Gretchen

I hope he checks his arrival and departure time 'cause to me that says 24 days. Maybe it was a typo and it is 14th

"Some other country" and never having been to Europe would be Paris and France. Easy to get to from Belgium, etc.

It would be interesting to know what India and airlines have done to make it cheapest to fly into Belgium. Have seen similar about Venice. ;o)

abhypras

Hi again,

I have now prepared a brief itinerary. Upon exploring more details, we have come to conclusion that we shall visit Western and Southern part of Germany. This will cover places like Stuttgart, Black Forest, Dusseldorf etc.
Hence for the whole trip we will visit Netherlands, Germany (as stated above) and Belgium.

Below mentioned is a brief itinerary for the trip. Pls provide your suggestions.

P.S.: I have managed to find out more details on Netherlands.
We are planning to stay in Amsterdam for 3 nights and explore Amsterdam city and a day trip to Hague, Delft and Rotterdam.
Is that enough to explore Netherlands?? Have I missed out on any town??

I am unclear as to which towns shall i visit in Black Forest. Would be glad if someone can throw light on it.
Kindly comment if I have missed out a particular place as a part of the trip. Happy to modify it since no bookings have been done yet.

4/6/2015 Arrive at airport and proceed to Amsterdam City
5/6/2015 Explore Amsterdam
6/6/2015 Explore Amsterdam
7/6/2015 AMS-Hague-Delft-Rotterdam-AMS. Explore Hague (madurodam) and Delft and back to AMS -
8/6/2015 Ams to Stuttgart
9/6/2015 Explore Stuttgart
10/6/2015 Travel to Black Forest
11/6/2015 Black Forest
12/6/2015 FrankFurt
13/6/2015 FrankFurt
14/6/2015 Dusseldorf
15/6/2015 Brugges
16/6/2015 Ghent
17/6/2015 Brussels
18/6/2015 Brussels

Once the itinerary gets final the next step will be to explore the means of transport.
Confused as to which Rail Pass will work best for us. Eurail, Rail Europe, De Bahn, Netherlands Railways??? Have checked seat61 website but it does not answer my question though. I will need a pass which will provide me coverage for tickets for the entire of 3 countries.
I have check the Benelux with Germany pass, but it does not cover certain areas of Germany where I am visiting.

bilboburgler

Ok, like the bit up to Stuttgart. The Black forest is really about wandering in the woods. I think you need a focus here.

Frankfurt, no idea what you are going to do here while Dusseldorf is not my idea of a holiday town. then Belgium makes sense.

My concern is you seem to be jumping about too much and are traveling for a lot of time.

Have you considered an open jaw trip, out from Amsterdam, back from Zurich say?

It would make more sense to work your way down from Ams into Belgium and then into Germany.

StCirq

You are zig-zagging all over the place. Settle down.

And you do NOT need or want a rail pass unless you want to throw money out the window and limit your choices of seats on particular days. Familiarize yourself with the national railroads of the countries you're visiting and their policies regarding buying cheap point-to-point tickets (usually cheapest at 90-120 days out from dates of travel), and buy them online.

Open-jaw ticket is the way to go. No need for the hassle and expense of backtracking.

dwdvagamundo

I too would omit Frankfurt and Dusseldorf. Take a look at Trier and Aachen, both very historic cities in western Germany on your way to (or from) Belgium. For example, Trier is a an old Roman city and has a Roman gate as well as palace of Constantine, while Aachen has a chapel built by Charlemagne.

You might also consider Strasbourg, which is in France, but is a very Germany city just west of the Rhine.

abhypras

ok guys thanks for the responses.
1) I have booked the flight tickets. Flying into AMS and flying out of Brussels. I got good deal on air tickets for this sector. Hence booked it.
This means that i cannot chalk out a route starting Netherlands - Belgium - Germany. I have to stick to Netherlands - Germany - Belgium.

2) Yes, Ill have to do some more research on places to visit in Black forest.

3) Considering Strasbourg is a good suggestion. Will definitely think over it.

Does it make sense to consider a self drive option as compared to train.
Transport part will clear once the itinerary is in place.

StCirq

If you rent a car in Country A and drop it off in Country B, you will pay an enormous extra fee. But Brussels and Amsterdam aren't that far apart, so you could rent in the Netherlands, drive all over, and drop the car somewhere a short train ride away from Brussels.

PalenQ

and drop the car somewhere a short train ride away from Brussels.>

Like Antwerp or Mechelen.

PalenQ

Oops - need to drop in Holland - I errored in giving Belgian stations close to Brussels - Dordrecht would be the best last Dutch city to return the car and then hop direct IC trains to Brussels. Dordrecht's train station is easy to drive to IME of biking by there umpteen times. But really any place in The Netherlands is a short train ride from Brussels or Bruges, etc.

abhypras

Hello ppl,

Can you pls comment on the following itinerary.

03 Nights Amsterdam
01 Night Aachen
03 Nights Frankfurt
02 Night Munich
01 Night Heidelberg
01 Night Luxembourg
03 Nights Brussels

janisj

Fine if you are happy with:

2 days in Amsterdam
About half a day in Aachen
2 days in Frankfurt
1 day in Munich
About half a day in Heidelberg
half a day in Luxembourg
2.5 days in Brussels

Sassafrass

I lived in Frankfurt for a few years and there are many more interesting places to visit. Coming such a long way, I would certainly choose something else.

I realize you feel you must make decisions right away, but you booked flights without giving as much thought to your itinerary as was really needed. I strongly suggest you do not rush the itinerary choice as well.

I suggest you take just another week to do some hard research to pick some great sights and bases.

Also, before choosing bases, look closely at what is reasonable to see on day trips. Check travel times between places.

Strasbourg would be one possibility.

Consider staying in Bruges or Ghent and visiting the other and Brussels as daytrips.
They are close and easy by train.

Some of your choices seem random. What are you planning to see in the places you have chosen? What are your major interests? Knowing that would help people make suggestions for an itinerary that might be more interesting for you.

janisj

I totally agree -- Not only are parts of the itinerary very rushed, the places do see a bit random.

menachem

<7/6/2015 AMS-Hague-Delft-Rotterdam-AMS. Explore Hague (madurodam) and Delft and back to AMS - >

Even if distances in NL are short, this is a very, very full day. The Hague-Delft is easy by train (or tram, lovely ride!)

I'd cross Madurodam off the list. The Hague is a beautiful and intriguing city, Madurodam is always a little disappointing. Instead I counsel you to have tea at the Des Indes hotel. At least. The Esscher museum almost next door is interesting (also because it is Queen Emma's former palace). And Hofvijver and Voorhout, where you'll roughly be are beautiful parts of the city. Do visit Binnenhof, where our parliament is.

A way to do this would be to head out to The Hague in the morning, Explore The Hague, have lunch there (Des Indes!), then move to Delft to the afternoon, move to Rotterdam in the late afternoon, have dinner there (it's now the focus of an exciting food scene!) and get back to Amsterdam on the Intercity Direct (takes about 40 minutes to Amsterdam CS)

Renting a car for the Dutch part of your trip is not really necessary: parking in city centers is a pain. (an expensive)

menachem

PS. June gives you long evenings. It won't get really dark before 11 PM.

abhypras

Hi again,

Thanks for all the comments again.

many of you have commented that I am travelling a lot. Well, I do not mind travelling and thats the reason I believe a Rail Pass would be beneficial.

Menachem's comment on sightseeing in NL is helpful one. Thank you for that.

I am now fairly clear on the places in NL and Germany.

Request if you guys can help me out with places in Belgium.

dwdvagamundo

The suggestions on Bruges and Ghent from Sassafras above are a good start in Belgium. If you were not flying from Brussels. I'd say to stay in Ghent and take day trips to Bruges and Brussels. Get to Bruges at a leisurely pace and stay late--given the time of year, this would be better than getting up early. Purpose is to miss the crowds.

If your flight out of Brussels is not in the AM, you could take the train from Ghent and probably get to the airport on time.

There's much else to see, including Waterloo on the outskirts of Brussels, but those three will fill the time you have.

Bon voyage

PalenQ

03 Nights Amsterdam
01 Night Aachen
03 Nights Frankfurt
02 Night Munich
01 Night Heidelberg
01 Night Luxembourg
03 Nights Brussels>

If doing all that by train yes check out the Germany-Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg and all of Germany) Railpass may be a great deal - consider first class if hopping on trains as seats are much easier to find - empty seats that is.

tianere

I really do not understand why anyone should avoid Slovakia...as
bilboburgler on Jan 12, 16 at 1:15pm mentioned ????!!!!
And as to your question..it depends on what kind of travellers you are, what is your budget etc., if you want to explore new destination...I would recommend Central Europe

bilboburgler

old thread
And I didn't write avoid Slovakia. I did say Hungary is more interesting. Even my Slovakian friends think it is more interesting. Even the Tokjai is better.