boots408

My friends and I are going to Amsterdam for a bike tour from April 2nd to April 9th. We would like to see London, Brugge, Brussels, and Paris. We are highly flexible. We thought that we would schedule a tour in each place that we visit. Also, some affordable places to stay. Also very flexable. We are in our mid 60's so hauling our luggage around is somewhat a concern. Any suggestions would be gratefully accepted. We leave Amsterdam on the 18th.
Thank you. Boots

jamikins

Sorry - can you please be more specific on your dates? Is the bike tour 2 - 9 April but they you have a further 9 days to visit Brugge, London etc?

spaarne

How are you going to haul your luggage around Holland on a bike for a week?

MyriamC

Hauling luggage around Holland isn't so difficult. There are companies, such as Dutch Biketours, that offer accomodation and luggage transport. You cycle from hotel to hotel and they take care of your luggage.
http://dutchbiketours.nl/en/

boots408

The bike tour is from April 2nd to April 9th. We are done on the morning of the 9th. We are leaving the USA on March 30th so we have a couple of days to see Amsterdam. The luggage thing. We will be sleeping on the same barge every nite so the luggage is not a problem. But getting from one place to another. A car is not an option. Not familiar with the rail system. Believe me, if we could transport those bags on bikes, I would perfer it. We bike better than we walk sometimes. I need someone to help get us started with the best places to see and in what order. And any suggestions that would be helpful. Thanks. Boots

jamikins

You have a further 9 days, and I assume your flights are already booked out of Amsterdam? If not I would recommend flying into Amsterdam and out of the last city you visit.

Keep in mind that every time you move you will lose 1/2 approx in transit, checking in and out. In saying that, and considering you need to be back in Amsterdam on the 18th I would say that you have 8 days as the 17th you will need to head back to Amsterdam for your flight on the 18th.

With that time I would drop 1 of Paris, London, or Bruges/Brussels and pick a combo of the two remaining:

1. Head straight to Paris on the train from Amsterdam on the 9th, spend 4 full days, then train Brussels and spend the remaining time there with a day trip to Bruges, or do two nights Bruges/2 nights Brussels

2. Fly to London on the 9th and split the time evenly, take the eurostar (book as soon as you can as its cheaper and you can book 4 months out) to Paris for the remaining time and then take the train back to Amsterdam for your flight home.

3. Fly to London the 9th and spent 4 full days there, then take the eurostar to Brussels and do Brussels/Bruges combo and then train back to Amsterdam.

Book your eurostar tickets at www.eurostar.com

Hope this helps!

boots408

Thank you for your help. Yes, we are already booked on flights in and out of Amsterdam. And I have booked accomodations there before our bike tour.
Thank you so much for your suggestions. Boots

jamikins

Glad to help!

For ideas about what to see I recommend the Michelin Green Guides, or the Top 10 series for each city. To get a general idea you can get some info here: http://www.fodors.com/world/europe/

Once you have an idea of what you want to see you can post it and we can give you more guidance. Or do a search here for trip reports for ideas.

Here is the site for booking the trains from Amsterdam: http://www.thalys.com/fr/en/?time=1297619678

Be sure you dont book through www.raileurope.com as it is very costly - just book straight through the website for thalys.

spaarne

<i>We will be sleeping on the same barge every nite so the luggage is not a problem.</i>

In that case you have booked a tour with fixed stopping places. There are several such companies. One of them used to dock in front of my apartment on the Spaarne River in Haarlem every Thursday night. Find out where the boat will be docking each night and get a map of the bike route. Put a URL here and more help will be coming.

boots408

Thank you so much for all your help. Will be getting back.

boots408

Thank you so much for all your help. Will be getting back.

boots408

Hi again. Could someone suggest affordable accomodations for the four of us in London? Thank you. Boots

jamikins

If you do a search here you should come up with some good suggestions.

I would repost this with a different title to get more suggestions. Also can you define in ££ what you consider affordable?

spaarne

The London School of Economics has a number of dorms in London available to tourists when school is on break. I stayed at LSE Rosebery Hall a couple of years ago in mid April. It is cheap, clean, and has a great breakfast included. Guests included families, students, and geezers from around the world. Two of the dorms have availability for your time period. http://www.lsevacations.co.uk/.

boots408

Thank you for all your help. Boots