cat

My husband and I are trying to plan a trip September, 2005 to central/western europe. Our two criteria are that we want to see at least some part of Switzerland and definitely want to spend a few days in Amsterdam. I've looked into river cruises, but there seems to be a lack of cruises starting in Switz. and ending in Amsterdam, especially this time of year. Does anyone have any suggestions on itinerary or best mode of transportation for a trip of this sort? We will have about 12-14 days for the trip and are thinking of choosing 3 places to stay (one being Amsterdam). We like a relaxed itinerary and are not big on guided tours. Any suggestions or feedback would be helpful. Thanks.

Travelnut

We traveled by train from Amsterdam to Cologne, St Goar, Basel, Lucerne and Zurich in 2003 -very enjoyable.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34450490

clevelandbrown

I've not been on a river cruise, as they seem a little too much like guided tours to me, but if you want to do one, it would be easy to combine that with rail travel.

You could, for example, fly into Zurich and stay somewhere in Switzerland for a few days, then train to a river port in Germany (my uninformed belief is that there are a lot of river cruises in Germany), take a cruise north to some convenient river port, then train to Amsterdam, stay there and fly home from Amsterdam.

suze

When I did this combination... I flew into Amsterdam, stayed 5 days, flew on to Geneva (took the train from there within Switzerland), stayed 2 weeks, flew out of Geneva.

cat

Travelnut,

Just read your trip report and viewed your photos. Wow! What a great trip. You have provided me with a number of good pointers and ideas. Thanks for the input. One question, given the weather report when you went, would it be more advisable to plan this trip for late August-early Sept.?

Much thanks to all who have responded thus far.

swandav2000

Hi cat,

I'm curious that you couldn't find any river cruises starting in Switzerland. I found several: Viking River Cruises, Peter Deilmann, Intrav, & Uniworld, just for starters. They start in Basel and cruise the Rhine to Amsterdam (or the reverse). This is a popular route.

Anyway, whatever you decide will be great!

s

cat

Swandav2000,

I saw several on the lines that you mentioned, however, there seemed to be some problem with most. Either not the right time of year, or don't start/end at right places. May have to combine train and cruise as mentioned above. Deilman has you spending one whole day on board in port at the beginning and end which I thought was just a waste. One cruise that looked great was SeaCloud, however, the itinerary that was during our time frame was booked out as a private charter. Haven't looked at Uniworld. I'll keep looking though. Thanks for the input.

Travelnut

We traveled in late September, and found it to be very pleasant - more 'cool' than 'cold', minimal rain... had to wear short sleeves a few days and just carry a light jacket 'just in case'. I don't like hot or overly warm weather when traveling - we like to walk a lot.

evmi

You can't miss with the itenerary from Basel to Amsterdam. If you are OK with an older clientele then I would suggest Grand Circle--50 plus but there are other companies---Stay away from Uniworld--we had a disaster with them. This post is probably too late for Sept but if you follow up I know you will enjoy
Everett