Destinations around Amsterdam and Germany
 

Flying into Amsterdam and flying out of Paris 2.5 weeks later.
I was planning to drive around Germany and then head towards Paris, but we are now thinking of taking trains and limiting the number of cities visited. Have been to Germany various times, but only to stop at Stuttgart to pickup cars and leave Germany towards the East, so I have determined that I am NOT very familiar with as to where we should visit.

We were thinking of visiting Berlin just for the museum scene, but would rather be going to cities/towns that are more picturesque and less urban jungle (ie: Frankfurt)

Staying in Amsterdam a few days, are there many places to do a day trip? I used to stay near Eindhoven when I was younger, but during the winter didnt see much of anywhere else.

Also maybe driving along the Rhine?? We have been to the North of France, except for the eastern part

Any suggestions would be welcome, as I only have air tickets set so far, for this summer

Lots of sweet day trips from Amsterdam - Delft, Haarlem (right on A'dam's doorstep but a typical old canal-laced regional city), Leiden, Rotterdam and on and on - great train system.

Maybe take a train A'dam to Cologne - put bags in storage for a few hours and see famed Gothic cathedral smack dab next to train station. Then continue on to say Rhine area around Koblenz - and Mosel too - I love Cochem on the Mosel- so dreamy - great base for trains to Burg Eltz, one of the most famous castles in Germany, and boat trips up the incredibly gorgeous Mosel valley, laced with wine towns (such as Cochem) and then move over to Rhine Gorge- in some wine town like Bingen or St Goar or zillions others.

Take the K-D boat trip thru the Rhine Gorge (www.k-d.com) -2.5 hours or so to Koblenz and trains back to your base (can also do from Cochem though a longer commute by about an hour each way.

Then maybe head over to Munich area or Heidelberg or Rothenburg - do day trips out of Munich perhaps.

Then via Strasbourg (great city!) to Alsace

And on to Paris.

Lots of possibilities! Could go down thru Switzerland to get a taste of the high Alps say around Interlaken - stay in Lucerne and over to Montreux and onto Paris.

Anyway for lots of info on trains check www.bahn.de/en for fares and schedules for trains involving Germany - schedules for all European trains - www.seat61.com - www.budgeteuropetravel.com (check their online European Planning & Rail Guide for lots of rail itineraries) and www.ricksteves.com.

Check out various railpasses or discounted tickets for longer trains and regional passes for Germany.

Delft is a wonderful little town near Amsterdam - easy to reach by train.

"...would rather be going to cities/towns that are more picturesque and less urban jungle."

Mosel River Valley: http://www.mosel-reisefuehrer.de/17-...ights-englisch

Besides the nice towns, there are bike paths and footpaths that get you into some very nice territory. The train route from Koblenz on the Rhine serves the area well.

http://www.mosel-personenschifffahrt...ages/mosel.png

Between Koblenz and Bullay the tracks follow the river nicely for good scenery; between Cochem and Bullay there are some short tunnels that shorten the trip where the river is especially windy. From Bullay, a separate trunk line gets you to Traben-Trarbach.

http://www.zughalt.de/wp-content/upl...10/DB11321.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koblen...:Moselbahn.jpg

Rail line schematic for Mosel, Rhine, and entire region:
http://www.bahnstatistik.de/Strecken/StrR-RP-Saar.pdf


(Bernkastel: no train station, get off the train in Wittlich and board a bus to the Kues Forum stop.)

Cochem is a good base town. From there you can catch a train southwest to Trier and Saarburg, or northwest to Koblenz (and the not-to-be-missed Rhine towns and castles just south of Koblenz.)

A single day pass covers regional trains on the rail line schematic above - the Rhineland-Palatinate ticket: 24.00 + 5.00 per additional passenger.
(There are cheaper day passes for getting around as well for smaller zones.)

It is easy to see beautiful Leiden and Delft in one day by train from Amsterdam. Haarlem is another easy to access by train, very short ride.

Haarlemis also easy to twin with Leiden - both close together and you can take train Haarlem to Delft that goes thru the heart of the flower fields.

Amsterdam is fabulous for daytrips. I wouldn't overlook Rotterdam, a quick train ride away, completely different from A'dam, and absolutely fascinating.

Thank you everyone for the great replies, I will take a few days to go over this, and then get back with any questions I may have. Would really like to find 2 bases and do day trips from there if possible, rather than travelling from city to city.

StCirq, your ID sounds very familiar. Have you been to St Jean de Luz ??

Yes, I've been to St-Jean-de-Luz a few times and absolutely adore the place. We are thinking that when this big old house becomes too much for us to handle in the (hope distant) future, we will move there. We were just a few minutes ago talking about hopping on a train and having a nice long weekend there sometime soon.

Would really like to find 2 bases and do day trips from there if possible, rather than travelling from city to city.>

Maybe rent a car for those days - and do one base?

Would really like to find 2 bases and do day trips from there if possible, rather than travelling from city to city.>

sorry thought you were talking about Biarritz and St-Cirq-de-Luz (oops St-Jean-de-Luz) -these are so close together you would only need one base.

Are you talking about the whole trip?

Well then Amsterdam is surely a nice one
and Munich too - surfeit of sweet day trips from there.
and Rhine/Mosel area too.

And bien sur Paris too.

Rhine/Mosel and Munich would be two great bases in between A'dam and Paris.

Hi, You mention museums, if you have interest in painters, the Frans Hal museum in Haarlem is very nice. Check this out with google to be sure of hours and etc. I believe it was a home for poor men once, maybe for Hals himself, not sure about this.. Also of course the Cologne cathedral is amazing, and there is a very nice Roman museum right in front of the cathedral. Sue

Teylers museum, also in Haarlem is more interesting imo.

Also: The Hague.

And the Corrie Ten Boom House is Haarlem's version of the Anne Frank House:

https://www.corrietenboom.com/en/the-museum

And then there is the Kröller-Mueller Museum in Het Loo.

How many days would you recommend to stay at Cochem, to see the surrounding towns and maybe a day river trip down the Mosel? 2-3, 3-4 ?

Then we were thinking of going to Strasbourg (never been), then finish in Paris.
Are there fast train service from Cochem to Starsbourg and on to Paris?

Any recommendations would be GREATLY appreciated, since this is one area I am not familiar with.

Saving this for later too

Any recommendations would be GREATLY appreciated, since this is one area I am not familiar with.>

Cochem - yes a boat ride Cochem to Beilstein is great
Burg Eltz castle

A couple of days would be enough for many.

You could also spend a day on the Rhine from a Cochem base.

If you have an interest in Roman history and ruins, a train trip to Trier from Cochem would be worthwhile. There are several UNESCO world heritage sites in Trier, including the Porta Nigra and Roman Baths.

Oh yeh - forgot about Trier - GREAT day trip- also the childhood home of Karl Marx- now a documentation center!

Great pedestrian shopping zone.

Porta Negra - consensus most complete relic of Romans north of Alps- also ancient basilica that once was a Roman temple.