I'm in the initial planning stages for a trip to London and hopefully Amsterdam. Just purchased RT tickets from NY into Heathrow for November for 7 days. Would like to stay in London for 3 full days (have been there numerous times but boyfriend hasn't) and then move onto Amsterdam for 4. Bad part is that we have to make our way back to London to fly out.

1. How to get to Amsterdam from London? Looks like you can't get a train without going through Brussels which sounds too time consuming. Is it cheap enough to fly? Any recommendations on what airlines to go with?

2. London - 3 days; trying to include seeing Big Ben, St Pauls, Buckingham Palace, Harrods, maybe one of the Parks & Abbey Rd. My boyfriend really wants to go to Stonehenge so any recommendations on how to get there and how long it would take would be helpful.

3. Amsterdam - 3.5 days - would like to see Anne Frank house and Heineken Brewery. What else is of interest? I would like to take a day trip up to Sneek as this is where my granfather is from. Any ideas of how to get there and if there is anything to do?

4. My outgoing flight back to NY is 4PM so we would have to leave Amsterdam by 11 or 12 that day. Is that pushing it??

I don't know a lot about Holland so I really need help there. Thank you very much in advance!

Try BMI to fly in and out of Amsterdam. (http://www.flybmi.com) I used them to fly from Amsterdam to Heathrow a few weeks. They've a couple of flights a day.

Of course, you can try BA too and presumably KLM. The low-cost airlines don't usually use Heathrow and/or Schiphol -- you can try those, but I think that it would be too time-consuming given your tight schedule.

By the way, the good news for you of course is that Schiphol is a very efficient airport (I was checked in literally after an hour after I boarded the train at Central Station). Furthermore, the time difference works in your advantage when you fly to the UK -- you'll arrive at basically the same time as when you left Amsterdam. So if you can get a flight leaving AMS at 12, that's plenty of time for a flight to the US at 4.

Kat, if you're interested in the Anne Frank House, you might like the Dutch Resistance Museum out on Plantage Kerklaan. Dam Square is a fun place to hang out and watch people, and do take a canal cruise. I noticed you want to go up to Abbey Road. Have you been there before? You're welcome to take a black felt tip pen and sign the wall. Everyone does! If you're interested in a Beatles walking tour, Richard Porter offers them. http://www.beatlesinlondon.com

I would fly from Heathrow to A'dam round-trip.

3.5 days isn't that long to fill so what you mentioned plus some walking around the city can easily take up that amount of time. I recommend staying in Leidseplein, around Vondelpark, or the Jordaan neighborhoods. Quite charming and more peaceful than staying right downtown, but not inconvenient at all for site-seeing. I personally did not much care for the area around central train station and the Dam (a bit dirty and grim) although a daytime walk thru the Red Light District and a visit to the Sex Museum was fun. "Let's Go" guidebook series has an excellent one on Amsterdam.

When I was at a meeting in Amsterdam a few years ago, my husband took the Heineken tour and found it remarkably uninteresting. I hope you will go to the Van Gogh museum and the Rijkmuseum. Both are incredible. Also, make sure you take a canal boat tour of Amsterdam.When you are in Amsterdam, if you like interesting food, try a rijstaffel. I don't have a specific restaurant to recommend, but I'm sure someone else will.
Have fun

There's only one airport in Amsterdam, and there's no real low-cost alternative. Low-cost airlines operate to it from Gatwick, Stansted and Luton - but their existence can pull down the cost of flights from Heathrow and City.

Almost inevitably, booking both legs with the same carrier at the same carrier is cheapest. Since your return flight might be tight (travelling between any two of London's airports needs at least 5 hours from scheduled touch down to scheduled takeoff, and often more), it probably makes most sense for you to fly to AMS from Heathrow.

BA, bmi and KLM are all now competitive on this route and, for a one-hour flight there's no point choosing on any criterion but cost, EXCEPT THAT, within the same alliance system you might be able to get through check-in on the AMS-LHR-NYC leg, which eases the Heathrow terminal experience a great deal. All other things being equal, if you're on a BA or AA transatlantic flight, take BA: on UAL take bmi, if you're on Virgin take an aspirin since IMHO they're a pain to deal with.

You're right: there's no train alternative to changing at Brussels then taking a subsonic up to Amsterdam. For a full list of flights, go to www.nonrev.net/timetable.htm, and input LON (not LHR, LGW etc) as the code for London.

QUESTION 3

I would definately recommend the Amsterdam Pass, which is available at the VVV directly across from Central Station or at the VVV on the Leidesplein. It is good for admission to most museums in Amsterdam (except Anne Frank House), two canal crusies (do one by day, one by night) and transportation on the trams and buses. You can purchase a 2, 3 or 4 day pass. Last year the cost was E36.00 for a two day pass, and it was well worth the money. Just a hint - when you visit the Anne Frank House, schedule it for later in the evening (they are open 9:00-21:00) to avoid the long lines. We were there at 17:00 and walked right in. The Amstelkring (Our Lord in the Attic) is a delightful little church that should not be missed (on the Ams. Pass). And I second Suze that a walk through the Red Light District by day (and again by night, IMO, to compare the difference) and a visit to the Sex Museum is fun. And don't forget the Waterlooplein Flea Market. And perhaps a bouquet of flowers at the Bloemen Market on the Singel for your hotel room? And don't miss the van Gogh Museum or the Rijksmuseum.

Some websites that you can visit on Amsterdam include:

www.channels.nl
www.amsterdamhotspots.nl
www.bmz.amsterdam.nl

To visit Sneek would be a 2 hour 36 minute ride, with two changes, by train. The cost would be E38.50 round-trip 2nd class. Trains leave Amsterdam Centraal Station at :06 after the hour and run every hour. You can check the train schedule at:

www.ns.nl

Click on English at the top of the page. (BTW, it looks like ns.nl has recently changed their website)

You can find many answers to your Questions #2 & #3 just by doing a "search this forum". I've never been out to Stonehenge but I'm planning a trip for the future so I read every thread that comes this way and I know there are many on this subject. And for a GREAT webcam of Trafalgar Square (you can watch it before you go...it just adds to the anticipation) is located at:

http://www.camvista.com/england/london/trafsq.php3

Enjoy your journey and have a safe trip. Peace.

Robyn

you should be able to take esayjet and its ilk to Amsterdam and back.

I'd do 4 days London, 3 A'dam, though, unless you plan to also get out and see some countryside too.

Sneek is by the Ijselmeer, in Friesland. My buddy Rein Bootsma lives there, so mention his name in the local pub and, if he's in there, tell him I said he'd buy you a drink.
You can still travel via ferry as far as I know to Hoek van Holland.
There's a kickin' Pancake house just down the stree from Anne Frank house, toward where you get off the tram.
Take in the Red Light at night... Welcome to the show & yes, you are in it.
Smoke some "mixed" at the grasshopper, if you're into that. Recommend drawing a line halfway down the side of it with black ink and stopping there for a while. Don't smoke the whole thing at once as you will most likely wake up on my kitchen floor. At least this is what happened to me 100% of the time.
Indonesian Rijstaffels for food, Argentine beef also. When you get there you can ask at the VVV or the front desk of a nice hotel (Krasnapolski (sp?) or Victoria) for a really cozy Dutch place {gezellig echte Nederlandse plekie).

-Craig

I can't remember who said it, but I agree; You should think of going to Amsterdam FIRST. Flying within Europe is pretty inexpensive. On travelzoo.com I saw they were running a special for $2 or something crazy like that...I can't gaurantee that rate, but cheap airfare from Heathrow is to be had! Just look around the web. It makes more sence to not have to backtrack-just too time consuming.

Take BMI, they're great for cheap roundtrips LHR/AMS. As long as you're flying outta Heathrow, you won't waste half a day getting to Gatwick (yuck), Luton or Stanstead (ewwwwwwblecch).

It'll be no problem going AMS->LHR->JFK, I would schedule at least 4 hours' layover LHR just to be sure (& do some most excellent retail therapy :

http://www.baa.com/main/airports/hea...ing_frame.html

be sure to hit the Chanel boutique; different stuff than at dept. stores, & it's duty free) Yippee!
HTH, enjoy

Maybe contact whoever you already bought your tickets from? I know British Air goes thru Heathrow with easy connection to Amsterdam (I flew that last trip). Take seriously the remarks about using the other airports within London, transfering airports is more of a hassle than you might realize at first glance.

Echoing all suggestions above.. be sure to visit Amsterdam museums but also remember that the Rijksmuseum is under renovation so rather than spending the requisite 6 hours or more, you only need about two hours to visit the one open wing, which holds some of the world's great masterpieces in one very big room! (in effect...)

I couldn't wait to check this board today to see the responses to my questions. I wasn't disappointed! Thank you all so much for the input and suggestions. They're all much appreciated!

Just tagging along; we to will be in Amsterdam in mid November, as well as London. I also have to start and end up in London. This will be our second trip to Amsterdam and first to London. We plan on three nights in each city.

Look forward to all your suggestions.

thanks