DianaDy

hi again!we are flying in and out of frankfurt due to a rewards ticket. couple, early 30s loves city life, sight seeing, shopping and food. we have 10 days (not including flying time and we are coming from Philippines) to spare.

Itinerary:

June 14 to 16 --- Flying in FRA early morning so get to maximize first day for sightseeing
3 days 2 nights. should we add one more day here? should we also do the Rhine Valley?
June 16 early morning Train to AMSterdam
June 16-19 Amsterdam
19th take Flight Amsterdam to Munich
June 19 to 24--- Munich. Bavaria Side trip with base in Munich
24 afternoon take train to Frankfurt
25--Frankfurt fly out

Questions:

1.) Should i take the plane from Amsterdam to Munich? it doesn't make sense to go back to Frankfurt and train to Munich.

2.) we left lots of days in Munich open as we want to visit the neuschwastein castle. what other side trips can we do? should we do the romantic road (reversed) on our way back to Frankfurt?

since we are flying on June, i want to book all necessary flights and hotels as i am sure it will be a busy time

thanks for all the help in advance

Watzmann

I'd skip Frankfurt and the Rhine Valley, fly directly from FRA Airport to Amsterdam, then fly to Munich, then train or rental car (romantic road, if you want) back to FRA. Personally, I'm not a big fan of the Rhine-Valley and Frankfurt, my personal taste. Amsterdam and Munich would make for a nice contrast and you would have enough time for both cities.

Dukey1

Look, it doesn't make sense to fly into FRA when you really want to start out in Amsterdam but I am sure your reasoning for doing so is somehow dictated by necessity.

You might consider a budget flight from FRA to AMS but I am not sure you will find anything on that route other than flights on the usual carriers such as KLM, Lufthansa, etc.

There are budget flight possibilities between Amsterdam and Munich BUT they are all indirect flights.

You can check budget flight possibilities at www.skyscanner.net and www.whichbudget.com

You could take an ICE train timing from the FRA airport to Amsterdam in as little as 3Hrs 45 Min with no changes; otherwise the trip will take between 4-5 hours and involves changes.

Amsterdam-Munich by rail can be done overnight with as few as one change

Cowboy1968

Q1: yes, IF you can find a decent fare. Currently only Lufthansa and KLM fly nonstop AMS MUC. Usually at a premium for One-ways. But check. Otherwise there should be a Night Train , if I remember correctly.

Q2: yes, many possible side trips, eg Salzburg, herrenchiemsee Palace, linderhof palace, ettal monestary. Just to name a few..

hetismij2

Why not go direct from Fra to Ams as suggested by Watzmann, then to Munich and back to Frankfurt, or the other way around if it works out better for you.

You are not allowing any jetlag time in your calculations I see, and I really think you should. By using Day1 as a travel day you will be able to ease yourself into things, get a good night's rest and be ready for exploring the next day.
personally I'd add a day to Amsterdam - as it stands you really only have two full days there given taking the train, checking in etc will take up the bulk of one day, and flying will take up another.
You could of course by a RT ticket and throw away the return leg if it is cheaper, but airlines really don't like that.

I think I'd probably do the reverse of your trip, taking the night train to Ams, and staying in Frankfurt only at the end.

DianaDy

thanks for all the input.

I found an RT flight from both klm and lufthansa at 99 euro for ams to munich as i read in some thread that i can just throw away the return leg. i am not sure though if this is legal.

another problem now I'm having is that munich seem to be having an expo on the 19th and 20 making it difficult to find hotels.

i would actually consider the train ride straight to AMS. is there a train that goes direct from FRA airport? if so, i will definitely prefer this.

hetismij2

If there is a problem with Munich when you want to go why not go there first?

Watzmann

3:45 from Fra airport to Amsterdam Centraal.
I'd like correct my post and recommend the train as well.
www.bahn.de is your timetable and ticket resource.
"Frankfurt Flughafen" is the name of the airport station.

Aramis

It is legal to simply no use the return portion of a ticket. The airlines don't like it, but what can they do except put a flag on your name and ban you for life? Seriously, unless you are a business traveler who does this regularly, nothing is going to happen. It's not worth their effort.

However, I think the easiest thing to do,is to take the train directly to Amsterdam from FRA. Then, you can decide what else you want to see between Amsterdam and Munich on the way down, and/or Munich and FRA on the way back That could also provide you with more time in Amsterdam/Netherlands, or allow you to fit in some Belgium, and other non RR German sites like, Wurzburg (technically RR, I know) , Nurnberg, Bamberg, etc..

Man_in_seat_61

An excellent direct City Night Line sleeper train leaves Amsterdam Centraal at 20:31 every night, arriving in downtown Munich at 07:10 next morning. Avoids the flight!

Book at www.bahn.de/en looking for the direct CNL train with 0 changes.

Fares from €59 with couchette (simple flat sleeping bunk), from €104 with bed in 2-bed sleeper with washbasin, breakfast included, shower at the end of the corridor, or from €134 with bed in 2-bed sleeper with shower & toilet, breakfast included.

DianaDy

hi Everyone

so here is my final itinerary:

June 14 -19 (5 nights) --- Frankfurt to Munich )go straight to Munich from FRA airport to avoid the trade show on the 19 - 21.
June 19 to Amsterdam via KLM (99 euro)
June 19-23 (4 nights) --- Amsterdam
June 23 --train back to Fra
June 23 -25( 2nights) --- FRA
June 15 flight is early morning so i only have 1 day on FRA

Pls let me know how this looks as i have to book the flight to avail of the promo

thanks a lot

Watzmann

looks good.
Discounted tickets for the ice trains can be purchased on bahn.de 92 days before the travel date (mid of April!). They sell out really quick! (many people buy on the first possible day).

PalenQ

there is also an overnight train between Amsterdam and Munich - save on the cost of a hotel and can also get cheap tickets on www.bahn.de but if you were doing that and also two other long train trips and wanted flexibility to hop any train anytime in Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and even Luxembourg then consider the Germany-Benelux Railpass but if you want to set your trains in concrete and not be able to change nor refund then the discouted far in advance ticket booking will be the best.

For lots of great info on trains in those countries check out these fine IMO sites - www.seat61.com (good info on online discount tickets); www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.