Hello!
This is my first post, and I was hoping that someone out there can tell me if I've lost my mind. I'm planning a two week trip to Europe at the end of May, and I'm planning on doing the following:
3 days in Copenhagen (with a side trip to Sweden). 1 1/2 days in Hamburg, 2 1/2 days in Amsterdam, 2 days in Brussels and 4 days in Paris.
The stop over in Hamburg is more of a rest stop, than a sightseeing ine. The trip from Copenhagen to Amsterdam was extremely long, so we just wanted to stop and stretch our legs a little. But my question is....am I cramming too much into this vacation? I've tried to allow for travel and check in time, but feedback would totally be appreciated!!! Thanks!!

Hi K,

>am I cramming too much into this vacation?

Yup.

I suggest that you leave out Copenhagen and Hamburg for this visit.

Visiting Amsterdam, Brussels (side trip to Bruges) and Paris will make it a lot more pleasant.

Hi

Yes, I think you are trying to squeeze in too much. But I know that it is tempting to do this as you want to see as much as possible while you are here. If you want some ideas for what to see and do in Paris you can check out my trip report with pictures, links, maps etc on my homepage http://gardkarlsen.com/Paris_France.htm . Have a great trip

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

Before I make any recommendations about what, if anything to leave out or include, i would really like to hear why you have picked these particular places.

i say this because I am not necessarily convinced that substituting one place for another makes the trip any better as ooposed to leaving some places out entirely.

I've done the rail trip Copenhagen-Amsterdam and agree it is both long and scenery-wise not really spectacular.

Are you aware that Transavia, a budget carrier, does this route? if you can live with the checked luggage restrictions flying between the two might be a lot simpler and would eliminate the need to stop off in Hamburg, too.

Well, it all started when i heard that Dave Matthews Band was playing in Copenhagen. I got all excited to go see them play in a foreign country and researched the hell out of Copenhagen. Then I come to find that the web site I was looking at had a typo, but they were playing in Brussels during the same week. So since I was all excited to go to Copenhagen in the first place, I thought I'd make an adventure out of it, and turn it into a nice vacation, and recruited a friend. Also, once I found out how close Paris is to Brussels, I had to add that on.

Amsterdam is a great city for a first-timer to enter Europe. Everyone you are likely to encounter will speak English, the airport and trains are great and not difficult to navigate, the city center is charming and walkable, and there is a lot to see and do.

How hard is it to fly to Copenhagen from Paris? Maybe you could do:

fly day
Day 1-3 Amsterdam
Day 4-5 Brussels
Day 6-9 Paris
Day 10-12 Copenhagen
fly day

Hi,

Welcome!

Europe has so much to see and it is so rich with culture, history, restaurants that it really deserves more time. If I was doing your trip, I'd stay with Copenhagen and Paris and really get to know those places. Live like a local, stay in a hotel or B&B that is outside the main tourist attraction areas. Eat in the out of the way family restaurants, shop in the farmer's markets and little shops. Get a pass for public transportation and see the main sights and attractions during the week and early in the morning to avoid crowds.

Trains are almost always an efficient way to get around Europe. Air travel is such a hassle and you can see a lot of Europe from a train as you pass through the countryside.

Save the other destinations for your next trip to Europe.

Best Regards,
Julia

I'll disagree with others here:

I cannot see why your itinerary would be too much. It rather looks very attractive to me.

3 days for Copenhagen are plenty - it's charmning and quite small and this time frame should give you an opportunity to explore the city leisurely. I might be tempted to skip the side-trip to Sweden, though, and rather head up the Danish Zealand coast North of Copenhagen, where there is a nice deerpark (Dyrehavn) and pleasant villages lined along Oeresound.

Hamburg in fact is a neat stop-over. Particularly for the summer. One and a half day sound perfect. Do a tour of the port, which is industrial, but still of scenic beauty IMHO, enjoy some rowing on the inner city lake (Aussenalster) and sample one of the many great restaurants to enjoy what I still consider to be Germany's most beautiful city.

The rest of your itinerary sounds pretty ample, too.

Posters around here tend to recommend to stay in places longer to accustom oneself to living the local life and all that - but I do not necessarily subscribe to that view.
One remains a tourist after all anyway and it is quite nice to be in a position to experience quite a few places.
If you enjoy one of your destinations particularly, nothing should keep you from a return visit, which may be even more attractive as you already will have an idea of where to head etc.

Thanks for all the advice, I really appreciate everyone's feedback!!

Hamburg is a very pleasant rich city to linger on, we are going back there for our 4th or 5th visit next month. If anything this is a real city that you can linger on and absorb without any list of must see's. I personally find it more interesting than Copenhagen. There's more energy in Hamburg. It's more like sprawling Sidney than Melbourne. The train travel from Copenhagen to Hamburg is very scenic including the train watercrossing by boat.