Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. A full week in Cologne, without a single day trip out of the city, is enough time to do what the shorter versions of this itinerary deliberately skip: the interim Roman-Germanic collection, a slow final day, and the...

Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Seven days is enough to base in Cologne and hit every Rhineland day trip worth the train fare, without repacking a bag once. Day 1 sets up the city; Days 2 through 7 send you to Bruhl, Bonn, Dusseldorf, Aachen, the...

Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Cologne is a one to two day city, and pretending otherwise just means a second, thinner lap of the same Altstadt lanes. The better move is to treat the cathedral, the Kolsch, and the rebuilt old town as your base,...

Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. As of 1 July 2026 the Kölner Dom charges EUR 12 to sightsee, ending centuries of free entry for tourists. That single change wrecks half the “free things to do in Cologne” lists still circulating online.

Palermo 2 Day Itinerary (No Tourist Traps) Two days is enough to cover Palermo’s historic centre properly if you don’t try to bolt on a day trip. Day 1 walks the Arab-Norman core and the food markets; Day 2 is the Cappella Palatina, Teatro Massimo and the Catacombs. Monreale gets cut on purpose here, not forgotten; see the 3 day version if you can add a day, or the full guide for...

Palermo 3 Day Itinerary (No Tourist Traps) Skip the version of this itinerary that saves the third day for “relaxing.” Monreale is not an optional half-day filler, it is a separate town with mosaics that rival anything in the historic centre, and three days is exactly enough to cover the Arab-Norman core properly and still get there without rushing. Shorter on time? See the 2 day...

Palermo 4 Day Itinerary (No Tourist Traps) Four days is the point where Cefalu earns its place: a real Norman cathedral, a medieval old town and a beach, all inside a train ride shorter than most people’s daily commute. This plan keeps the same city-and-Monreale core as the 3 day itinerary and adds a full day out east. Want Mondello too, see the 5 day version . Book these before you go:

Palermo 5 Day Itinerary (No Tourist Traps) Five days is enough to do this properly without cramming Monreale and Cefalu into the same afternoon, which is exactly the mistake most itineraries make. Spread it out: two days for the city, one for Monreale, one for Cefalu, one for the beach at Mondello. This extends the 4 day itinerary by a single relaxed day; add a deeper city day instead of the beach...

Palermo 6 Day Itinerary (No Tourist Traps) Six days lets you do the city, Monreale, Cefalu and Mondello without rushing any of them, then spend a sixth day going back into Palermo for what the first five skipped: the puppet museum, a contemporary art wing most visitors never find, and one more pass through the markets. This builds directly on the 5 day itinerary ; trim the extra city day and you...

Palermo 7 Day Itinerary (No Tourist Traps) A week in Palermo means the city, Monreale, Cefalu and Mondello with room to spare, plus two extra days for the parts most visitors never reach: a genuinely underrated archaeology collection, a cooking class, and the puppet museum. This extends the 6 day itinerary by one more deep city day rather than reaching for Segesta or the Aeolian Islands, both of...

Palermo: 8 Things Worth Doing (3 to Skip) Everyone lands in Palermo braced for a mafia tour. Drop that idea before you collect your bags: there’s no meaningful Cosa Nostra circuit here worth a euro of your budget, and chasing it means missing the actual city, the densest run of Arab-Norman architecture in Italy, three food markets that beat most sit-down restaurants, and a catacombs visit...

Two days is a real constraint, so this itinerary spends one day in Brussels itself and one day out on the rails, because that’s the trip that actually justifies basing yourself here. Add a day at a time with our 3-day through 7-day versions of this same Belgium-base plan, or see our Brussels 2 day itinerary if you’d rather stay in the city both days. Book these before you go:

Two days is enough Brussels for most first visits, as long as you don’t waste an hour of it on the one statue everyone insists you must see. Day 1 covers the old city and food, Day 2 covers museums, comics, and the Atomium. Want more? The 3-day version adds the EU Quarter and Saint-Gilles. Book these before you go: A Grand-Place area hotel : book central, the old city stays fully walkable...

Three days is enough to stop choosing between Belgium’s two rival canal towns and just do both. One day in Brussels, one in Ghent, one in Bruges, each a direct train under 65 minutes away. Drop a day and use our 2-day version , or keep extending with the 4-day through 7-day plans. Book these before you go: Your Brussels hotel : near Brussels-Central or Brussels-Midi keeps every day...

Three days lets you do Brussels properly instead of speed-running it: two days for the essentials from our 2-day plan , one more for the EU Quarter and the neighborhood locals actually recommend. Need longer? The 4-day version adds Mont des Arts and the Royal Palace. Book these before you go: A Grand-Place area hotel : book central, the old city stays fully walkable Atomium timed-entry ticket :...

Four days adds Antwerp to the Brussels-Ghent-Bruges spine, the biggest city on this list after Brussels itself and the one that most rewards the depth a fourth day allows. Drop back to our 3-day plan or keep going with the 5-day through 7-day versions. Book these before you go: Your Brussels hotel : near Brussels-Central or Brussels-Midi, every train below leaves from one of those two stations...

Four days stays entirely inside Brussels, no day trip required: the 3-day plan plus a fourth day for Mont des Arts, the summer-only Royal Palace, and the Marolles’ second, quieter half. If Bruges or Ghent are the reason you want a fourth day, our Brussels Belgium 4-day itinerary covers those instead. Book these before you go: A Grand-Place area hotel : book central, the old city stays fully...

Five days is enough to pair the two half-day trips, Waterloo and Leuven, into a single fifth day rather than sacrificing a full day to either. The rest of the spine holds from the shorter versions: Brussels, Ghent, Bruges, Antwerp. Drop back to the 4-day plan or keep extending with the 6-day and 7-day versions. Book these before you go: Your Brussels hotel : near Brussels-Central or Brussels-Midi,...

Five days is more Brussels than most people plan for, and more than most people need if they waste a day on the train out of town. Stay put instead: the 4-day plan plus a genuinely slow fifth day. The city has enough to fill five days without leaving it once. Book these before you go: A Grand-Place area hotel : book central, the old city stays fully walkable Atomium timed-entry ticket : the door...

Six days is one more than the day trips alone need, so this version spends it back in Brussels rather than forcing a sixth rail trip that doesn’t exist within an easy hour. The five-day spine, Ghent, Bruges, Antwerp, Waterloo and Leuven, holds exactly as it does in the 5-day plan ; day six catches what day one skipped. Drop a day with the 5-day version or add the Ardennes with the 7-day plan...

Six days in one city sounds excessive until you realize most Brussels itineraries burn a day on a train to somewhere else. This one doesn’t: the 5-day plan plus a sixth day for the Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert and Cantillon’s working lambic brewery. Every day below stays in Brussels, because the city earns it. Book these before you go: A Grand-Place area hotel : book central, the old...

Seven days is the first length on this list long enough to reach the one Belgian region the trains can’t: the Ardennes. Where the 6-day version spends its extra day back in Brussels, this one spends its extra two on a rental car and a night away from the rails entirely. Days one through five hold the same spine as the 4-day and 5-day versions: Brussels, Ghent, Bruges, Antwerp, then Waterloo...

Ask a Brussels local for their favorite fritkot and you’ll get a genuinely divided answer: half say Antoine near Parc du Cinquantenaire, the other half insist on Frit’Flagey down in Ixelles. A week here, the 6-day plan plus a seventh day for exactly that rivalry, gives you room to settle it yourself without ever leaving the city. Book these before you go: A Grand-Place area hotel :...

Brussels Is the Base. The Trip Is Everywhere Else. Two days inside Brussels and the in-city checklist is basically done: the Grand-Place, a look at the famously tiny bronze boy, one cone of fries (our Brussels city guide covers that half properly). That’s not a knock on the city, it’s the actual pitch. Brussels’ real job is sitting 27 to 65 minutes by direct train from Ghent,...

Brussels gets treated like a layover city, a stopover between London and Amsterdam. That’s a mistake, but it’s partly the city’s own fault: it buries its best stuff behind one overhyped statue and a district full of grey office buildings. Skip the wrong half and the rest holds up fine for 2 to 3 full days, longer if you slow down. Brussels essentials Days needed 2 to 3 for the...

Two days is one day in Munich and one day at Neuschwanstein, the single non-negotiable trip this base sets up. It’s not enough time for Dachau or Salzburg too: see the 3-day or 4-day versions for those. Want the city itself, deeper? Our Munich 2-day itinerary covers that ground instead. Book these before you go: Neuschwanstein day tour by train : the timed slot is the actual bottleneck, not...

Three days builds on our 2-day plan with one more day trip: Munich for orientation, Neuschwanstein because it’s non-negotiable, then Dachau, treated with its own pacing rather than bolted onto the castle day. Need Salzburg or the Zugspitze too? Our 4-day and 5-day versions add those. Book these before you go: Neuschwanstein day tour by train : the timed slot sells out weeks ahead in summer...

Four days is where a Munich trip stops being a city break and becomes a Bavaria trip with a Munich hotel room. It’s our 3-day plan , Munich, Neuschwanstein, Dachau, plus a fourth day crossing into Austria for Salzburg. Most itineraries stop at three days and skip the border entirely; that’s a mistake. Want the Zugspitze too? See the 5-day version . Book these before you go:...

Five days buys the full Bavaria set: Munich, then Neuschwanstein, Dachau and Salzburg from our 4-day plan , plus a fifth day on the Zugspitze, Germany’s highest point. Most people spend day five in a fourth museum instead; don’t be most people. Want Nuremberg too? The 6-day version adds it. Book these before you go: Neuschwanstein day tour by train : the timed slot sells out weeks...

Six days is our 5-day plan , Munich, Neuschwanstein, Dachau, Salzburg and the Zugspitze, plus a sixth day on the ICE to Nuremberg. Book the Neuschwanstein ticket before you land, not on the day; the official ticket center opens reservations up to 8 weeks out and the summer slots sell out weeks ahead. Want Regensburg too? See the 7-day version . Book these before you go: Neuschwanstein day tour by...

Seven days is our 6-day plan , Munich, Neuschwanstein, Dachau, Salzburg, the Zugspitze and Nuremberg, plus a seventh day in Regensburg, the UNESCO old town most Munich-based trips skip entirely. Some older versions of this itinerary sent people to a “Neusammhof Farm” for a day of Bavarian agriculture; that place isn’t a real stop on any credible Munich day-trip list, so...

Two days covers Munich’s core and nothing else: old town and the Residenz on day one, the English Garden plus one big pick, BMW Welt or the Museum, on day two. Nymphenburg and the Deutsches Museum don’t fit, save them for the 3 Day Itinerary or the fuller 7 Day Itinerary . Neuschwanstein doesn’t fit either, it’s a different guide entirely. Book these before you go: Munich...

Three days adds Nymphenburg Palace and the Kunstareal museums to the two-day core: old town and the Residenz on day one, the English Garden and BMW or the Deutsches Museum on day two, Nymphenburg and Maxvorstadt on day three. Shorter trip? See the 2 Day Itinerary . More time? The 4 Day Itinerary gives the Deutsches Museum its own full day instead of a choice. The Eisbach wave beats every church...

Four days gives the Deutsches Museum the full day it demands instead of forcing a choice against BMW Welt, plus old town on day one, the English Garden and BMW on day two, and Nymphenburg on day four. Coming for less time? Use the 3 Day Itinerary , which makes you pick between the museum and BMW. Have a fifth day? The 5 Day Itinerary adds Glockenbachviertel and the Isar riverside on top of this...

Five days keeps the whole trip inside Munich itself: old town, the Residenz, the English Garden, BMW or the Deutsches Museum, Nymphenburg, and a fifth day in Glockenbachviertel and along the Isar, the neighbourhoods that don’t make the postcards. No Dachau, no Neuschwanstein here, both belong to a longer trip or a dedicated Bavaria guide, not squeezed between city sights. Shorter version:...

Six days in Munich means you’ve already burned through the checklist by day four. More days should mean fewer tourist traps, not another lap of the same ones, so day five and six send you where Münchners actually drink and eat once the postcard sights are done. Coming for less time? The 5 Day Itinerary covers everything through Glockenbachviertel. A full week? The 7 Day Itinerary adds one...

Most seven-day Munich guides are padding, extra museums nobody asked for, a second look at the same square. This one keeps the 6 Day Itinerary ’s spine and adds a genuine slow day instead of a filler sight, all still inside the city. If a full week in Munich itself sounds like too much city and not enough Bavaria, the Munich, Germany 7 Day Itinerary swaps several of these days for...

Munich’s own sights fill two, maybe three days. Everything past that is Bavaria itself, and that’s the real reason to base here instead of just landing and leaving again. Six day trips earn a full day off the calendar: Neuschwanstein, the Dachau Memorial, the Zugspitze, Salzburg, Nuremberg, and the still-underrated Regensburg. Two more get pitched constantly and don’t survive the...

Two full days cover Munich’s core sights comfortably: the old town, the Residenz, the English Garden. A third day earns its keep with Nymphenburg or a museum. What doesn’t earn its keep is squeezing Neuschwanstein or Dachau into that same short trip, both live an hour-plus outside the city and deserve their own day, so they get their own guide. This one stays inside Munich’s...

Munich earns its reputation more than it strictly needs to. The Residenz, at EUR 10, outperforms most European palace museums twice the price. The Glockenspiel, the one thing every visitor photographs, is the one thing you can safely skip. Here’s an honest read on what in this city is worth your ticket and your time, and what’s just famous. The key facts Sight Price Time needed Worth...

Athens 2 Day Itinerary (No Tourist Traps) Two days in Athens means the Acropolis and its museum on Day 1, the Ancient Agora and Anafiotika on Day 2, and nothing else competing for the time. It is tight but workable if the Acropolis slot is booked before you land. Need more room? See the 3 day or 7 day version of this same plan. Book these before you go Acropolis timed ticket via hhticket.

Athens in 2 Days: Enough for the Hill and One Day Trip Two days isn’t enough to “do Athens,” so don’t try. Book the Acropolis for day one, then spend day two proving the city works as a Greece base rather than a stopover: Cape Sounion and the Temple of Poseidon at sunset, 70km down the coast. Longer trip? The 3 day version adds a Saronic island; the 7 day version adds three...

Athens 3 Day Itinerary (No Tourist Traps) Three days is the version of Athens that actually breathes: the Acropolis and its museum on Day 1, the Agora and Anafiotika on Day 2, and the National Archaeological Museum plus Monastiraki on Day 3. Shorter on time? Drop Day 3 and use the 2 day plan instead. Have a week? See the 7 day version , which extends this exact spine. Book these before you go...

Athens in 3 Days: The Hill, the Coast, and One Island Three days is where Athens stops being a stopover and starts being a base. Day one is the Acropolis, day two is a sunset run to Cape Sounion, and day three is a full day on Aegina, a genuine Saronic island reachable by ferry in about 40 minutes. Shorter trip? See the 2 day version. Longer? The 4 day version adds Delphi.

Athens 4 Day Itinerary (No Tourist Traps) Four days keeps the same spine as the 3 day plan and adds a fourth: the Acropolis and its museum, the Agora and Anafiotika, the National Archaeological Museum and Monastiraki, then Syntagma, the Temple of Olympian Zeus and a Lycabettus sunset. Still inside the city on purpose. Shorter trip? Use the 3 day version . More time? The 6 day plan extends this...

Athens in 4 Days: The Coast, an Island, and the Oracle Four days is where Athens starts earning its keep as a Greece base rather than a warm-up act. Keep the same spine as the shorter trip (the Acropolis, Cape Sounion, Aegina) and add a full day at Delphi, 180km away over Mount Parnassus. Shorter trip? See the 3 day version. Longer? The 5 day version adds the Peloponnese. Book these before you go:

Athens 5 Day Itinerary (No Tourist Traps) Five days is the same spine as the 4 day plan, plus a full day actually spent in Koukaki and Kolonaki instead of just sleeping and eating there between sights. The Acropolis and its museum, the Agora and Anafiotika, the National Archaeological Museum and Monastiraki, Syntagma and Lycabettus, then a slower fifth day. Tighter schedule? See the 4 day version...

Athens in 5 Days: Add the Peloponnese to the Mix Five days keeps the same spine as the shorter trips (Acropolis, Cape Sounion, Aegina, Delphi) and adds a full day in the Peloponnese: Nafplio, Mycenae, and Epidaurus in one loop. Shorter trip? See the 4 day version. Longer? The 6 day version adds a second island. Book these before you go: Acropolis timed entry , 8am or last slot, flat EUR 30 Cape...

Athens 6 Day Itinerary (No Tourist Traps) Six days keeps the 5 day spine intact and adds a sixth: a museum you actually choose instead of default to, plus Exarcheia and Gazi in the evening. The Acropolis and its museum, the Agora and Anafiotika, the National Archaeological Museum and Monastiraki, Syntagma and Lycabettus, Koukaki and Kolonaki, then this. Prefer a tighter trip? Use the 5 day version...

Athens in 6 Days: Two Islands, Not Just One Six days keeps the same spine as the five day trip (Acropolis, Cape Sounion, Aegina, Delphi, the Peloponnese loop) and adds a second Saronic island: Hydra, the car-free one. Shorter trip? See the 5 day version. Longer? The 7 day version adds a third island. Book these before you go: Acropolis timed entry , 8am or last slot, flat EUR 30 Cape Sounion...