Hi All,
We have flights through Amsterdam and have scheduled a week layover so we could visit our son stationed in Heidelberg, Germany. I was looking at flights from AMS to Frankfurt then thought how cool it would be to drive. Even if I flew, I'd still have to get a car in Frankfurt and drive down. We do want a car while in Heidelberg so we can go exploring.

We arrive in Amsterdam on a Sunday evening at 6:30 p.m. I cannot change this flight as it is part of a much longer trip. Figure it would be at least 8:30 p.m. until we could get a car and head out. Thinking about driving for a few hours then grab a "cheap" hotel room for the night. When I look at map quest it says it is about a 5 hour drive. True? We will probably go straight to Heidelberg and then stop at a few places on the way back.

Is this doable? Is it fairly easy? Anyone make the drive before? Or am I crazy, should I just book a flight? Any comments welcome. I will look at places to stop and see along the way once I decide drive versus fly. The trip is planned for early June (had to book early for FF tickets)

We do plan on spending a few days in Amsterdam on the way back.

Thanks,
Duane

Interesting that you arrive at 18.30. Most flights from the USA arrive much earlier in the day. Where are you coming from?

I suggest that you book a room for your first night. You will have daylight until about 22.00 so you can drive as far as maybe Nijmegen before it gets dark. Holland is flat and the expressways are straight. From there the drive down the Rhine would be interesting though slow if you take the local roads. Even if you use the Autobahns figure on 8 hours for Amsterdam to Heidelberg.

I've driven Frankfurt to Amsterdam a number of times. That's 6 hours. The drive straight from Frankfurt to Heidelberg is boring.

We drove in the opposite direction last year. It's a good day's drive and you can stop off in cologne if you like to break the journey.
I would agree about stoppping the night in amsterdam and then setting off in the morning - you will be very tired and miserable if you try to drive anywhere that night. Enjoy the night in A'dam, which is a great city, then start off fresh in the morning. It's safer too.

We flew into Amsterdam in late June. Within 45 minutes we had gone thru immigration, collected our bags, bought a phone card, and were in our rental car.

Thanks! If it is an 8 hour drive, I might consider flying. Not sure I want to drive that long. We will be back to Germany at a later date so I do not need to see everything this time.

hopscotch, we are flying in from Nairobi after a safari. Tried to get an overnight flight, but I had to take what was available.

RufusTFlyer - that is good news. 45 minutes....

annhig, the flight is only about 8 hours from Nairobi, so we shouldn't be too beat up. I mean that is all we are doing that day, even getting to sleep in a bit before the flight.

Thanks everyone, might just think about flying now since we have to do this round trip. If it was a leisurely vacation, then maybe, be we have limited time. If I could only catch a late night flight from AMS to Frankfurt......

Thanks,Duane

Unless you get caught up in accident traffic, Amsterdam to Heidelberg should be about a 5 or 5-1/2 hour drive more or less. We drove Amsterdam to Odenthal (near Cologne) in under 3 hours--with a couple of "rest" stops along the way.

But that still might be more than you want to tackle fresh off the airplane. It wouldn't bother me to drive 5 or 6 hours, but it all depends on how you react to long flights and jet lag.