Amsterdam or Prague or Vienna (long sorry)
 

Hello, My wife and I are traveling to Germany in early May. We have time to add one of the listed cities above either at the end or the begining of our trip. We have never been to Amsterdam, Prague or Vienna (or Germany for that matter!)
Wonder which of the three cities to include. Is one a "MUST SEE".

Our tastes/experiences? Been to Europe only twice before (the 13 to 16 hr trip from California is a bit tough), but we liked every place we went. We especially liked wandering around lost in Venice, loved Paris, were intrigued by Rome, had a blast in London, admired the tulips in Bath...Yeah I could go on and on, we pretty much found something good where ever we were.

We are planing on hitting the smaller towns in Germany this time, but would like to add another world class tourist destination to our experiences. If we include Amsterdam we will probably make that our entry point and include some Northern/Central Germany destinations as well (Cologne, Baden-Baden)as we make our way down to Munich.

Otheriwse our entry point will be Frankfurt Airport and the 1st night will be Rothenburg and then south from there.

Any helpful thoughts? Which of the 3 cities would you choose?

Tim

What a delightful dilemma! I'd opt for entering at Amsterdam, taking time to see the environs as well, maybe even venturing to Brugge. Then I'd travel down the Rhine, savoring the terrain, the villages, and the river itself. Wend your way to Munich, using that city to depart. Save a Berlin, Prague + Cesky Krumlov, Vienna itinerary for your next trip.

How many days will you be in Europe? Are you considering a rental car?

Try www.bensbauernhof.com for some good tips for the smaller towns of Germany. Also, type <Wes Fowler> into the search box for wonderful off-the-beaten-track itineraries.

By the way, I just flew from Munich to SFO about 10 days ago. It was a looong trip.

Promise us a trip report when you return.

Amsterdam!! can't beat it. Truly unique. Everything you could want plus very friendly people. Don't forget a concert in their wonderful Concertgebouw and their terrific museums.

Brugge is very romantic and charming.

If you can spend 4-6 days in Amsterdam.

I would add Berlin and Dresden (2-hour train ride). Berlin is a very unique city and I think more intersting than Amsterdam. It is the history of the 20th century and it has a museum with an entire ancient ruin (Pergamon). With the Olympic Stadium, Reichstag, Brandenberg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie Museum, other museums, great nightlife, good food, symphony, opera, Potsdam, friendly people; you can do so much. Prague is just 2 1/2 hours from Dresden so 4 hours from Berlin.

I agree with what has been said about BOTH Berlin and Amsterdam.

It will probably be a bit more economical to fly into Amsterdam than into Berlin and A-dam would be perfect if you are planning to venture down the Rhine although by rail it isn't that much farther from Berlin to Cologne than it is from Amsterdam.

Have you considered flying into one and out of the other, i.e., into A-dam or Berlin and out of Munich?

"Must see" is, for me, a rather ambiguous term. A-dam has some of the greatest museums and a very unique ambience; Berlin probably has more varied activities available; Prague is five hours or so by rail from Berlin.

A great "problem" to have.