Europe for 30 plus days

Old Apr 12th, 2014, 01:17 PM
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Europe for 30 plus days

I am beginning the daunting task of planning our trip to Europe for next April and am looking for advice. Will probably fly in and out of Amsterdam as FF miles seem to have the best options for there. We have already done a month in Italy a few years ago as well as have toured Paris for a week so those will not be on our list. Normandy, Tulip Fields in Netherlands, World War II era sights, Concentration camp. Swiss alps, Vienna, Prague, Love history, good food, good wine, good beer,love visiting with locals...are the things and places we want to see and do. My question is ..Am I being unrealistic in thinking I can do all this in a month? Will we need to have a car??
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Old Apr 12th, 2014, 02:01 PM
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We went into and out of AMS because got four FF tickets with Delta last month. Trip lasted 21 days. The flights were awful, and I wound up with pneumonia and pleurisy as a result. Yes, think you can do your proposed trip in 30 days. I would rent a car. We are big map people but must say that my SIL's mapping feature on his iPhone was invaluable.
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Old Apr 12th, 2014, 02:05 PM
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you do not need to have a car to visit mainly cities in fact they are a liability in many - large swathes of city centers blocked off from vehicles - parking like in Amsterdam can cost $30/day or more - many city center hotels do not offer parking, parking can be hard to find many times, etc.

Cars are for exploring rural areas like Germany's Mosel Valley or Black Forest ot wine regions of France - but trains go to about every tiny city too many times - for lots about planning a train trip check out these superb sources: www.ricksteves.com; www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravelservice.com - download their free online European Planning & Rail Guide for lots of train-oriented itineraries in many countries.

Yes you could easily reach all those places by trains - even death or work camps and Normandy - tulip fields in Holland can be reach by train or public bus - check www.keukenhof.nl for the flower extravaganza staged near Leiden very April into May - buses from the Leiden train station take you there.

For Normandy take a train to Bayeux - a pretty town with famous cathedral and Queen Matildha'a Tapestry woven shortly after the Norman Conquewst of England after the invasion to document it - huge tapestry covering walls now in a Bayeux museum. Mini-bus tours take you to the famous D-Day sights just out of Bayeux inexpensively - taking you to Colville-sur-Mer the epicenter of the D-Day Invasion (J-Jour in French) and famous U S military cemetery where special commemorations will take place this June for the 70th anniversary of D-Day..

WW2 sites - the best Third Reich relics are in Nurnberg, Germany in Hitler's old parade grounds with the balcony of the stadium he used to watch goose-stepping troops below still there as is the long long parade grounds. Dachau is easily reached from Munich by S-=Bahn train and bus.

The best of the Swiss Alps IMO is in the Interlaken area - the Jungfrau Region which offers plenty for several days of stay - hiking for all energies - toy-like trains and thrilling aerial gondolas rising up to glacier-girdled peaks, etc.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Jung...=1580&bih=1040
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Old Apr 12th, 2014, 02:11 PM
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I think you can come up with a good plan to do this, or most of it, in 30 days, but I wouldn't fly into and out of A'Dam, which would force you to do a loop. I'd get open-jaw tickets.
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Old Apr 12th, 2014, 02:29 PM
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Such useful comments...thank you so much...We are looking at Open Jaw as well, however all flights from our home city go to Amsterdam or Paris then on to somewhere else. Has anyone visited the German Resistance Memorial in Berlin? I was hoping to be able to get by without a car so that is good news. I guess if we feel we need one we can always rent for a day or two. When I planned our Italy trip and Paris trip a couple years ago this forum was invaluable!!
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Old Apr 13th, 2014, 07:56 AM
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Tulip Fields in Netherlands>

Here is one way to go thru the flower fields in Holland - tulips being just a minor part of the many flowers grown both for blooms and bulbs - mainly for export around the world.

Take a train to Ledien and a bus to the Keukenhof and then from there take bus #100 thru the heart of the tulip/flower fields to Haarlem - a sweet old regional town - get off the bus at the southern end of the pedestrianized main shopping street and waltz thru the shopping district to its north end and walk a few blocks to the Grote Markt - one of Holland's most impressive town square with typical huge church and bell tower - many days an outdoor market takes place here - then walk the few blocks from there to the train station for trains back to Amsterdam.

Or just take bus #100 straight to the train station.

Anyway Bus #100 slices thru the heart of the flower fields, with pulchritudinous blooms undulating for miles and miles around.
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Old Apr 13th, 2014, 09:54 AM
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Thanks PalenQ....had to look up pronunciation of pulchritudinous....can't say I have every heard that word used before in relationship to flowers...so thanks for letting me learn a new word as well as the tips for the flower fields...
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