Amsterdam to Copenhagen by car
 

My son and I have rented a car to travel from Amsterdam to Copenhagen. We plan to take two days and stay at "Bed and Breakfasts", one in Germany and one just outside of Copenhagen so we can turn the car in early the last morning. I noticed many recommending going by rail and I guess we could cancel the car and go by rail. Any information on the roads to take and places to stay would be appreciated.

Hi, sorry, no help on B&B's, but just to let you know we have driven from Antwerp to Copenhagen (which is about the same distance as from Amsterdam, maybe a bit more, and through mostly the same route), and did it easily in a day. It's not a very scenic drive, and in Germany, people drive very fast. Do you have any specific stops in mind along the way?

Have you decided on a route yet? The fastest - depending on ferry times - can be about 8 hours.

But if you want to go by road the whole way - via Odense - it will take a little longer. Perhaps you might want to stay over there? It's about 7 hours or so from Amsterdam. You could spend two nights there - one day seeing the town and nearby sights and then travel on to Copenhagen.

Will there be a substantial drop charge for the car?

We plan to take our time driving and just enjoy seeing the country side and people. We leave Thursday the 19th of May for Amsterdam and plan to leave for Copenhagen on Sunday the 22nd. I am having second thoughts about driving and don't know if it is too late to cancel and go by night train. The car with drop off fee is $800.00. It doesn't sound like the road trip will be very interesting.

With a drop-off fee that high I suggest you take the train or an airplane. Definitely cheaper. Buy a rountrip and throw away the return. If you´re taking a highway, you won´t be seeing much anyway. Take a train and stop in Hamburg or Bremen instead. A lot more intresting way to travel.

Disclosure: I live in Northern Germany and happen to like it a lot (despite the miserable weather we are subjected to currently). I don't think the drive would be dull - and there are in fact quite a few sights to see.
<b>Bremen</b> would be on your way.
<b>Hamburg</b> is Germany's second largest city and in fact offers quite a lot - it is also currently on Lifestyle magazine &quot;Wallpaper&quot;'s list of the TOP 7 cities worldwide which one should visit currently. It would easily keep you entertained for 1.5 days, I should think.
A bit further down the road, you'd be passing <b>Luebeck</b>, the Old Town of which is a medieval gem.
There is the ferry crossing between Puttgarden and R&ouml;dby (which in most cases you would encounter, too, when taking the train).
And finally, the contrast between blue skies (hopefully), lush green and the yellow blooming fields is indeed visually attractive and certainly not dull - at least for my taste.
I do agree that US$ 800.- for the car rental is a steep price, but I don't expect a train to be significantly less, depending on the number of people travelling and thus in need of a ticket.
Have a fun trip, whichever option you choose - and should you need further info on what to see, where to go, what to do, do post here!
hsv

my friend and i are taking the same road trip in the opposite direction this summer. we have rented a car for 580 USD (including drop off fee) from europcar.com. I don't know too much about the route, but I'm sure getting lost in Germany for three days will be better than taking a train straight through. &quot;HSV&quot; offered some interesting places to stop that I think we'll try.

HSV, any tips on places to see in Bremen, Hamburg, and Luebeck?

westmass,

unfortunately I am not exactly a Bremen expert.

For tips on Hamburg and Luebeck, may I refer you to a thread that I answered here before?
That thread dates back to last year, but I can still stand by its contents. Please scroll towards the end!

http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...p;tid=34543327

Should you have any further questions, do post here and I shall try to assist.

Regards
hsv