IndianDubai

We are a family of 3. Me, wife and 6 year old daughter. Our interests are to go to places which are beautiful, nice scenery, good weather (we come from a very hot place) and have good monuments/castles. A good museum here and there will be a bonus. We are not foodies but would enjoy local cuisine wherever possible.

We have a 8D/8N trip planned to Europe in the first week of July. We have kept Budapest as the entry and exit point for our trip (because we got cheap tickets from our home town to this city). We have already visited Budapest in the past. The second part of our trip will be spent in Munich/Bavaria where we will spend time in Munich and in the Bavarian Alps. We will hire a car for this part of the trip.

For the first part, we are torn between Amsterdam/Holland and Copenhagen/Denmark.

We had almost finalized Amsterdam till we heard some negative comments about the sleaze aspect - drugs, red light district etc. etc. Also heard that it could be very crowded. The positives continue to be the amazing canal dotted streets, museums and nice countryside. Heard good things about the Zaans Schans area as well.

Copenhagen appears to be a very clean and eclectic city. Somewhat away from any kind of mass tourism. The day trips to Kronborg Castle, Frederiksborg Palace and Roskilde look very nice tool. Entire Copenhagen and Denmark appears to give a feel/vibe which is different from other mainland European cities (this is my internet research/I may be wront). But on the flipside, Copenhagen is more expensive than Amsterdam.

Another option (which appears to be a rushed one) could be 2.5 days in Amsterdam and 2 days in Copenhagen and balance 3 days in Munich/Bavaria. The downside to this plan is that in Copenhagen we will have one day for the city and one day for any kind of day trip. And also we will have to forgo a drive thru the German Alpine Road to Berchtesgaden (Eagle's nest and Konnigsee lake). But we get to see 3 different countries.

In case we decide to do Amsterdam+Munich/Bavaria, we will be taking a flights from Budapest to Amsterdam and taking an overnight train back to Munich from Amsterdam. In case we decide to do Copenhagen+Munich/Bavaria, we will take flight from Budapest to Copenhagen and another from flight from Copenhagen to Munich.

In case we decide to do both Amsterdam and Copenhagen - we will fly Budapest-Amsterdam-Copenhagen-Munich.

Last leg of our journey from Munich to Budapest is fixed. It is on the City Night Line train. We had unused German railway credit vouchers which we need to avail.

Please advise. We are confused.

Odin

>>We had almost finalized Amsterdam till we heard some negative comments about the sleaze aspect - drugs, red light district etc. etc. Also heard that it could be very crowded.<<

It is a poor excuse not to visit Amsterdam. There is no reason to go to the redlight district if you don't want to. As for drugs, well, Copenhagen has an entire area dedicated to this called Christiania, again it is not compulsory to visit. Alot of cities will be crowded in July inc Amsterdam and Copenhagen, it is holiday time.

>>Copenhagen appears to be a very clean and eclectic city. Somewhat away from any kind of mass tourism.<< Copenhagen is very typical of alot of northern European cities IMO, there is quite a bit of tourism actually and there is construction work in the city centre. But there are lots of great museums and castles, parks, Tivoli Gardens, close to beaches etc. Not much help as both cities are great to visit.

IndianDubai

Thanks for a quick reply. How about the option in which we get to visit both? I know it will be rushed but we can see Amsterdam in1.5 days and keep the last day for a Zaanse Schans half day trip. Similarly copenhagen local on day 1 and a Viator tour on day 2. Is this advisable? If not, which city would you recommend considering we have a kid?

tonfromleiden

»How about the option in which we get to visit both?«
Rushed would be eufemism for such a plan. The better part of one of your not too luxurious 3,5 days will be lost on travelling between the two cities (checking out and in of hotels, travelling to and from airports etc.).
Amsterdam is indeed not very sanitised, which is one of its attractions. Despite all the tourist crowds, it is still a working and living city.
If you want to be sure to stay somewhere clean and quiet, consider Haarlem. It's only 15 mins by very frequent train from Amsterdam and as a beautifully situated historical city worth a visit for its own sake. It's only 30 mins from Schiphol airport, by direct bus or by train, with one change.

Dukey1

Museums? Amsterdam has some of the very best ones in all of Europe

Your kid will perhaps love the windmills at Zaanse Schans which can easily be done in a half day by train from Amsterdam.

Would your child also like the Anne Frank house? A canal boat ride/tour?

Between the two I would pick Amsterdam. The palaces/castles in Bavaria might be a better option than anything in Denmark.

jamikins

It is very easy to avoid the red light district if you don't want to spend time there. We just spend 3 days in Amsterdam and found it to be a very charming city.

You can see from my photos that it is a lovely place:

https://flickr.com/photos/[email protected]

nytraveler

Do not try to visit both Amsterdam and Copenhagen - you just will not have enough time to see much anywhere.

While I love Amsterdam, Copenhagen is one of my favorite cities, esp with a 6 year old. I know it;s more expensive but I think it provides great access to aa number of castles and palaces (inside Copenhagen and outside - don't miss Rosenborg in town and the changing of the guard at the royal palace). Also do spend an evening at Tivoli, an incredibly beautiful and charing antique amusement area - besides the usual rides it has a number of very good restaurants, lovely gardens floodlit at night, a number of games/amusements for kids, small marching bands and fireworks when the park closes.