Europe March 2006 - Itinerary so Far
Jan 3rd, 2006, 05:58 PM
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Europe March 2006 - Itinerary so Far
Ok - here it is so far. Critique away! Am open to ideas on the order i'm doing things as well as lengths of time and day trips.
Note: We have never been to any of these places before. We will be traveling via Eurail Pass. We're not that big on museums - mostly like to people watch, eat, shop, and walk a lot to get a feel for the towns.
There's so much I would like to do - Loire Valley, Burgundy, etc. but I know I don't want to pack this so full that we're moving hotels every day.
Day 1 - Arrive in Paris in the a.m.
Day 2 - Paris
Day 3 - Paris - perhaps a day trip to Loire Valley or Dijon? although this is a Sunday so i'm not sure that would work.
Day 4 - To Bayeux / Normandy
Day 5 - Normandy - Band of Bros tour
Day 6 - To Belgium - Bruges
Day 7 - Bruges
Day 8 - To Amsterdam
Day 9 - Amsterdam
Day 10 - Amsterdam - day trip to smaller town like Haarlem?
DAy 11 - Amsterdam - tour to see flowers?
Day 12- Leave Amsterdam, spend night in Champagne region of France (Reims?)
Day 13 - Champagne Region
Day 14 - Train to Paris in a.m. - Leave from Paris in the afternoon (sigh)
Note: We have never been to any of these places before. We will be traveling via Eurail Pass. We're not that big on museums - mostly like to people watch, eat, shop, and walk a lot to get a feel for the towns.
There's so much I would like to do - Loire Valley, Burgundy, etc. but I know I don't want to pack this so full that we're moving hotels every day.
Day 1 - Arrive in Paris in the a.m.
Day 2 - Paris
Day 3 - Paris - perhaps a day trip to Loire Valley or Dijon? although this is a Sunday so i'm not sure that would work.
Day 4 - To Bayeux / Normandy
Day 5 - Normandy - Band of Bros tour
Day 6 - To Belgium - Bruges
Day 7 - Bruges
Day 8 - To Amsterdam
Day 9 - Amsterdam
Day 10 - Amsterdam - day trip to smaller town like Haarlem?
DAy 11 - Amsterdam - tour to see flowers?
Day 12- Leave Amsterdam, spend night in Champagne region of France (Reims?)
Day 13 - Champagne Region
Day 14 - Train to Paris in a.m. - Leave from Paris in the afternoon (sigh)
Jan 4th, 2006, 04:33 AM
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Have you booked your flight yet? You might have the option of flying an open-jaw flight into Paris and out of Amsterdam (or vice versa) which would make this a lot easier.
If you have already booked RT to Paris, then I'd think hard about trying to do both Paris and Amsterdam on this trip. Especially as you have a lot of side trip interests relating to both cities.
If you have already booked RT to Paris, then I'd think hard about trying to do both Paris and Amsterdam on this trip. Especially as you have a lot of side trip interests relating to both cities.
Jan 4th, 2006, 05:15 AM
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Thanks everyone.
Yes, we usually fly open jaw for things like this but it wasn't an option for us this time.
My DH doesn't want to spend more time in Paris so that's why we're headed other places. This is my "wait till you see how much fun Paris is and you'll want to go back" trip. My DH thinks he's going to hate it. oh well!
With the exception of not spending enough time in Paris, does everything else look doable? Other ideas on where we should be going / not going?
thanks!
Yes, we usually fly open jaw for things like this but it wasn't an option for us this time.
My DH doesn't want to spend more time in Paris so that's why we're headed other places. This is my "wait till you see how much fun Paris is and you'll want to go back" trip. My DH thinks he's going to hate it. oh well!
With the exception of not spending enough time in Paris, does everything else look doable? Other ideas on where we should be going / not going?
thanks!
Jan 4th, 2006, 05:33 AM
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Go to sncf.fr, which if memory serves is the french national rail site, or as a fallback, www.bahn.de. Spend a little time playing with the trip planners on those sites and work out how long your rail journeys are. Your aim should be to keep the total journey time for the trip to about 14 to 17 hours, 20 if you are real greyhounds. Do this before you splurge on that eurail pass, if that's still an option. This will help make a lot of things clear as to how much you're stuffing in. You will also get some ideas as to which trip segments might be expendable. Good luck!
