My son is a big fan of Hemingway so I think he is going to want to be on the Left Bank so he can wander around to Hemingway's old haunts.>

Harry's New York Bar is at 5 rue denou - right bank I think- a Hemingway and other ex-pat artists/journalists hangout.

Are you flying United??? If so, they land at terminal one and I think the Amsterdam flight (which airline?) departs from Terminal 2. You may need to go through a passport "exit" check also.

Stu Dudley

More questions:
- Is all your flying to CDG & Amsterdam on the same airline/partner?
- checked bags or carry on?

You are obviously not flying on the same ticket - so if you miss your flight & they are different airlines/partners, they might not put you on the next available flight. So you'll have to purchase a new ticket. This will consume some time because you will most likely have to stand in another line to get & pay for the new ticket.

I like to have 2 1/4 hrs between landing in Europe from the US and departure to Amsterdam if my checked luggage will be transferred by the ground crew (or only carry-ons). Since you will likely change terminals, add 1/4 hr so 2 1/2 hrs.

If you can't have the airline transfer your bags & you have to pick them up & re-check them yourself - add 3/4 hr for 3 1/4 hrs.

Add 1/2 hr for buffer if you have checked bags and the airline won't transfer them. 3 hrs 45 mins.

Stu Dudley

Flying Air France/Delta.

Was just treated like a piece of garbage by security people in AMS. Be polite... They found I was not. Had to go through security and passport albeit was in transit. Luggage in the hold followed though.

OK - so the baggage transfer is not an issue.

Stu Dudley

>>However, it is easy to just change planes<<

Not at CDG it isn't. (not grammatically correct but you get the idea). Changing flights - especially un-connected flights - at CDG can be a huge hassle.

3 1/4 hours, by that time, you're halfway between Brussels and Paris. By train.

I would never fly from Paris to Amsterdam. or the other way around. The train is so easy. Changing planes at CDG is never easy. You don't "go through Customs" unless you have stuff to declare. You go through immigration.

If you are interested in tulips, sign up at the tulipsinholland.comwebsite. May will be late, normally, for tulips.

Have your son check the geography for Hemingway hangouts.

The flights can be connected and bags will go through to Amsterdam

For a college student, I recommend the Latin Quarter. It has a young vibe, with fun bars. We liked the Hotel St Jacques there.
http://www.paris-hotel-stjacques.com/en/

And found Le Petit Prince de Paris is located just up the street. It's a great little restaurant.
https://www.lepetitprincedeparis.fr

In Amsterdam, we liked Hotel Residence le Coin. Large rooms with kitchenettes. Very clean. Great location. Across from Hotel l'Europe. Has connecting rooms.
http://www.lecoin.nl/en/

Flying out of Amsterdam, the luggage of both our teens was thoroughly examined. So beware, and let your 20-something know that they are on high alert for people trying to take pot with them. Don't mess around with trying to do that.

>>I would never fly from Paris to Amsterdam<<

The OP is landing at CDG and immediately wants to get to Amsterdam. She arrives at 11am and the first train from CDG after 3 hrs of arrival, doesn't leave until 6pm. Then a 6 hr train ride (including a 1 hr train change) to Amsterdam getting in at 10PM. Plus she has to drag their bags to the train. They could take a taxi into Paris and catch the 5:20 Thalys that gets to Amsterdam at 8:42. But she seems hesitant about train travel and doesn't want trains on arrival day.

Then they want to visit Normandy. Three options:
1. Fly back to CDG (MINUS about $8 per person in cost assuming they fly to AMS) and rent a car & off to Normandy
2. Train to Paris, change train stations in Paris & train to Normandy.
3. Train to Paris, visit Paris, then train to Normandy, and back to Paris. This probably involves a double stay in Paris.

Stu Dudley

There is no way to tell - if you get behind a group tour or something, or if someone has a problem with a passport, you could be there for 30 mins to over an hour.

Or if only a few of many booths are open at CDG Immigration as my son has seen on last 4 visits each way. Leave plenty of time.

Or look for some kind of Caen/Cherbourg-Amsterdam flight that would save a day and maybe not cost much more than train fare and or car rental fee?

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Flights-...m_to_Caen.html

Only options I found are AMS to Caen with a plane change. 4 1/2 to 5+ hrs. $381 to $450. My suggestion AMS to CDG is 1 1/4 hrs & free. The OP implied that she may want to see more of Normandy than just the D-Day beaches.

I don't see how a 5 hr flight is going to save a day over a 1 1/4 hr flight and a 2 1/2 hr drive from CDG to Caen. No train involved and car rental cost is the same. Only cost difference is the $400 added for the flight to Caen from AMS minus the fuel cost of driving from Roissy to Caen & and toll road fees of around 44E combined.

Stu Dudley

I'm mot real sure if there are 3 or 1 people traveling. If 3 - then the added cost to fly from AMS to Caen is approx $1,200. You can get a good meal for $1,200.

Stu Dudley

Well thought there could be some cheap flights Amsterdam to Normandy but guess not.

My suggestion AMS to CDG is 1 1/4 hrs & free.>

Lost me here even after re-reading - free?

Read the OP's post.

>>Also, checked out the airfares to Amsterdam from CDG. One way is $160 and a round trip is less at $152. So that was another no brainer as it saves time and money. <<

Stu Dudley

Thank you for all your input. We have trained frequently in Europe and in Asia. However, you need to have your wits about you when you do and having taken an overnighter from Chicago, I think we are going to be too tired. Also, I was quite amazed how reasonable the round trip ticket is. So taking all this into consideration, these are our tentative plans.

We are Landing in CDG at 11:00 a.m with Air France. We are going to take the ~4:00 Air France flight to Amsterdam for $152 RT. That gets us into Amsterdam before 6:00 p.m.

We will fly back to CDG and rent a car which is approximately $50 per day and go to Normandy. How long we stay in Normandy/Loire Valley is still up for negotiation.

We will eventually head back to Paris and stay for 5 to 7 nights.

Total transport cost for the three of us will be ~$750.

Now I need to figure out what we want to see and do in each of the locations.

Again, thank you for all your help!!

Kathy