i've been getting more and more excited about my first ED ever since i signed the purchase order oh...2 hours ago! i've never been to continental europe before (sans a quick trip to luxembourg at the age of 10) so any advice or criticism you guys have for my first-pass itinerary would be very welcome.

the basic plan is to pick up in munich (obviously) and drive through switzerland to france and dropoff in london. my girlfriend is a fan of the not booking hotels ahead of time and winging it on the cheap at b&bs and hostels along the way but i'm not so sure this would be a great idea. since she's the french and german speaker i'm deferring to her (for now ), but i want to at least stay somewhere nice in munich and hopefully in paris where i think parking will be the worst. i'm thinking that november is low season for tourism and i should be able to find some good deals via priceline.

11/2: leave boston -> frankfurt -> munich. found tickets for $400 thru UA.com, had the tremendous foresight not to book them on the spot, and have the price subsequently raised to $490 the next day.

11/3: arrive munich and take a whirlwind tour of the city + lots of beer in me . since there's still over a month left, i'm going to try to priceline the le meredien, which apparently is going for ~$80/night based on biddingfortravel.com. based on what i've read in this forum, the le meridien seems like a really nice hotel.

11/4: pickup 330xi! munich factory tour scheduled for 1 pm, then its off down the romantic road. from munich it seems that i'll only catch the southern part of the romantic road, starting from peiting or rottenbuch. any suggestions on roads or places to stay?

11/5: wake up early to see the castles at neuschwanstein and hohenschwangau and then drive through zurich to luzern down to interlaken where we'll spend the night.

11/6: spend the day seeing interlaken! i'm not sure if it'll be snowy in november there and what there is to do in addition to hiking. probably won't have time to ski or snowboard. any suggestions? leave at night to geneva. are there any good roads in this area to drive through?

11/7: see geneva during the day and head at night to lyon.

11/8: see lyon, try some of its famous cuisine (recommendations?) make our way up to paris. i'm worried about where to park in paris. am_ver said the renaissance la defense was convenient for him and i'll try to get that thru priceline, but has anyone else found somewhere safe and easy to park their car for a few days while they travelled paris on foot?

11/9-11/10: paris/versaille/etc. 2 days definitely doesn't sound like enough to spend here, but alas, can't stay in europe forever. leave at night on 11/10 to normandy. i've always wanted to see the d-day beaches/memorials. should i stay in caen or bayeux? since this is the countryside, a nice b&b or something of that rustic sort would be awesome i think.

11/11: d-day! the highlight of my trip. i don't really want to take a guided tour and rather explore the area on my own. any must see sights or resources for good self-guided tours? probably will end the night in rouen or somewhere along the way to calais/Boulogne (are there any nice towns or sights to see and stay at along the coast?)

11/12: catch early ferry ~10AM from calais or boulogne (~$37 euros is the cheapest i've been able to find) to dover. drive from dover to london and explore the UK countryside. luckily i have friends to stay with in london that night.

11/13: london...stonehenge...drinking...

11/14: dropoff early 9am at london heathrow and fly out 12pm thru dc back to boston


wow long post. apologies to your eyes ahead of time. again, thanks everyone for any criticisms or suggestions! the only thing i hate about my itinerary is that i won't be driving on the autobahn after my break-in period! oh well, i'll have to wait till my next ED and find some nice twisty roads for now