May 2008 Itinerary
 

Hi all,

Hope your travels are awesome and your memories are everlasting!

I am going to Europe in mid-May. I am flying to Amsterdam, this is my proposed schedule:

May 15-Fly to Amsterdam from NYC mid afternoon

May 16-Arrive in Amsterdam early morning, explore the city, stay overnight

May 17-Take the morning Eurail from Amsterdam to Paris, explore the city, the Louvre

May 18-Explore Paris, Eiffel Tower and sightseeing, stay overnight

May 19-Explore Paris during the day, and then take the overnight Eurail train to Berlin

May 20-Wake up in Berlin, explore the city-Berlin Wall

May 21-Explore Berlin, stay overnight, perhaps take a tour, like the World War II/Third Reich history stuff. Morbidly fascinating, depressing, and enlightening all at once.

May 22-Take the morning Eurail train to Prague

May 23-Explore more of Prague

May 24-Prague during the day, then take the overnight train back to Amsterdam

May 25-Explore Amsterdam, stay overnight

May 26-Day in Amsterdam, then early evening take the flight back to NYC.

I know it is a lot to do in 10 days...and I need to be more specific about what I will do specifically, but what do you think?

I appreciate all input. I went to Spain last year and got some awesome advice here.

Thanks guys!

Eric

Now...this may be the purpose/your style of travel, so it may be fine for your personality....but to me, looks like a lot of cities and a lot of transfering between cities.

I'd do 2 cities. You are not really seeing a lot of any city before you move on.

For example...day 1. You land, jet lagged, need to get luggage, train to city, find hotel, check-in, grab a bite..chunk of that day is gone. And...same happends every time you arrive and leave city ... time "wasted" doing the admin stuff versus the tourism stuff.

Less is more

Thanks Michael for the reply. I am flying into Amsterdam Am I guessing for the other city, you would choose Paris?

I know the itinerary will change anyway. Last year when I went to Spain I had it all planned out. I ended up falling in love with Sevilla and staying there a LOT longer than I thought.

Seems like more time on trains then anything else. How could you see Amsterdam in a few days? 2 days in Paris? Thats a joke!

So you would limit the trip to 2 cities, as well?

I can understand the desire to see a lot of cities in a short time, but that is a LOT of time on trains for such short visits.

Amsterdam and Paris in particular need way more time than a day and a half just to see the "must sees."

At the very least, I would cut out Berlin and save it for another trip. Do Amsterdam (3 days), Paris (4 days), and Prague (3 days), before returning to Amsterdam. I do think the idea of overnight trains is good, so it saves time for sightseeing, but you don't want to do all your sighseeing on the run.

thanks cheryllj. Just curious, why yould you cut out Berlin as opposed to the other two?

Much appreciated!

That's just my personal preference -- Paris, Amsterdam and Prague are three of my favorite cities ever. I'm not as crazy about Germany (although it's been years since I've been and I'm overdue for another visit - I hear Berlin is super cool these days).

If you have your heart set on Berlin, then cut out Prague. I think 3 cities is hectic but doable in 10 days, but 4 is really pushing it with the "what city am I in today?" factor. It's hard to relax when you are truly "on the run" like that.

Well, after people's input, I have revamped my schedule a little. Here it is, maybe this is a little less hectic?

May 15-Fly to Amsterdam from NYC mid afternoon

May 16-Arrive in Amsterdam early morning, explore the city, stay overnight

May 17-Explore more of Amsterdam, stay overnight

May 18-Take an early morning train to Paris, Explore Paris, Eiffel Tower and sightseeing, stay overnight

May 19-Explore Paris during the day, Montmartre, etc.

May 20-More of Paris...try to catch a soccer game (football, sorry)

May 21-Spend the day in Paris, and then take the overnight train to Berlin

May 22-Explore Berlin, WWII type of stuff

May 23-Explore more of Berlin, Berlin Wall, Holocaust Memorial, museums

May 24-More of Berlin

May 25-Take early morning train to Amsterdam, see more, Rijkmuseum, Van Gogh, etc-whatever I didn't see before.

May 26-Day in Amsterdam, then early evening take the flight back to NYC.

How's this? Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks!

That sounds like a fantastic vacation. Have fun. :)

And share a trip report when you get back, because I am considering Berlin on a future trip. :D

Thanks, I definitely will! I anticipate all 3 cities are going to be fabulous.

And after reading the "Europe's Worst Airports" thread, I am glad I chose Amsterdam to fly into LOL

Yes, everybody always says that Schipol is the best.

I think this itinerary will work out much better for you. You have incorporated enough time to get over jet lag, and to allow for travel and logistics (checking in/out), but you're still going to get enough time to see a good amount of sights in each place.

I've never been to Berlin, but Paris and Amsterdam are both wonderful cities with so much to do and see. You won't be able to see everything of course, but I don't think you will feel like you're "rushing."