Skip Amsterdam?
 

My husband and I will be travelling to Europe in September and already booked a hotel so we can enjoy Oktoberfest in Munich. Now we would like to fill in other cities we want to see before Oktoberfest. So far here is what I have:

Day 1 Fly into London
Day 2 London
Day 3 London
Day 4 Take Train to Paris
Day 5 Paris
Day 6 Paris
Day 7 Take Train to Amsterdam
Day 8 Amsterdam
Day 9 Fly to Munich
Day 10 Munich
Day 11 Munich
Day 12 Fly Home

So my question: Is going to Amsterdam for only 2 days worth it? I've already been there, but my Husband would like to go while we are still young. But do you think we will need the extra day in both London and Paris instead? This will be our last big trip before trying to have kids so I don't know if we are trying to do too much or if we should just go for it and enjoy the experience since I don't know what our vacation time/money situation will be after starting a family.

Yes, go to Amsterdam, especially if your husband wants to be able to visit a coffee shop before tourists are banned. That's supposed to happen in Amsterdam in January 2013 -- it's already gone into effect in the southern provinces.

You're at that age where it's easier to flit around from town to town. Once you have kids, you'll flit a lot less.

there is an overnight train that rolls nightly between Amsterdamned and Munich as well - would give you more time in Amsterdam perhaps - and if you go to www.bahn.de - the official German railways site you can score some lovely deep discounted tickets on that train perhaps - great sites IMO to learn about trains like that and in those countries - www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.seat61.com (great info on bahn.de discounts!) and www.ricksteves.com

and IMO Amsterdam is way way WAY more beautiful and interesting than modern Munich, largely blitzed in WW2 and not the romantic old-world look like Amsterdam offers - to me Amsterdam is one of the world's most exquistely gorgeous cities and also has the unique chance of doing the coffeeshop thing while it lasts for foreigners - at least thru 2012 it seems!

Don't skip Amsterdam. To give yourselves an extra day in Amsterdam there is a CityNightLine train from Amsterdam d20h30 to Munich a 07h10. See http://tinyurl.com/c9jp54 for information. For an illustrated introduction to train travel in Europe see http://tinyurl.com/eym5b.

Yes Amsterdam is worth it even for just a few days.

I assume you've been to London and Paris before, correct?

If you have NOT, then having only 2 days on the ground in London and Paris would be a bigger tragedy than not returning to Amsterdam at this time.

If you HAVE been to London and Paris before (hopefully for at least a week each!), then the itinerary you outlined in your original post looks just fine.

Agree that Amsterdam is more charming than Munich - but IMHO London and Paris are really being short-changed unless you have seen most of the sights before. IMHO in the few days you have I would do 2 cities - 3 at the most. With 4 you are just spending too much time getting from one place to another vs actually sightseeing.

Thanks for everyone's input. I have not been to either London or Paris before so I am concerned that only 2 full days in each will be too little to even see just the major sights. We are going to Munich solely for Oktoberfest. My husband's mother is German and we both have always wanted to go to Oktoberfest and feel it is definitely something we wish to do before having children, so that is set in stone for sure.

Are your flights booked? If not, I'd skip London since Munich is set in stone. I have nothing against London, but 4 cities in 12 days is too much.

I would pick one: London or Paris and spend quality time there, i.e. at least 4-5 days. Both cities are magnificent and are not super-easy to visit with a small child. As a mother of 5 year old, I can tell you that you can still travel with a child, if you have the money. However, you'll be limited in the type of cities you can visit. You don't want to schlep a stroller and a car seat and a whole bunch of other paraphernalia with you to a big city that has stairs to get to Metro/Underground, cobblestone streets (occasionally), and other things.

I know Fodorites will disagree with me and I acknowledge that it is still possible to visit either London or Paris with a kid for a quality time, but a city like Amsterdam or Munich are so much more family-friendly, IMHO. So, you could do it after having a child. It is not the end of the world or life as you know it, trust me. You just have to figure out what your priorities are. Frankly, we travel more now that we have a kid, because (a) we earn a bit more since having a child by making more mature career choices; (b) we just have to get away from the humdrum more often since we don't go out nearly as much now.

Since your husband wants to see Amsterdam, I wouldn't skip it. Your itinerary is ambitious, but IMO it is very doable. When I was young and energetic, I traveled like that with ease, and I'm glad I did. True, I wasn't able to see the cities in depth, but I was able to experience the flavor of each and I had a ball.

As you stated, you don't know when you will be back once you start your family. That's true for a lot of people. For many, a European trip is a once in a lifetime thing. I was sure I would return to Europe at least once a year after my first trip. Well, life intervened--job change, relocation, grad school, etc. I didn't make it back for over 6 years. See what you can while you can.

If you were flitting from place to place with only 1 night in each city, I would tell you to slow down. But you're spending 3 nights in each city except Amsterdam, where you are spending 2. With careful planning, you can see a lot. I say go for it.

About taking a train from Paris to Amsterdam - be sure to book tickets very early at www.thalys.com or www.voyages-sncf.com - Thalys trains as they are called have a Byzantine fare structure like airlines with the cheapest tickets sold in limited numbers and which must be booked weeks if not months in advance to get the lowest rates - just show up and you could literally pay a hundred bucks or more p p than the early bird specials. yes indeedy the early bird does get the worm on these Thalys trains, the only direct trains between Paris and Amsterdam.

as it is less easy to get from london to a'dam than it is to get there from Paris [train, plane, train, v direct train] I'd drop london and do Paris, A'dam Munich.

but get that train from Paris to A'dam booked as soon as you can!

Save Munich for another time, when you can schedule cities closer to it. Amsterdam, Paris and London are all great cities and you would not spend so much time in transit getting to each.

Yes Munich is way out of the way and IMO offers less of what most tourists want in Europe than London, Paris or Amsterdam.

Amsterdam is miles more interesting than Munich and has good beer too. I haven't been to Oktoberfest but if it's like the Christmas markets, I wouldn't plan a trip around it.

And if you want really really good beer, go to Prague.

I tend to agree that skipping either London OR Paris (and spending more time in the not-skipped city) makes sense. Since the train from Paris to Amsterdam is fast, I'd skip London. (No disrespect...I love it, which is why I'd never recommend spending so little time there.)

Amsterdam is a lovely, lovely city, with lots to do; well worth going to.

Day 1 - Fly to Paris
Day 2-6 - Paris
Days 7-9 - Amsterdam (morning train gets you there by lunch time)
Night train to Munich
Days 10-11 - Munich

SS
Day 12 - Fly home

i spend three days in amsterdam and loved it, not been to munich - live in london and love paris and i think your original plan is fine. You can always go back to your favourite later. I dont know munich but you would maybe swap it for closer Brugges which is gorgeous

Amsteraam does not have 'really good beer', not compared to Munich (or Prague). It may have really good other things but not the beer! Do it all, each city offer something different, and having visited both extensively, I favour Munich(because of the surrounding area, Alps, Franconia, etc) but can understand why others would prefer London etc
Give them all a taster, enjoy it and then if you return to Europe you will have better idea where ti base yourself (I bet you choose Munich area) :-)

coffee shops.....tourists banned....what is this all about ????

At the moment, certain cafes in Amsterdam are more famous for serving another product, usually smoked. The Dutch, I believe, are going to ban tourists from these.

The Dutch, I believe, are going to ban tourists from these>>

how? passport? lots of non-dutch people live in holland so cannot be described as tourists. thor sorts of laws are easy to talk about, less easy to draft.

OK - This is how it will work. Coffeeshops will become clubs. They will be limited to 2000 members, who will be issued with a pass. Those members must be legally resident in the Netherlands and over the age of 18. Those members will be allowed to buy no more than 5g a day. By the end of this year all coffeeshops must work this way.

The Mayor of Amsterdam is still opposed to the system and is trying to get an exception for the city, but that is extremely unlikely.

Sadly those rule will result in a huge step back to illegal selling of marijuana and I fear a consequential increase in users of other, harder drugs.

I can see the point of clubs for the towns and cities near the Belgian border, but for those further away it seems a retrograde step.

@hetismij2, what is driving this decision? Why is there pressure to exclude tourists?

There has been a huge problem with drug tourists - mostly from Belgium and France, in the border towns and cities. At the weekend they would be full of these tourists causing a lot of problems. Also these tourists would naturally enough think they could take a stash back with them in their cars/buses/trains. Many of them drove high and were a real problem on the roads. Those on the trains were also causing massive problems.
Pressure has been applied by other European countries, but also by the towns and cities suffering this constant hassle. Many places closed the coffeeshops in their town - this just resulted into the problem moving further into the country.
So the government, in it's wisdom, decided to take a sledge hammer to crack a nut.

sounds like a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Thank you, hetismij2.

oops, Het - we posted together.

still, great minds.....

thank you also. hetismij2.....and all I would be looking for was a good cup of coffee...this
is very interesting.!!!

I missed on first glance that you are flying into London and out of Munich. In that case, I would stick with your original itinerary. Keep all four cities, including Amsterdam. Of the four, it is actually my favorite.

Back to the original question... I think 4 cities is tight in your timeframe. And it seems like Munich is the one "must do". Honestly I'd skip either London, Paris or Amsterdam, your pick. but 2-3 cities is plenty for 12 days!

I am German and I strongly advise against Oktoberfest. It´s a bunch of drunk tourists, no more. Most Germans would not go there at all.

Yes, go to Amsterdam, if just to visit Anne Frank's house (you can buy tickets in advance online). It's a lovely city and easy to walk.

Munich was a bit disappointing, to be honest. Unless you're dead-set on Oktoberfest, I'd pick another destination, or just stick with London/Paris/Amsterdam for the entire trip.

Munich IMO makes a great base for several days as some astounding places are within an hour or two of it - like Fuessen and Mad Ludqig's Neuschwanstein Castle, Salzburg, Austria, Herrenchiemsee Castle, Mad Ludwig's Bavarian Versailles and even Dachau just for starters. The city to me also has never really struck me as romantic - a nice modern city with wide streets and great museums but not the dreamy look of an Amsterdam or Paris, etc.