Amsterdam from Paris
 

Will be in Paris in February. What's a cheap/easy way to get to Amsterdam for a short visit? Train will cost $200 round trip and plane is expensive. I looked on the rail europe site. I'll have my son with me so that will double the price.

I looked at the raileurope page and not sure how you got the $200 unless you are going first class. If your son is under 26, he will be youth fare. There were also some promotional fares available for considerably less. Also try going to the France train page directly thalys.com. If you use that page, you will have to pick your tickets up in France so can't order them too much ahead of time.

One thing I learned at Raileurope is that they charge more than if you bought your ticket in France. I also learned that because there is a promotional fare listed and you purchase it, it doesn't mean the seat is available. They are not looking at seats in real time on the web and they may e-mail you back telling you that fare is not available. Of course you are looking at February of next year. Your best bet if you decide to use raileruope is to call them instead.

You are looking too far ahead to get the best rates on the Thalys train from Paris to Amsterdam (or vice versa). Wait another month or two...Thalys occasionally changes the name for the cheapest fares.
A youth fare for your son (if he's under 26 as Paula noted), the cheapest fare for yourself (this could be the lowest priced second class round trip fare--you have no obligation to use the return portion).
Finally, you could try the Eurolines bus service. They are very reasonable but it will longer to go by bus than by train.

Hi blondie,

If you go to http://www.voyages-sncf.com/
no earlier than 60 days in advance, you should be able to get lSMILYS fares for about 57E each way.

I agree that it's too early to get the best fare for Feb. travel on the Thalys. When you buy it, to avoid an obscene delivery fee, don't purchase from the Rail Europe site. Check out the Nederlands Spoorwegen site instead (there's an English version, just do a Google search on Netherlands railway).
The Thalys ride between A'dam and Paris is quite nice - it's the most convenient way to take that trip.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Will check them out. Is there a cheap flight from Paris to Amsterdam? I found a great price from Paris to Berlin, but can't seem to find anything to Amsterdam from Paris that isn't $$$$$.

As well as Thalys, there are other high-speed trains between Paris and Brussels to give a departure every half hour. From Brussels to Amsterdam, there is no high speed line, so the Thalys trains take nearly as long as the ordinary intercity trains which are hourly. If you cannot get a cheap fare on the Thalys train, it may be cheaper to use the more frequent service via Brussels.

Hi blondie,

For cheap airfares try www.whichbudget.com.