Help me plan my itinerary!
 

My husband and I are going to visit some friends who are living in London in March. We are going to spend a few days in London and then the 4 of us want to do some traveling. We will have 6 days on the mainland and plan to buy a Eurorail Selectpass which means we have to travel by train between bordering countries. We know we want to visit Paris for a couple of days, but we're trying to figure out where else we should go. We've narrowed it down to Belgium, Austria and Germany.

Any suggestions on a great itinerary? Where are some interesting sights to see in these countries? Anything going on in March?

Thanks!

You're probably a bit too ambitious to expect to cover 4 countries in 6 days.

1. Paris is worth more than "a couple of days"

2. Amsterdam is an easy 4-hr train ride, no railpass needed

3. You could reach Cologne, Germany from Paris (or Amsterdam) and do a train trip down the Rhine - you'd need at least 3-4 days for this part.

That's about as far as you could reasonably get in 6 days.

Have you figured out yet from which city you will depart? If you've bought a round-trip to London, then I wouldn't try to do more than Paris, or if pushed, Paris+Amsterdam or Paris+Brussels.

Save your money and forget the Eurorail Selectpass. With only 6 days on the "mainland", stay in Paris and do a few day trips from there. Have a nice trip!!! Mike

Paris, Belgium, Austria, and Germany in 6 days is too much.

You could easily spend 6 days in Paris, with a daytrip to Brussels or Bruge. Or you could divide the time up between Belgium and Paris, but even that would be short-shrifting both places.

I don't think you can squeeze Germany and Austria into this plan unless you literally want to spend 6 days on a train watching countries go by.

In any event, a railpass would probably be a bad idea. Point-to-point tickets would likely be cheaper, especially if you omit Austria and Germany.

Thanks for the suggestions so far! The information about the train tickets is especially helpful!

Let me clarify that we're not expecting to hit all of these countries on our trip... those are just the ones we narrowed it down to so far to choose from. I'd love to spend more time in Paris, but I don't think my husband is that excited about it :) I know it's realistic to only be able to visit maybe one, at most 2 other cities... so I was just hoping to get some ideas!

Thanks so much!

Trains run between Paris-Brussels-Amsterdam many times a day.

Par-Bru = 1.25 hours
Bru-Ams = 3.00 hours (approx)

London
Paris - 3 nights
Brussels - 1 night
Amsterdam - 2 nights / fly out

Hi ac,

>...I'd love to spend more time in Paris, but I don't think my husband is that excited about it ...<

Am I correct that he has not yet been to Paris?

It took me 15 years to get my mother to go to Paris.

It was the most wonderful trip of her life.

((I))

I agree with the sentiments expressed above. With 6 days, I would spend the entire time in Paris. At most I would add one other destination, probably Amsterdam - spending 4 days in Paris and 2 in Amsterdam. And as recommended, don't go with the Europe Selectpass, you can travel better and less expensively.

After a couple of days in Paris, you can take high speed train to Brussels (Thalys) and also visit Antwerp and Brugges. Fly home from Brussels.

I think that Germany and Austria are a bit ambitious for a short trip.

Amsterdam is also reachable, and you could spend two days in each of Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam.

My husband didn't want to go to Paris, either. I literally dragged him there. Now he wants to go back.

Plan to spend the whole six days in Paris. If he doesn't like it, you can take the daytrips. If he does like it, you will find plenty to do for six days. Have a great trip!

aconnell,

Go to Paris. It will be low season - consider a small hotel that will be flexible if you don't stay the full 6 days (you will). Your husband will not want to leave. If he does (though he won't), you can then take a high speed train to Antwerp, Brugges, Brussels, or any other nearby destinations. Again, last minute hotels will be easy because of the season.