My husband and I plan to visit Netherlands for 15 days end of April to early May 2019. The following is the itinerary that I have made. Please let me know if it is sensible and if I need to include or exclude other places.
1. Amsterdam (hoping to land and stay for a day, then head to keukenhof, then again come back and keep this as a base to do day trips to the places mentioned below)
2. Keukenhof 1 day
3. Rotterdam, Delft, The Hague (day trip)
4. kinderdijk (day trip)
5. Utrecht ( day trip)
6. Volendam (day trip)
7. Maastricht 2 days ( can we do black forest in Germany from here by train?)
8. Orchideeen Hoeve and Giethoorn 3 days
9. back to Amsterdam 1 day ( take night flight back to Hyderabad)
Are there any other places to be included ?
We wish to do the Black forest region of Germany if possible to combine with this trip.
Thank you for your time and looking forward to your suggestions.
Thank you,
Seetha
Yes - I agree - if you can find a flight home from (say) FCO Rome around lunch-time / early afternoon at a comparable price - that would be a good way to maximise your stay, with a checkout about 09:00. Easy train out to the airport.
Same for Paris - but it would seem logical to visit Paris first (by Thalys train from Amsterdam), so you only have one flight inside Europe.
It might prove better to fly direct from Paris to Rome FCO, and then take the fast train to Florence after five days in Rome - the high-speed trains are good. You could see Florence, and then take a train back from Florence to FCO Airport (2h 15m), in time for an afternoon or evening flight - that could work equally well.
As a general point - travelling around Western Europe is pretty easy - once you get into the mindset of trains and buses ... it's very crowded, but also everything has a pretty orderly chaos about it. Try and find accomm that is fairly handy to trains, or at least buses & trams.
Travel securely (we use a very simple money-belt next to the skin) ... be mindful of the potential reality of pickpockets and other villains. Although your personal safety is fine - so long as you don't get in the way of cyclists in Amsterdam - they seem to stop for no one!
If you wish to visit major ticketed sites (Vatican Museums, Colosseum / Roman Forum, Borghese Gallery, or the Uffizi in Florence, Louvre in Paris, Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, say) - buy tickets online prior to travelling. There are official sites for all these.
In two weeks, pick three main cities, and no more - Paris, then two in Italy. With Paris looking like a must-see for you, you don't have time for any more. Four full days in three cities leaves you with time for travelling from city to city, plus a little flexibility on top.
Train between cities.
Fly home from either Paris or Italy. You would be wasting time and probably money getting back to Amsterdam, so open-jaw is the way to go.
I would look at something this:
- fast train Amsterdam Centraal to Paris (for 4-5 nights)
- fly Paris to Florence (four nights, including a Tuscany day-trip)
- fast train Florence SMN to Rome Termini (for five nights)
Fly home directly from Rome FCO (hopefully), otherwise Rome to Schiphol to the US.
For trains generally: https://www.bahn.de/en/view/index.shtml
For trains in Italy: https://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en
Fast trains (inter-city, inter-country) can be a lot cheaper booked in advance, so now is not too soon!
We occasionally use Airbnb in Europe, but mostly just booking.com - and we try to find apartments that have kitchens, or at least kitchenettes - for the convenience and the space.
Amsterdam to Paris is less than 3½ hours by train; so you can certainly go there and spend a week. That leaves a week for Italy, so you will need to decide what you want to do and see. I suggest from Paris to fly to Rome for a week.
For lodging, if you spend a week in each city, I I would check on Booking.com and get an apartment.
Have a nice trip.
Hi,
My husband will be travelling to Amsterdam at the end of March for work. I will be joining him when he’s done with his work assignment and we will have two weeks to travel before returning to California. We would like to visit Paris and Italy if we can. Hopefully we don’t have to depart back to the states from Amsterdam but we won’t know til closer to him leaving. Can someone please tell me if our plan is doable with enough time to enjoy the other places? What is the best route of transportation between these cities and what lodging recommendations does anyone have? This will be our first trip to Europe and we just found out about it last week so trying to get as much advice as possible to ease the planning. Thank you so much in advance!
Hi there :) Currently finalising my itinerary and hoping for some input. Yays, nays and suggestions are highly appreciated! This will be my second time in Europe and very excited to explore a different part of it. Last year I've visited Paris, Italy, Switzerland, Brussels, Amsterdam, and the South of France. Originally I was just gonna do Greece - Turkey but I wanted to do a bit of Old Europe as well Vienna, Prague to be exact. Any feedback will be really helpful!
About me, I'm a 22 year old female. I enjoy culture, adventure, talking with the locals, art, shopping, food, one of a kind excursions, socializing, a beer and a night out from time to time, also interested in off the beaten path locations. I dislike crowds and hot weather hence why I opted to visit during April-May since they say the crowds are less and the prices are low compared to summer months...
I start the trip by landing in Athens, Greece arriving April 24 and departing May 8th from Istanbul, Turkey
APRIL
24th, Day 1 Wed - arrive at Athens 9:00 am go directly to my hostel near Plaka check in rest up then explore
>some neighbourhoods that I've read up on
Monastiraki, Anafiotika, Gazi, Metaxourgio, Psiri, Syntagma, Kolonaki, Koukaki, Exarchia. Which ones should I drop and which ones should I visit? Any other suggestions to do in Athens?
25th, Day 2 Thurs - not much of a history buff but would definitely love to see the Acropolis and Parthenon in the morning to avoid the crowds, if I start by 8am will I maybe be done by lunch? Any other historic sites I should visit?
26th, Day 3 Fri - head on to Santorini via Ryanair check in at hotel in Oia explore shop dine around Oia
27th, Day 4 Sat - explore more of Oia and Fira visit the Caldera.. What other neighbourhoods should a first time visitor in Santorini visit?
28th, Day 5 Sun - Hoping to go wine tasting. I've read that Greek wine is marvellous. Any suggestions?
29th, Day 6 Mon - move on to Mykonos via ferry either Seajet/Hellenic ferry? Or are there planes operating between the two? Which is better? Also should I book the ferry/plane ahead or it doesn't matter?
30th, Day 7 Tues - explore Mykonos Town, visit the famous windmills, have a night out, take a swim. What can I do in Mykonos other than it's infamous party scene?
Some questions about Greece:
1.) Is Cine Paris in Athens open in April?
2.) What's the best way to move around Athens? Train, Uber, taxi, buses?
3.) For Santorini/Mykonos should we rent a car or take advantage of the buses?
4.) What's the weather like in Greece in late April? What clothes should I wear and can I take a swim?
5.) Will there be wild parties in Mykonos by then or no?
6.) Is the donkey ride worth it? Lol
Any recommendations for good bars clubs and restaurants in Athens/Santorini/Mykonos? Let me know!
MAY
1st, Day 8 Wed - Mykonos to Austria flight via Ryanair/Laudaration(?) in the late afternoon then check in at hostel explore Vienna
2nd, Day 9 Thur - Vienna
3rd, Day 10 Fri - explore more of Vienna then depart for Czech Republic in the late afternoon or early evening via train is the best way I presume? Or plane is better? Check in at hostel in Prague have a night out in Prague
4th, Day 11 Sat - Prague
5th, Day 12 Sun - early flight to Turkey explore Istanbul
6th, Day 13 Mon - explore Istabul then fly out in the evening to either Pamukkale (Denizli Cardak) or Cappadocia (Kayseri)
7th, Day 14 Tues - spend the day and night in which ever excursion I end up choosing. Need input on this which is more worth visiting in your opinion? Pamukkale and Cappadocia are both so beautiful I can't decide D:
8th, Day 15 Wed - earliest flight to Istanbul from wherever I decide then 1 30 PM flight from Istanbul back to the Philippines :( sobsend of another amazing trip
Some more additional questions:
1.) What's the weather like in these 3 places Vienna, Prague, Istanbul in May? What clothing should I pack?
2.) I was choosing between Vienna, Prague, Budapest and decided to let Budapest go.. Thoughts?
3.) Pammukale or Cappadocia? I'm having a hard time deciding....
4.) Is the balloon ride in Cappadocia worth it?
5.) How do I move around within Vienna, Prague, Istanbul? Train? Uber? Bus? Taxi?
6.) Getting to Prague from Vienna what's the fastest and most affordable way? Train?
Any recommendations for good bars clubs and restaurants in Vienna, Prague, Istanbul? Let me know!
So far I've only just booked the flight to Athens, flight from Athens to Santorini, flight from Mykonos to Vienna and flight from Istanbul back to my country. So I can still do changes to the itinerary if I wish to do so. I guess that's all! Hope you review this and any suggestions or tips to this to make this itinerary better please? :)Thank you in advance for any assistance <3 Much love!