London-Amsterdam-Paris

June 14-30

June 14 Fly to NYC -- $88 roundtrip
June 14 NYC ? fly to London (Fly to London -- $328 roundtrip)
June 15 Arrive in London early
June 16 London
June 17 London
June 18 London
June 19 London
June 20 Arrive in Amsterdam early (Fly to Amsterdam -- $114 roundtrip)
June 21 Amsterdam
June 22 Amsterdam
June 23 Arrive in Paris early (Train to Paris -- $75 roundtrip)
June 24 Paris
June 25 Paris
June 26 Paris
June 27 Paris
June 28 Paris
June 29 Arrive in London late
June 30 Fly to NYC

Total travel costs: $605

6 nights London hotel: Hotel West Cromwell 252 pounds or $421
3 nights Amsterdam hotel: Plantage 180 euro or $210
6 nights Paris hotel: Hotel Champerret Elysees 366 euro or $425

Total travel costs: $605 per person
Total hotel costs: $1,056 or $528 per person
Total hotel and travel costs: $1,133 per person
Food, other expenses for 15 days @ $100 a day: $1,500 per person


Total travel, hotel, food, other costs: $2,633

Now in a perfect world the days we are spending in Amsterdam would be used for more time in London and Paris, but my friend would really like to go to Amsterdam.

I went there for the first time last summer and loved it so I'm not too bummed.

All of the hotel and flight prices are currently available online.

Has anyone ever stayed at any of these hotels?? Any thoughts on whether this schedule is too hectic for 15 days??

We managed Barcelona, Ibiza, Rome, Florence and Amsterdam in 14 days last summer so I'm not too worried.

Are you including daily local travel costs, transfers to and from the airport, and a cab now and then in your $605 travel costs? I think you might exceed that amount a bit (although it would be easy to trim the $100/day if you had to do so).

I think this is a rather reasonable and comfortable trip plan.

Yeah, the local, daily travel costs are figured in the $100/day allowance.

If you adore wine and cheese, whilst in London you MUST go to Gordon's Wine bar...underground, way underground in brick cave like rooms, lit by only candles...all you can get is wine, cheese and bread!!!

6 nights London hotel: Hotel West Cromwell 252 pounds or $421
3 nights Amsterdam hotel: Plantage 180 euro or $210
6 nights Paris hotel: Hotel Champerret Elysees 366 euro or $425

Has anyone ever stayed at any of these hotels?? There's very little info on the Net about them and I'd like to hear from someone who's stayed at them before I commit.

Thanks

What are your other Paris hotel choices (is it a package?)..?
The Champerret is fairly 'off-center' if it's your first visit to Paris. If it's your only choice, the Metro system is great, so it's no big deal.
(Someone else who has stayed there needs to comment on the facility itself). The webcam photos on http://www.cybevasion.com/hotels/fra...erret-elysees/ look very nice.
The Hotel Plantage in Amsterdam is off-center, too - maybe someone knows if it has good tram connections.
15 hotel nights for $1000 in June is a miracle, in my opinion. How was that done?

These were the absolute cheapest 2* or above hotels that I could find.

Mostly used venere.com, hotels.com and some other sites to find them.

I know absolutely nothing about any of them beyond the prices, hence the first rough draft.

I'm pretty picks about my hotel choices (I almost spend as much time on hotels as I do choosing my destinations) so it's possible we won't be staying at any of these places.

picks = picky

the West Cromwell Hotel is near the West Kensington tube station. It is not a terrific location - but not a terrible one either. For a bargain you could certainly do worse. But several web sites say it is a 1-star hotel which means it is pretty basic. For £42 a night you could probably find a more convenient location.

If it is your first visit to Paris, most will say to book a hotel in the 'single-digit' arrondisements, ie. 75004, 75005, 75006, 75007... (4, 5, 6 being the arrondisements) b/c you will encounter less time riding Metro to/from your hotel to places.
A good website to view prices, photos and location for 2-star (and 3-stars, too) is www.france-hotel-guide.com

Also, if you do a search here for 'budget hotel' and select France in the list, you will find out what a lot of favorites are..

In Amsterdam, look at Hotel de Munck. I haven't stayed there but went by it on a bike ride along the Amstel. It is in a better location than the Plantage, has some online reviews (don't remember if they're on www.channels.nl or tripadvisor) and pix look good on their website: http://www.hoteldemunck.com/
and also www.amsterdamby.com/munck/