"I know this is kind of early but i want to start planning now (an saving money now). I hope to goto europe in May 2006. I would like to be in amsterdam on May 25 f0r my 25th birthday. I will also be taking my boyfriend who will be graduating from college around that time. I have been to europe once and this will be his first trip.
We know that we want to spend 5 to 7 days in amsterdam with possiable day trips to paris (i know its a 5 hour train ride) and other areas. I would like to go to venice (i was only there for 1 rainy night and feel i miss out on alot)and stay maybe 3 nights. I would also like to visit Greece, and Spain, as I have never been to either. In total i would like to spend 2 or 3 weeks. Does anyone have any itinery ideas? Also A few friend may be comming along including one who is fluent in French. I am sure she will want to spend more time in france then I do, but we dont mind splitting up then re-meeting along the way. Also is there some type of cruise I can take to greece? Right now money isnt an option (why i am planning early) I was thinking around 10k for me and my boyfriend (we will stay in cheep hotels and splurge on other things)
Thanks"



I am reposting this with the right title. After actually sitting down and talking to my boyfriend, we plan on Spedning one week in Amsterdam, exploring the Holland area, and one week(maybe a week and 1/2) in Italy. We decided that we'd rather spend more time in each place, then going to 4 or 5 different places. (this gives us an excuse to come back again next year!) SO what do you suggest that we see while staying in amsterdam? We would like to take 3 day trips to the surrounding areas (I want to see the flowers and windmills, which I missed when I vistided in Jan)
What do you suggets we see while in Italy? Venice, is a must, as is rome (i'd rather spend more time in venice) Do you suggest that we fly between A-dam and italy? or take a train? We will both be 25, so we still qualify for the student ticket price.
Also if we spend 5 to 7 days in Amsterdam, do you think it will be cheeper to stay in a hotel or rent an apt/houseboat for a week? Last time I stayed at hotel de munk, and loved it, so that Is where we plan on staying if we go the hotel route.

Check into the low-cost intraEuropean airfares. Start at Ryanair.com even though the airport they use is not very close to Amsterdam.

Hi Ill,

Much better plan.

All train schedules can be found at http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

It is about 18 hr from Amsterdam to Venice, 20 to Rome.

Look at www.whichbudget.com for cheap airlines fromAmsterdam to Italy.

For about 10 days in Italy, I would do 4 in Venice and 6 in Florence, with visits to Siena and Lucca.

If you want to include Rome instead, I suggest a daytrip to Orvieto and one to Ostia Antica.

Have a great trip.

Well I just startded a new job, and i will have much less vacation time, so i was thinking about changing the trip to thanksgiving 2006, (the week of and the week after) Do you think this will be a good time to go?

I think that Amsterdam in late November might have weather fairly similar to Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Best wishes,

Rex

As Rex points out, the weather won't be the same in late November as it is in May. You'll be looking at temperatures averaging in the mid-40s during the day. Daylight hours will be much shorter, too. On the bright side, you should be able to make arrangement more economically.

Since I live within 100 miles of Green Bay and there is snow outside as I write this, I have no problem with Amsterdam's seaside-tempered weather because it is less extreme than what I am accustomed to. That said, I think I would have a hard time staying there for the length of time that you're talking about.

Amsterdam tends to be pricey on the lodging side. Secondly, I think I would use it up with too long of a stay. We've enjoyed visiting Amsterdam on a number of occasions, but three or four days is plenty for me on each occasion. You've listed Paris as a possible "day trip". I would suggest you make it much more than that, since it has so much going for it and much more mass than Amsterdam.

Splitting a week between Paris and Amsterdam is a very nice trip and you can enjoy quite a lot with that amount of time to spend on it. It's far too soon to begin any serious planning for November 2006, but you can still do some research and even track some typical costs so that you are in a better position to book things wisely.

I was in Adam in Nov and did not think the weather was that bad (i live in Pa), will it be coolder in Nov?

I was in A'dam in late Nov and the weather wasn't that bad. I didn't even use my gloves. Nor do I agree that it is a pricey place to stay. I paid 42 Euros/night at the Hotel Kap. Nothing fancy, clean and right around the corner from a tram stop.