Hello. I am going on a cruise in August that ends in Copenhagen. I would like to either rent a car or a combo rail and car and see some of the country between Copenhagen and Paris and also spend a day or two in Amsterdam. Does anyone have advise on the best route...and the best mode of travel?

Because of water and ferries and peninsulas and all that jazz, Copenhagen is a bit of a haul by road or train (through northern Germany) to Amsterdam. Perhaps you might fly from Copenhagen to A'dam (Maersk flies the route with cheap oneway fares), then take the Thalys or drive from A'dam to Paris.

Hi wassy,

The trip between Copenhagen and Amsterdam is flat, industrialized and boring.

Take the train. You get a nice ride on a ferry with a very good buffet.

For schedules see http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

From Amsterdam to Paris, I think your best mode is the high-speed train.

Schedules and tickets at www.sncf.com

You can also take a reasonably cheap flight among these legs. Then you could rent a car for excursions around these cities. http://www.whichbudget.com

Thanks so much. Sorry to be so late responding to your good ideas. I will check all of your suggestions out. is A'dam the airport in Amsterdam? What is the Thalys?

Hi folks. I checked out Maersk Air and they don't fly from Copenhagen to Amsterdam. Do you know of other carriers with cheap one way fares?
I also checked out the rail reiseauskunft and couldn't get a price (too early to post. Other suggestions are very much appreciated.

Transavia.com - although it may fly from Rotterdam airport (easily accessible by shuttle bus from Amsterdam Central Station).

Transavia does fly from Copenhagen to Amsterdam.

The train will take between 11 and 12 hours, requires a minimum (including time between trains) of 11-12 hours, and two changes (Hamburg and Osnabruck). This includes the ferry crossing (the entire train is rolled onto the ferry) between Denmark and Germany which takes about 45 minutes.

I've done this trip several times; the scenery is IMO nothing special.

wassy, are you for real? A'dam is the common abbreviation for Amsterdam. Amsterdam's airport is called Schipol; it has its own train station were Thalys trains call at. The Thalys is the high speed train (well, high speed only between Brussels and Paris, in Holland you'll get plenty of time to count the cows one by one). Schipol to Paris Gare du Nord (Northern station) is approx. 4 hours by Thalys. You can have a look at Thalys's fares and schedule at www.thalys.com

Hi wassy,

Check www.whichbudget.com for flights from Copenhagen to Amsterdam and Paris.

I checked the Transavia site - it flies from Rotterdam to Copenhagen. Still worth the time savings (and likely cost savings) over the train, IMO.