A quick trip to Frankfurt-Paris-Brussels-Amsterdam
 

Hi,

Whenever I am clueless about how to even start planning my trips, I rush to Fodors. I am visiting Frankfurt (Main Taunus Zentrum to be precise) for 3 days, for business and planning to further go to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam before returning to India. Need your inputs on the below:

When and where can i book train tickets in advance?
Is there a train pass that can take me to all three places?
Where in Belgium should I go? Which is the best city to visit?
I love taking pictures, need suggestions on places to visit in Amsterdam and Belgium city.
Is there a website where I can get cheap accommodation? Hostels may be?

I may have further questions once I get an idea on the above.

Thanks,
Namrata

How much time do you have for this trip?
Brugge is a pretty town to visit, or Gent, which is also pretty but a bit less touristy. Or if you have very little time, just stop in Brussel and go to the Grand Place before continuing to Amsterdam.
For traintravel, this is a great site: https://www.seat61.com/
Just buy point-to-point tickets, if you only want to do Frankfurt - Paris - Brugge (change in Brussel) - Amsterdam.
For Paris/Belgium/Amsterdam book the Thalys train well in advance for cheaper tickets.
For hotels; www.booking.com

Yes book train tickets far in advance to get serious discounted fares which are limited in number and can sell out early sometimes - book any train involving Germany at www.bahn.de/en online yourself.

Thalys trains www.thalys.com. And yes www.seat61.com is the best source for current rail info and didactic advice on booking your own online discounted tickets - general train info like 1st v 2nd class, etc BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com.

Yes, I don't have much time. I was thinking 2 nights in Paris, 1 night in Belgium and 2 nights in Amsterdam. Do suggest if this sounds feasible and worth. Thank you for your inputs, helps a lot!

Skip Belgium and add a night to Paris. Have you been to Paris or Amsterdam before?
Can you fly back home from Amsterdam?

>>Yes, I don't have much time. I was thinking 2 nights in Paris, 1 night in Belgium and 2 nights in Amsterdam. <<

That means you'd have 1 day in Paris, about half a day in Belgium, and 1 a day in Amsterdam.

I'd choose either Paris or Amsterdam and leave it at that.

Yes. I will be flying back home from Amsterdam. I am visiting all the places for the first time.

Then do Paris - Amsterdam, time you train journeys well, to get the maximum out of it all.

Yes skip Belgium - though could easily stop off in Brussels for a few hours to see the Grand' Place and Mannequin Pis and area. Put bags in station locker butn really even have little time for that but if it's Tuesday.... Paris 3 nights - Amsterdam 2.

Got it! Thank you so much. Also, any suggestions on accommodation at Paris and Amsterdam would be helpful. I do not wish to spend much on the same.

>>I do not wish to spend much on the same.<<

That really doesn't tell us anything -- what is your actual budget?

Since I will be roaming around the whole day, I just need a place to crash at night. I am open to options like hostels. budget - 30-40 Euros.

Amsterdam has many youth hotels and hostels - see Let's Go Europe guidebook for rundown on zillions - but you get what you pay for - multi-person rooms with no privacy. Check www.hostelworld.com too. Paris also has several.

Not sure of current status of airbnb in Amsterdam or Paris but check and see if they meet the legal requirements as many have not. Cheapest non-hostel option.

Amsterdam is expensive, and Airbnb is as expensive as hotels there. 30/40 euros is very little money.

For reasonable prices, choose Haarlem (although even there prices now are rising) or Utrecht (university city, gorgeous, partly medieval city centre, interesting night life (students!) and it's a train hub: within half an hour you can be in Amsterdam)

40 euros will buy you next to nothing in Amsterdam, unless your standards are really, really low.

Okay! In this case, I will ensure to secure a good place. Thank you guys! Now, please do help me with list of places that are a must visit in Paris and Amsterdam. I will have a minimum of 2 days at both the places.

There are no "musts" when traveling - it all depends on your personal preferences. If you haven't done so, and it would seem you haven't, pick up a guidebook and select places that are of interest to YOU.

Do a google search for topics like "If you one have 1 day in Paris" or "2 days in Paris what should I see" and the same for Amsterdam. Not all the links will be the same, so you can pick and choose what you might like most.

>> 30-40 Euros<<

Just not realistic. And many airbnb's in Amsterdam are illegal

Utrecht is much more economical in every way, and I think (not sure) Airbnb is legal there. You will need to spend time and a few euros getting into the very heart of Amsterdam, but not much. Also would check out Den Haag, although it is possible visitor accommodations there are more expensive than Utrecht -- which, by the way, is a very nice place to be with beautiful architecture in the small and walkable historic center filled with bicycling families and students. Will give you a nice experience of one aspect of Dutch culture.

Great. I have lot of ideas to go-ahead now. Thank you so much.

2 days ain't much in Paris or Amsterdam for 1.5 days either.

Just have time for the 'must' sites like Eiffel Tower (book a time slot in advance on official site); Louvre (ditto); Notre Dame - free just squeeze in anytime - and a Seine boat cruise. And walk around anywhere and sit at an outdoor cafe and watch the crowd go by.

Amsterdam - No 'musts' IMO - many would consider Anne Frank House to be a 'must' (again book time slot to avoid long wait in line) and Rijksmuseum (to ogle famous Nigth Watch painting) and a Canal Boat Cruise too and walk around the canal-laced areas. To some the (in)famous Red-Light District is also a must (afraid to mention as this often raises hackles of locals who post here and to others the (in)famous Coffeeshops where cannabis is sold over the counter and smoked on Premises - again aloof to mention because of locals reactions.

News item after news item on Dutch tv now about how tourists are "destroying Amsterdam"

PalenQ has not visited Amsterdam in many years, and only peddles the usual 'red light district/coffeeshop' stuff you will find in any old tourist guide on Amsterdam.

Who knows what "aloof to mention" means (stoned English at best), but yes, PalenQ hasn't set foot in Amsterdam for a dog's age and has no clue what it's like now. Those of us, like Tulips and menachem and others, who've witnessed its progression in recent years have noted that it is now one super-expensive and fairly unpleasant city, albeit one that many people choose to visit. I used to love visiting Amsterdam, and there are still secluded pockets of it that are endearing, but the main parts where tourists hover these days are, to me, unpleasantly noisy, crowded, expensive, and dangerous because of all the mad bicyclists who think it's "cool" to go to Amsterdam and act "like a local." Its museums are always a big attraction, though, can't deny that.

Nam - take it from the 'experts' - Amsterdam just ain't worth the hassle anymore - scrub it from your itinerary - don't know why so many zillions of people bother to visit it - cross it off! Apparently during the seven years since I visited it (after visiting annually for weeks for 40 years), it has completely deteriorated into some kind of carnival show. Even though my relatives and friends who have gone there recently really liked it as have many posters here on Fodors too - but take it from the 'experts' scratch it off your list and you'll be the better for it. I guess Amsterdam is called the 'Venice of the North' for good reason!

Certain things however cannot be ruined by tourists - like the canals - see the images and see why Amsterdam is a visual feast apart from the relatively few places I suspect that are overrun with tourists:

https://www.google.com/search?q=amst...w=1879&bih=922

" Apparently during the seven years since I visited it (after visiting annually for weeks for 40 years), it has completely deteriorated into some kind of carnival show."

Well, it has. No matter that for 40 years the city was able to manage fine.

Wow!! not the kind of suggestions I was expecting but definitely interesting! My colleague has agreed to join me in this short trip and I think it's much more sorted for me now as no more safety issues. My visa has just arrived and I now need your inputs to actually plan my day/itinerary. I have few things in mind and need your help to check if its feasible/expensive or worth.

30th May - Leaving for Paris by 4.00 PM from Frankfurt after work.

Will reach Paris by 10 PM – may be rest or take a stroll.

31st May – All touristy places and Eiffel tower both in the early morning and at night! An hours cruise ride may be.

1st June morning train to Belgium – I want to visit Bruges, gent and Antwerp. is it at all possible to cover this in a day?

I can leave for Amsterdam at that night or stay back and leave early morning to Amsterdam

2 nights in Amsterdam and back to India.

Since this a work extended trip for me its okay even if I just go and visit places and not rest, relax and spend quality time everywhere I go. I can be on wheels as that is how I do whenever am out for work across the world. I hardly get any leaves.

No you cannot visit Brugge, Gent and Antwerp in one day. Or perhaps you could, physically, but it would be crazy.
Skip Belgium and go straight to Amsterdam from Paris. Or just stop at Brussel Centraal, put your bags in a locker, see a bit of Brussel and continue onto Amsterdam.
Alternatively, do the same but in Antwerp. Antwerp and Brussel are on the direct train line to Amsterdam, for Brugge and Gent you would need to change to another train.
You cannot do this on a Thalys ticket, as the ticket is for one specific train.

Your plan is not reasonable - sorry.

One day in Paris will not let you see even a fraction of 'all the touristy places'.

The train from Paris to Brugge will take nearly 3 hours (you have to change at Brussels) so even if you leave your hotel by 0800 you won't be in Brugge until 11:00 or later. You will have very little time in Bruges, let alone Gent and Antwerp. Brugge > Gent is a short train ride -- but Gent to Antwerp takes an hour. So not nearly enough hours in the day to see more than one of these cities.

I would do ONLY Paris and Amsterdam or ONLY one of the Belgian cities and Amsterdam. . . . OR even just Amsterdam. You don't have time for more . . . Especially with another person now traveling with you.

It's fine to go like an Energizer Bunny without rest. That's not the problem here. The problem is that you are moving around all the time from place to place and you end up wasting time at the train station, airport, on trains and planes, that could be used for actual sight seeing on the ground. You can't do all the touristy things in Paris in 1 day. It will be super crowded, you will wait in line wherever you go. Just ask yourself what would you have seen at the end of the day with an itinerary like this?

Okay I got it.

The train from Paris to Brugge will take nearly 3 hours (you have to change at Brussels)>

There is the Thalys route to Brussels then changing to local trains to Bruges (research the ABS fare for that that for about 5 euros lets you hop any train from Brussels to Bruges within 24 hours of your Thalys train's arrival) or you can go in about the same time via Lille and change there. See whatever is cheapest - www.thalys.com for Thlays route and www.oui.sncf for via TGV to Lille and changing there.

Ok, great!!

If going via Brussels consider stopping off for a few hours to see the neat city center - Grand' Place one of Europe's classic town squares and area. Put bags in station lockers.

Thalys' ABS Fare details- with that and a cheap ticket Paris-Brussels this route could be cheaper than via Lille where ABS fare does not apply.