Going to Amsterdam 30 2 days of may then driving down to Schwabis Hall Germany for 1 or 2 days have 5 days to fill flying back out of Amsterdam was thinking France ( Nancy ) Luxemburg then Belgum back to Amsterdam any thoughts or help can't decide and it's coming up quick it's our 25th anniversary want it to be a nice trip.

Hi JB,

Please reread your post and edit it.

Itinerary

Indeed. Punctuation is our friend. And spelling counts.

ohnboy. Apart from the polite request above which will make it easier to reply to you:

Why only two days in Amsterdam? Are you travelling from the US to Amsterdam? Is day 1 the day you arrive in Amsterdam? If so what about jet-lag?
You don't need a car in Amsterdam. Expensive to park and useless in the city.

With such a short trip and a significant anniversary, my suggestion would be to just go to Amsterdam and Paris. Too much travelling.

Have you already bought the tickets for your flights? If not, see if you can get an open-jaw flight instead. Then you won't have to backtrack to Amsterdam.

What exactly do you mean when you say "have 5 days to fill"? Is that five days total, including Amsterdam and Schwabis? Or five days plus Amsterdam and Schwabis? If it's five days total it's really not going to work.

You need a map and a way to calculate distances. Do you want to drive half a day to get somewhere, arrive exhausted, sightsee a few hours, then sleep, repeating this sequence every day? Is that how you want to spend an important anniversary?

Is there anything you feel you absolutely MUST see in any of the places you have mentioned? I've never heard of Schwabis and have no idea what there is to see in Nancy. But this is your trip and you must have a reason for picking these specific places. Of course, if you arrive late in the afternoon it's possible the site you want to see has already closed for the day.

What does your wife think about this itinerary? Do you want your marriage to survive so you can celebrate your fiftieth anniversary one day?

Johnboy - you don't tell us where you're from [i looked at your fodors profile] but given that on another thread you refer to "bucks' i guess you're from the US, where you may be used to covering many miles in just a short trip.

Travel in europe isn't really like that; we don't have the roads [or those we have are too clogged with traffic] and there can be a lot of things to see within a small area. for example in the Netherlands, as well as Amsterdam itself there are many other very pleasant places to see very close to it - Haarlem, Leiden, Edam, Delft - all accessible by public transport. you could easily spend your whole trip there, and not run out of things to do.

The OP means Schwäbisch Hall. If you end up doing a round trip then certainly a trip via Luxembourg and Trier would be pretty on the way over, and making Nancy a trip on the way back would be nice. But if you have limited time, then I'm with the others - do an open jaw trip, maybe out of Stuttgart. 5 days is not much. I think I remember you posting earlier that your main destination was Schwäbisch Hall (???). If so, just drive directly there via Trier and spend the time pottering around Tübingen, Stuttgart, the Bottwartal, Schwäbisch Hall.

Lavandula

Sorry for the sloppy post I have a total of 10 days Two in Amsterdam then Schwabish Hall.I have started to rethink the trip and just go to Paris and stay the entire time there.Still unsure of that.We have no set Itinerary Nancy Fr is about 2.5 hours away from Schwabish hall Rothenburg is .75 hours away Munich about 2.5 so we can do a lot of day trips and use that as home base. I have bought my tickets but can change them without a problem.I made sure of that before I bought them.Just to be clear I have 5 open days not including Amsterdam or the "hall"any suggestions would be appreciated

So, if I understand correctly, you have 7 days total for your trip? Why not either (1) spend 2 days in Amsterdam and the remainder in Schwabish Hall with day trips or (2) spend 2 days in Amsterdam and 5 days in Paris. Only you can make the choice. I would go with option 2 but others would have differing suggestions.

Hey JB,

> I have a total of 10 days Two in Amsterdam then Schwabish Hall.I have started to rethink the trip and just go to Paris and stay the entire time ...<

This sounds like a first visit.

If so, I suggest that you visit Paris.

You can go to Versaille, Giverny by RER or take the high-speed trains to Auxerre, Strasbourg, Nancy, Dijon/Beaune, Avignon in under 3 hr if you get bored.

Enjoy your visit.

Hi Johnboy...
If this is a first trip, I'd choose one location and do day trips. It will take a couple of days for jet lag to subside and traveling between cities eats up a LOT of time (minimum half day per change.)

Where does your wife want to go? When do you leave?

I think my wife would enjoy Paris the most. We leave the 30th of May.I have been to europe several time through work ect. she has never been. I want her to have a great time.With that said anyone know a good neighborhood for lodging something close to major attractions.

Are you talking about 10 days from now?

And you still have to get or get new planes tickets? And find a hotel?

For the latter - what it your budget and what are your expectations? This is a big anniversary. Are you looking for luxury at $700 per night? Or budget at $150? And what are you expecting - AC, elevator, private bath? Or something special - charming, with spa, bar and lovely surroundings?

I have budgeted 250 us per night but an do more if I have to we don't need super luxury just something nice and quaint

You leave in 10 days - check. I think you're wise to limit yourself to one destination. I just took a peek on hipmunk.com which does a weighted ranking based on your particular requirements.

I'll leave it to others to recommend arrondissements (neighborhoods) or hotels... I've stayed in the 5th, the 6th, and next month in the 1st. I personally like to stay near the Seine. This time we're staying in an apartment, as compared to a hotel the previous 2 times.

Good luck!