Bowsprit

Yes, I know a bit of London. One of my kids is living, working there and has been for the last year and a half. She felt very comfortable with this arrangement as she'd been a visitor to London for most of her life. I know that prices for property indeed go down a bit sarf of the river.

No matter, I'm sure you're right and the OP will choose something wonderful.

Bowsprit

Travelodges might not be a bad choice here either. They have incredible sales and if they end up in Southwark, they can stay at the Travelodge there for under £50 a night per room if they hit it right. That might work too! Family stayed there and got in on one of the 24 hour/£7 deals and found it to be adequate.

kybourbon

Since you are traveling Easter break, you might find the college dorms for the London School of Economics a cheap place to stay. They have several locations with some more central than others. They rent rooms during summer and holiday breaks. You usually have access to the dorm kitchens. They also offer apartments, but I'm not sure if the apartments can sleep five.
http://www.lsevacations.co.uk/

Lynnaustin

I just read your response where you noted that you will finalize the trip in Feb. when your husband returns. You are leaving March 2010, right? This is cutting it very close for your reservations, particularly if you will be booking some triple rooms. Hotels do not have a lot of those available.

junk4rp

I just bought an open jaw set of tickets for London and returning from Amsterdam. It is decided that we would do London-Paris-Amsterdam. Now, I have to rest of the planning to have the train tickets and apartments/hotels booked.

Thanks you everyone for your feedback.

RP

Bowsprit

Good for you junk4rp. How much were the tix. pp? Just curious. OK, how many days in each city?

junk4rp

For the WAS to LON an AMS to WAS was $698/pp. I asked in another thread and most people though that is a fair price. So, bought it today.

London: 27th Mar - 30th Mar
Paris: 31st Mar - 3rd Apr
A'dam: 4th Apr - 5th Apr

6th we fly out.

StCirq

Great price! Good for you!

Bowsprit

I agree with the other poster that it would be best to start another thread about lodging. You can post in the 3 forums. Good luck with everything; it's going to be a grand trip!

annhig

hi junk - great price and good choice of places.

I'm sure you'll love them all.

your timing in Amsterdam is just right for the tulips, which I would definitely recommend.

have a great trip,

regards, ann

NorCalif

Hey junk4rp - I think your itinerary - London, Paris, Amsterdam sounds great - nice variety of cities. (Actually we did your first proposed itinerary, a London-Paris-Venice-Rome trip a few summers ago, but a) our 2 kids were high school/college age and b) we took almost 3 weeks. It was a very last-minute trip. Click on my name if you'd like to see my trip report for that trip, Aug. 2006).

We just spent the past year living in Amsterdam and our DD was at university in Paris for the year, so I spent a fair amount of time going back and forth. You mention either taking the train or flying between London/Paris and Paris/Amsterdam. Not sure what fares you will find for the 5 of you, but if the cost is not a determining factor either way, I would recommend the train. It is only 2 1/2 hours between London/Paris and a little over 3 hours Paris/Amsterdam. And you don't have to get to or from outlying airports - you just go city center to city center. Less hassle, IMO.

One advantage of a relatively short trip is that you don't have to take much luggage. Taking just a carry-on and a daypack for each of us worked for us for our 3 week trip. Everyone's different of course, but I would encourage you to really limit the baggage.

It could be chilly/rainy in Amsterdam in early April, so keep that in mind when bringing clothes for the kids.

I think you all might enjoy a canal boat ride while in Amsterdam. The one I like the best is one that is given for free (they ask for a donation of your choice) by some volunteer members of a boat club. The nice thing about it is in a small boat that can go places the big tourist tourboats can't. Here's a link to their site: http://www.amsterdamboatclub.com/ You can also look up a lot of reviews about them on tripadvisor.com. The only problem is that you have to sign up in person to reserve a spot on the boat and with 5 of you and only a couple of days in Amsterdam it might not work out.

You mention you are interested in the tulips - Keukenhof is easy to reach by bus and very beautiful, but also very crowded during the month it is open. It does have a playground and a little petting zoo type place, so if your younger children are not major flower fanciers, they might still enjoy it and be able to run off a little steam in the park.

I hope you have a wonderful time.

hetismij

Actually you will be very lucky to see tulips that early - daffodils and other bulbs yes, but tulips are unlikely, especially if the winter remains as cold as it is now (-6C as I write).

MomDDTravel

Going to be a great trip! Cannot wait to hear all about it.

yipads

I dont think the trip is far too ambitious with the budget unless u know where to look. There's so many good advice already so I'll just share a site that i use to locate cheap accommodation. here it is in order of ur iterinary
1. london hotels - http://tinyurl.com/yfp22nt
2. paris hotels - http://tinyurl.com/yhhcumu
3. venice hotels - http://tinyurl.com/yfd52uv
4. rome hotels - http://tinyurl.com/yc5np9m

Check the actual date of visit coz it myt be different. Note im not selling anything but helping u guys save alot coz i think it can accomplish within ur budget. Hope this helps at least u can compare prices on what u have before.

janisj

yipads: Welcome to Fodors. If you read the whole thread (long, I know) The OP has changed plans and is now only going to London, Paris and A'dam. Also a hint - Many will not click tiny urls unless they know the poster's history or you tell us a what the web site is.

And in your case -- since all 4 links are to the same website - I think they can safely ignore them all. <B>BTW - advertising is not allowed on Fodors

yipads

Yeah i know that's why i didnt put the website name coz im not advertising it Im just bringing them to the exact page and its kinda long link that's y have to use tinyurl to make it better.

hmm oh that's why I read some people talking abt amsterdam. Anyway just want to help!

plastic_paddy

some friends stayed at the below link last June, during Wimbledon so peak time, and got a really good deal. I'd always recommend places they stayed as we got an awesome, cheap apartment in Dublin through them as well!

http://www.think-apartments.com/loca...ge-campus.html

junk4rp

@yipds: Thank you for the links. I have looked at the London and Paris Ones there. BTW, do you have any suggestion for A'dam?

@plastic_paddy: I looked at think-apartments. Have sent them a quote request. Thank you for the information.

RP

hetismij

The same site that @yipds suggests also works for Amsterdam - go to the home page and fill in Amsterdam and your dates. Be careful of the area the hotles are in though.
Look at other posts and trip reports on Amsterdam on Fodors for suggestions too.

PatrickLondon

>>junk4rp on Jan 24, 10 at 10:37 PM
How does this area look?

http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/rentals/central-london-zone-1/108406<<

I don't know that area at all well (I work at Elephant and Castle and did once venture down the Old Kent Road to look for a particular hardware shop) - but it's not what one would expect to find on the tourist radar. At one time it was an entirely working-class area (Charlie Chaplin was born not far away, I believe), though like anywhere within reach of central London it's gentrifying. To judge from Google Street View, it's a mixture of pleasant enough early 19th century terrace houses (much sought after these days) and mid 20th century apartments (formerly public housing but often now sold off, and often bought by buy-to-rent landlords - as, I think, in this case). The area as a whole will be socially mixed; there is everyday shopping on the main road, and a well known general market at East Street nearby. It's the kind of place millions of Londoners live in reasonably happily. But crucially, for a visiting party with children, you've some travelling to do every day, say, 10-15 minutes to get to a tube station: though it does have direct buses to some places in central London you would likely be visiting (say, about 20-30 minutes):

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaro...road-11306.pdf

The advert sounds to me as though the landlord has more experience of renting to students and younger travellers (say, Australians on working holiday visas) and as a result has phrased the advert self-protectively, rather than seriously thinking about catering for visiting tourists. For example, I'm assuming from the advert that they will be expecting you to leave the place cleaned - I notice they don't say anything about that.