We will be making our first trip to Europe and want to spend 3 days in Paris, 1 day at Versailles, and 3 days??? I was thinking of going to Amsterdam and flying home from there. We are not that interested in other areas in France. Does it seem reasonable to take a train to Amsterdam on this trip or are there other locations in nearby countries that would make more sense?

You could take a train to Brussels, change trains and go to Brugges, which is just lovely. Or you could go on to Amsterdam, which we really enjoyed. But, Paris is so wonderful and there is much more to do than can be done in 3 days.
We flew in to Amsterdam and out of Paris on our last trip. We took a day trip from Amsterdam to Delft. Took the train to Brussels with a day trip to Brugges and a two day tour with a guide of the Battle of the Bulge area. Then took the train to Paris.
I'm sure others will share their trips and what worked for them.

What are your interests? Cities? Countryside? Chateaux? Churches? Architecture? History? Shopping? Museums? Hiking/bicycling?

How many days do you have altogether? 7 days? Do the 7 days include arrival day AND departure day?

As you can tell by my screen name I am a big fan of both Paris and Amsterdam.

But... if you only have 7 days don't do both. There just isn't enough time to do justice to either one ... especially if you miss a day in Paris for Versailles.

Pick the one that is more important to you and enjoy your seven days.

Rob

I can appreciate the viewpoints above but if you really want to see SOME of both then yes, a train from Paris to A-dam would be your (IMO) best bet.

Don't be put off...you can say that it takes this or that many days to "do justice" to a LOT of places in the world.

I'm suprised you haven't yet received a BUNCH of nastygrams about your rather blatant (in some people's minds, anyway) "disdain" for the rest of those regions in France.

Amazing to hear that not everybody thinks alike and yet they're still reasonable people, isn't it?

Have a great trip.

It might help us to "diagram" your trip. If you are arriving from oversaes, that first day is jetlag day, getting into city, to hotel,etc...You probably lose 1/2 day there...and may affect your choices of activities. The day you take the train: check out, to train station..travel...to hotel, check-in..probably lose another 1/2 day. Last day in city, check-out, to airport...if night flight, need to store luggage (airport?), also need to get to airport 3-4 hours before flight

So...what I do is lay it out and see how many days I "really" have and how much time is spent "getting there".

I used to look at my itinerary, see I landed on August 12th and left for home on August 15th and assumed I had 4 days to see a place...but it's not the real picture.

I cannot imagine spending only 3 days in Paris, but if you really want to go to Amsterdam, check out and compare the railfares and airfares. The train is not always the cheapest way to go. You see more on the train, but you also lose a lot of time. It is, however, MUCH, MUCH easier to check in for a flight to the States in Amsterdam than in Paris. I usually try to fly from CDG to Amsterdam, than on to the flight home, but I had to go directly from CDG last week, and it took a full 3 hours of standing in lines. That was for a Delta flight. My friends, who were checking in for an Air France flight, whizzed through and were sitting in the lounge having drinks while I was still in line.

Do as you planned.

Early in our travelling we once did 3 nights each in London, Paris and Amsterdam. We travelled by train between them. The hotel in Paris was near Gare du Nord for easy and quick access and close enough that we could walk to the station.

Without disputing the poster who suggested flying between Paris and Amsterdam I wonder if the time and cost to CDG from Paris and from Schipol to Amsterdam is taken into account and that you must arrive at the airport earlier than a train station.

I figure we would fly out of Ohare on Sat and arrive in Paris Sunday by 10-11am. We will be staying at one of the Hyatts since we have Gold Passport points for at least 3-4 nights. If anyone has a suggestion on which to stay at I would appreciate it. I was thinking we could do the Eiffel tower or Arc that day, get a feel of our location, etc. Monday since lots of things are closed maybe go to Versailles. Tues and Wed see the main sites using the museum pass. Thurs head to Amsterdam and arrive around noon. Maybe see Anne Frank home and Red Light district that night. Friday more sites-my husband is not a big museum person so will hit the highlights in most museums. Sat-tulip fields and Sunday fly home. How does that sound?

Sounds doable to me.

What time of year are you going? Tulips bloom in spring.

A canal boat trip is quite enjoyable in Amsterdam.

If your husband is not a "big museum person", do you really want to go to Versailles? Or invest in a museum pass? Paris is marvelously enjoyable even if you never set foot in a museum -- boat rides on the Seine, seeing the stained glass in the churches, walking the atmospheric streets and beautiful parks, and enjoying people watching in cafes.

If you are not museum person, I agree with PP.
Amsterdam is rather small, and again, if you are not interested in museums, even 2 days can give you an overview of the city.

<i>I'm surprised you haven't yet received a BUNCH of nastygrams about your rather blatant (in some people's minds, anyway) "disdain" for the rest of those regions in France.</i>

Dukey, sometimes we are just struck speechless by some of the things we read here. Challiman was already brave (or foolhardy) to try to drag the OP to Bruges anyway in the very first reply.

You wrote <i>"Monday since lots of things are closed maybe go to Versailles."</i>

I think Versailles is one of the things closed on Monday.

Kerouac, you and I may be a LOT of things but "speechless" has never been ONE of them <G>...try to keep the weather in Paris "decent," OK??? We'll be there on the 7th of September and really looking forward to being back again...Cheers

Versailles and the Orsay are closed on Monday. Most of the other museums are closed on Tuesday.