booking.com Atomium skip-the-line...

Three days is where Brussels-as-a-base starts to prove itself: one city day, then two separate gateways, Bruges at 55-65 minutes and Ghent in as little as 27. Need a shorter or longer version? See the 2-day , 4-day , or full week plan. Book these before you go Hotel near Central Station or Brussels-Midi: compare rates on Booking.com Bruges Belfry Tower timed ticket (sells out in July and August):...

Four days is where Brussels starts to click. You’re not sprinting the greatest-hits list anymore, you’ve got room to let a museum run long or follow a side street that looks interesting. Want it tighter? Try 2 or 3 days . Want more? Go 5 , 6 , or a full week . Book these before you go Hotel: check Grand-Place, Sablon, and Ixelles rates on Booking.com Atomium skip-the-line tickets:...

Four days gets you the full classic trio: Bruges at 55-65 minutes, Ghent in as little as 27, and Antwerp at 45-48, on top of a real Brussels day. See the 3-day version if you’re cutting Antwerp, or the 5-day plan if you want Leuven folded in too. Book these before you go Hotel near Central Station or Brussels-Midi: compare rates on Booking.com Bruges Belfry Tower timed ticket (sells out in...

Five days means you get to slow all the way down. This build gives you the full historic core, the EU side of the city, the art and antiques, and a fifth day for the park-and-museum cluster most two-day visitors never even hear about. Need it shorter? Try 3 or 4 days . Have more time? Go 6 or a full week . Book these before you go Hotel: check Ixelles, Sablon, and Grand-Place rates on Booking.

Five days folds in Leuven, the cheapest and shortest gateway on the whole rail network, right after the classic Bruges-Ghent-Antwerp trio. See the 4-day plan if you’re cutting Leuven, or the 6-day plan to add Waterloo too. Book these before you go Hotel near Central Station or Brussels-Midi: compare rates on Booking.com Bruges Belfry Tower timed ticket (sells out in July and August): check...

Six days turns Brussels from a weekend trip into something closer to actually living there for a bit. You’ll cover the landmarks, sure, but you’ll also get a full extra day deep in the neighborhoods most itineraries never reach. Shorter trip? Try 4 or 5 days . Got a full week? See the 7-day version . Book these before you go Hotel: check Saint-Gilles, Sablon, and Grand-Place rates on...

Six days means five gateways off one Brussels base: Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp, Leuven, and now Waterloo, about 30 minutes out and worth half a day standing on the actual battlefield. See the 5-day plan if you’re cutting Waterloo, or the full week for the Ardennes verdict too. Book these before you go Hotel near Central Station or Brussels-Midi: compare rates on Booking.com Bruges Belfry Tower...

A full week in Brussels means you get to do something almost nobody does: run out of famous sights before you run out of days, then spend the last one just being a person who lives there for an afternoon. Here’s the whole build, the same spine as our 2 through 6-day versions, extended all the way out. Book these before you go Hotel: check Grand-Place, Sablon, and Saint-Gilles rates on...

Seven days is the full version of this trip: a full week where Brussels sits still as your base and five separate rail gateways fan out from it, plus an honest call on the one gateway that doesn’t work by rail at all. See the 6-day plan if you’re skipping the Ardennes entirely. Book these before you go Hotel near Central Station or Brussels-Midi: compare rates on Booking.com Bruges...

Here’s the move that actually pays off in Belgium: pick one hotel in Brussels and never repack. Bruges is a direct train away in 55-65 minutes, Ghent in as little as 27, Antwerp in 45-48, and SNCB overhauled its national fare structure in October 2025 so a standard second-class ticket now caps at 20.90 EUR no matter how far you ride. Six or seven cities become reachable from one bed. This...

Three days covers the Grand-Place, an honest Manneken Pis stop, the Atomium, and the Magritte Museum without sprinting. Four lets you add the comic mural route and a real afternoon in the Sablon and Marolles. Either way, go back to the Grand-Place after dark at least once, lit guildhall facades against a black sky beat the daytime version outright, and that single walk is worth building the whole...

Two days is tight for a Bavaria trip, but it’s enough for one full day in Munich as your base and one genuine day trip to Neuschwanstein Castle, the payoff worth building the whole itinerary around. Want more legroom? See the 3-day or 5-day version of this same plan. Book these before you go: Neuschwanstein timed guided-tour ticket, released up to 8 weeks ahead through the official channel;...

Two days is tight for a city this dense, but Munich’s essential list fits into 48 hours better than almost anywhere else in Europe: one day for Marienplatz and the Residenz, one day for the Englischer Garten and Schwabing. Need more time for the palaces and museums? See the 3 day itinerary or the full Munich travel guide . Book these before you go Check rates on Booking.com for an Altstadt...

Three days turns Munich from a one-castle weekend into a real Bavaria base: one day settling into the city, one day at Neuschwanstein, and a third at the Dachau Memorial, kept deliberately on its own day rather than rushed alongside the castle. Need a tighter trip? See the 2-day version , or the fuller 4-day plan if you can add Zugspitze. Book these before you go: Neuschwanstein timed guided-tour...

Three days moves Munich from “hit the highlights” into “actually get a feel for the place.” The extra day goes to Nymphenburg Palace and the Deutsches Museum, both worth a real afternoon rather than a quick stop. Tighter on time? See the 2 day itinerary ; want more? See the 4 day version or the full Munich travel guide . Book these before you go Check rates on Booking.com...

Four days stretches the Bavaria gateway plan into a genuine circuit: Munich as home base, then Neuschwanstein, Dachau, and Germany’s highest peak, one full day each. Coming from the 3-day plan ? This is the same spine plus Zugspitze. Want Salzburg too? Jump to 5 days . Book these before you go: Neuschwanstein timed guided-tour ticket, released up to 8 weeks ahead; summer 10:00-14:00 slots...

Four days lets Munich breathe. You still hit every essential from a tighter trip, but now there’s room for BMW Welt and a proper swing through the museum quarter without sprinting between train platforms. Shorter on time? See the 3 day itinerary ; want a full week? Jump to the 7 day version or the Munich travel guide . Book these before you go Check rates on Booking.com for a base in the...

Five days means Munich stops being the whole trip and becomes the launchpad: a castle, a memorial, Germany’s highest peak, then a train ticket into a different country and back before dinner. This builds directly on the 4-day plan , adding Salzburg; go to 6 days if Nuremberg fits your schedule too. Book these before you go: Neuschwanstein timed guided-tour ticket, released up to 8 weeks...

By day five you’ve earned the right to slow down. This plan keeps every big-ticket sight from a shorter visit and adds a full day of neighborhoods most itineraries never mention. Need less time? See the 4 day itinerary ; want more? Jump to the 6 day version or the full Munich travel guide . Book these before you go Check rates on Booking.com for a base near the center, five nights books out...

Six days is a full Bavaria-and-beyond circuit: city, castle, memorial, mountain, Austria, then a fast train north into Franconia. This is the 5-day plan plus Nuremberg; add Regensburg for the full 7-day version. Book these before you go: Neuschwanstein timed guided-tour ticket, released up to 8 weeks ahead; summer 10:00-14:00 slots sell out. A hotel near Munich Hauptbahnhof, five of your six days...

Six days in one city sounds like a lot until you realize how much Munich actually holds. This plan keeps everything from a shorter visit intact and adds a full day for the small stuff: the toy museum, the second beer garden, the market stalls you walked past on Day 1 without stopping. Need less time? See the 5 day itinerary ; want a full week? See the 7 day version or the Munich travel guide .

Seven days gets you every big swing Bavaria has to offer from a single Munich base: a fairy-tale castle, a memorial that matters, Germany’s highest peak, a foreign country by lunch, and two completely different Bavarian cities. This is the 6-day plan plus Regensburg, the most underrated stop on this whole list. Pace yourself, this is a full week of real travel, not a lazy vacation. Book...

A full week in Munich is enough time to stop feeling like a tourist and start feeling like someone who just happens to be there a while. Every essential from a shorter trip is still here, plus a full neighborhood day and a final day built for nothing but wandering. Shorter on time? See the 6 day itinerary or the full Munich travel guide . Book these before you go Check rates on Booking.

Forget treating Munich as a one-city stop. Use it as your launchpad and eight genuinely different Bavaria day trips open up within 3.5 hours door to door: a fairy-tale castle, Germany’s highest peak, a foreign country by lunch, and a memorial that deserves its own headspace. Base yourself in Munich for 4 to 7 nights, pick 2 or 3 of the trips below, and you get a week that feels like three...

Munich rewards people who show up with an opinion already formed: two days covers the core of Marienplatz, the Residenz and the Englischer Garten, three days adds Nymphenburg Palace and the Deutsches Museum, and anything past four is really about neighborhoods and second helpings of beer garden. Skip the trap of making Hofbräuhaus your only beer hall, it’s one loud room among hundreds, and...

Munich’s sights split cleanly into “free but timed” (the Glockenspiel, the Englischer Garten) and “cheap but worth booking ahead” (the Residenz, Nymphenburg, the New Town Hall tower). Get those two categories straight before you land and the whole visit runs smoother: buy the €7 tower ticket online instead of only watching the Glockenspiel from the square, and book...

Two days is tight, so this trip does exactly two things and does them right: one day locking down the Athens essentials, one day proving the city works as a launchpad by driving out to Cape Sounion for sunset over the Temple of Poseidon, 70km down the coast. Building a longer trip? Jump straight to the 3 , 4 , 5 , or 6-day version , all of which build on this exact spine.

Two days in Athens means picking exactly two things and doing them properly: the Acropolis and its Museum on day one, the Ancient Agora and the old town on day two. Resist bolting on a third museum, you will enjoy what you do see far more. Need more room to breathe? Check the 3-day or 7-day version of this same plan. Book these before you go: Acropolis timed-entry ticket or skip-the-line tour on...