As you probably already know, visiting Europe by train is one of my favorite proposals and I have planned lots of trips in this zone. Today's itinerary is an alternative proposal that will cover the countries of Germany, Austria and Denmark. The whole route is done by train, as the crossing with ferry is done with the train inside! Of course, my recommendation is taking one of the multiple country passes that exist either for Europeans and people coming from abroad.

Frankfurt is, by far, the best destinations where you can fly to if you have the chance, because it is the European central for low cost flights and at same time the taxes can be pretty low. Also the rail connections are enormous there so even if you don't plan to visit Germany it can save you some money to land there to start your European route.

Leaving Frankfurt and its skyscrapers behind, in this case you will face to the North of Germany, going through Koblenz and Köln, where a visit to the cathedral is a real must. Size really matters in some situations. After spending a night in Köln, you can follow your route taking another train to Bremen. There you can visit "The Schnoor", take a walk at the city hall, the statue placed in Roland and the Buergerpark.

Now the time has come to cross the border and point to the capital of one Scandinavian country, the little Denmark. Copenhagen is city of contrasts. The Mermaid is a lot smaller than what you could imagine so you will need to choose the right time to be able to take a picture of it, probably fighting with a huge amount of Japanese tourists. Tivoli is also a must see and the city itself offers a wide range of possibilities, specially with Christiania, officially part of the city since 1986 but started as a camp of hippy squatters. Fortunately, you still can breath there the air of this period.

Spend at least a couple of days in Copenhagen, visiting also the towns around, specially Roskilde, which will introduce you to the viking history with some rebuilt Drakkar (the war boats they used to navigate rivers upstream and conquer European cities).

The route can follow to Berlin taking the ferry with your train inside. It is a night trip, and returning to Germany you will begin with one big city to digest. Berlin has the history of many wars in its streets. Being nowadays one of the most powerful economies pulling all Europe ahead, the capital of Germany has suffered a lot and scars are found everywhere.

Visiting the Reichstag, the Brandenburger Tor, Checkpoint Charlie, and specially the Berlin Wall are some things you can't forget to do there. The Berlin Cathedral has also a lot to offer, as well as Postdamer Platz. Don't forget to visit the outskirts town called Postdam. It's just a 30 minutes train ride and it has some enormous beautiful gardens with palaces that you will not finish even in a whole day!

Time to move on, and the train will take you now to Leipzig. This recent days the streets are suffering from a constant modification, so you will find plenty of road work there. After all, the city is beautiful and has a lot of history too. Don't take it as a point A to point B city. The magic is in every building, in the streets. Walk them, close your eyes, and place yourself some years back. And now open your eyes because this street light is not gonna move out of your way.

Following to the south of Germany you will cross Nürnberg to arrive to Munich. Don't forget to visit the National Museum there, and also take a look at the precious fountains you can find on your way through the city center. St Lorenz church is also a must.

When arriving to Munich, leaving the beer and the famous Oktoberfest apart, visiting Marienplatz and the Englischer Garten will be an exceptional way to land into this border lands. Olimpyapark is asking you to take a walk inside, also visiting the stadium, and a visit to one of the concentration camps will be extremely worth: Dachau is a good one to take a look at.
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For some people the aim of moving abroad is just to end up someplace warm and sunny. But you need to think about more than that.

When choosing a location it's crucial you consider where can offer you a better overall way of life, and not just for the next few weeks but for the long term.

For example, back in the summer uSwitch.com came out with a Quality of Life Index, which sought to compare the standards of living to be found across 10 European countries.

The survey assessed 19 factors, including the average income in each country, the cost of essential items such as food and fuel, government spending on education and healthcare, and lifestyle issues including holiday entitlements and life expectancy, as well as the number of hours of sunshine per year.

Of the countries featured, Spain came out way in the lead, thanks to its relatively low taxation and living costs, generous workers' holiday entitlements, long life expectancy and its plentiful supply of sunshine. France was second, with Germany fractionally behind.

Meanwhile, Ireland was ranked in last place, with the UK faring only a little better at second from bottom.

Part of the reason for the UK's low scoring was that although it recorded the highest net income among the places surveyed, workers had the least holiday entitlement, while car and domestic fuel prices were among the highest.

In addition, health expenditure in the UK was said to be 8.1% of GDP, compared to an average across the 10 countries of 8.6% (although OECD Health Data 2008 puts the UK's expenditure figure at 8.4%, albeit noting there is a difference in the methodology used to calculate that figure). Only Poland and Ireland spent less in percentage terms.

By contrast, France's health spend according to the OECD was 11.1% and Germany's 10.6% of GDP.

And using figures based on that OECD Health Data 2008, uSwitch.com noted that the UK has only 2.5 doctors per 1,000 residents. In France the ratio is 3.4, and it's 3.5 in Germany.

Inevitably there was the sunshine factor too. According to uSwitch.com's findings, Spain topped the league with 2,665 hours of sun per year, while Italy recorded 2,356 hours, and France had 1,967 hours. The UK lagged with 1,476 hours, one of the lowest totals, only managing to beat the Netherlands and Ireland.

For prospective expats who are still mulling their choices then the survey and its approach give some useful insights into the relative merits of the countries featured. And for anyone who lives outside of these 10 nations, or that is considering moving somewhere aside from those particular places - whether it's Australia or New Zealand, Canada, the US, Mexico, South Africa or wherever - it gives some criteria from which to conduct your own research into the respective quality of life issues.

But beware. The survey and the factors it measures don't tell the whole story.

For one, it makes an assumption that more sunshine inevitably is good. And to some extent it may be. But you can have too much of a good thing.

Spain, for instance, is wrestling with severe and long-term water supply issues, brought on by the widening gap between its rainfall and increasing consumption (the golf courses and swimming pools to keep all us expats and the tourists happy not helping on that front). Australia and large chunks of the American South-West are facing similar issues. And that could have severe negative consequences for residents further down the line.

Healthcare spending is not a black-and-white issue either, since it fails to take into account where and how well the money is spent.

Take the US, which had the highest expenditure on health in the OECD figures (at 15.3% of GDP), but where there continues to be severe criticism for a system that allows millions of its citizens to fall through the gaps and forces many millions more to bear some or all of their treatment costs.

And what about the spending on education?

The uSwitch.com survey highlighted the difference between the UK, where education accounted for 5.5% of GDP, and the 8.6% Denmark spends. However, Spain's figure was the lowest, at just 4.3% of GDP. And while this may not be of concern to any retirees assessing where to live, it will be of supreme importance for parents with young families.

Likewise, the survey did factor in net annual incomes, but excluded unemployment levels or economic growth statistics, which bear on the employment opportunities prospective migrants can expect to face.

Again, that may not interest retirees, but should be a consideration for those of working age. All that sunshine in Spain won't be much compensation if you can't get a job and face financial disaster as a result.

So when it comes to considering to where in the world you want to move, you have to go beyond the headlines and the slew of survey results that point to the supposedly "best places to live." Because where is best will depend on the elements that constitute a real and sustainable quality of life for you, and that meet your specific personal circumstances.

Tip 1

Tell every person you know that you are moving to Germany - co-workers, friends, family, and neighbors. You might meet friends-of-friends in the country when you let so many people know that you are relocating.

Tip 2
Explore on the Internet as much as you can about your new home. You can find so many great resources online that will help you know what to do before you enter Germany, and to know what to do once you arrive.

Tip 3
Buy a "how to speak German" CD set, and start listening to them ASAP. Learning even just five or 10 basic words and phrases before you arrive will help you so much. Also, buy a small German phrase book that you can carry around with you easily and a German-English/English-German dictionary.