Mjpres

My wife and I are looking to go on a trip to Europe this coming May 2014. We are sure we want to go to Amsterdam and Rome (Is that the best time to go?). We are looking for a 3rd interesting "filler" city that wouldn't take away from the other 2 destinations. We thought of Prague, but from the reviews it seems as if transportation in and out of the city will be difficult. The catch to all of this, is we only have 9 days in Europe with a 10th day travel back to the US (Thursday Red Eye Flight - Following Sunday Return Flight). Any help/feedback/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

nytraveler

IMHO with the very limited time you have - you really don;t have time for a 3rd city. Just seeing Amsterdam and Rome - with perhaps a day trip from one of them - will more than fill the time you have.

With 9 days you have 2.5 in Amsterdam (you won;t get onto the street until noon at the earliest the day you arrive), 1 day to get to Rome and 5.5 in Rome - time for a day trip - perhaps to Pompeii, Ostia Antica or Orvieto. Or you could add another day to Amsterdam to see a little of the countryside.

The only way to add a 3rd city will devote another day to just getting someplace and mean you are giving short shrift to all of them.

Sassafrass

May is a lovely time for Europe. Have you been to Europe before? If not, my personal opinion would be that with only nine days, I would not add the cost and use the travel time between to combine Amsterdam and Rome. Of course it can be done, but they are not a great combination logistically. Why not on this trip use the time for Italy: the lakes or Venice or Florence and Tuscany or the AC, etc?

If you must, then do multi-city, fly into Amsterdam (4 nts, 3 days with 1 day trip), early flight to Rome (5 nts, 4 days with day trip to Florence Or Orvieto).

msteacher

I agree with the above posters. You will love both Amsterdam and Rome. If you really want to add a third city, do a day trip to Den Haag, Bruges, Haarlem, Orvieto or Florence.

kja

Another vote for Amsterdam and Rome ONLY, given your time frame. nytraveler has given you a good option, although I personally would give yourselves at least 3 days in Amsterdam because you are likely to have to deal with jet lag while you are there.

And FWIW, I would never make Florence a day trip from anywhere -- I thought it deserved at least 5 full days on its own merits.

The good news: You'll see some wonderful things even if you "only" visit 2 cities!

Mjpres

Thanks for all the suggestions. We will definitely keep them in mind when we book.

indy_dad

I agree with the above that 2 cities is that time would work best. If it helps (even without kids):

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...log-photos.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-with-kids.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-with-kids.cfm