Our plan is to fly to Amsterdam on May 23rd and spend two nights then go to Groningen (sp?) to visit my daughter for maybe another two nights. After that we thought we would go on to some other country but there are so many choices. Possibly we would travel by train and go south through Belgium and into France. Generally both my husband and I are guilty of trying to do too much in too little time. Our plan is for a return flight on June 2nd, however, we do not yet know from where we will be returning. Suggestions would be most appreciated. Thank you, Kathy

it depends on what you like to do?

may in netherlands is the season for tulips, so if you're interested in that, you could leave half a day for viewing tulips and such.

belgium and france are two very different creatures in my opinion, so it would help if you list down what you hope to do or see

Late May is too late for tulips normally. Keukenhof for instance closes on 16 May this year.

From Groningen the logical thing to do if you want another country is to continue into Germany and visit northern Germany, rather than having to travel the length of the Netherlands to go into Belgium.

However 2 nights in Amsterdam presumably includes your arrival day/night when you will be jet lagged, and 2 nights in Groningen includes the train journey there and travel on to your next destination. That means only one full day in Amsterdam and one full day in Groningen.

I'd add a couple more days on to each if you can, and maybe hire a car in Groningen to explore the north of the Netherlands, so Groningen and Friesland. Maybe make a day trip to on of the islands for instance.

You could even hire the car in Amsterdam and drive up, exploring Friesland on the way up then drive back to Amsterdam via Drenthe, Overijssel and Gelderland, so that you could then visit Paleis het Loo in Apeldoorn, delightful towns like Blokzijl, Urk and Elburg or go to the Kroller-Muller museum in the Hoge Veluwe.

It really depends on what you are looking to do, but there is enough natural beauty and plenty of interesting towns and villages in the North Netherlands to fill more than just two days (which will be spent catching up with your daughter anyway.

Why not spend more time in Holland?

Thank you so much for your input. It seems that there may be a consensus that we should spend a bit more time in each city and possibly between. It will be good for my husband to see these opinions from someone other than his wife.

Due to availability of awards miles, it seems that our dates of travel may have now changed to late August. I'm not sure if this would change any of your input but I'm eager to hear. Again, thank you so much!

Kathy

If traveling around Holland by train much and if traveling around Belgium and France by train as well then consider the France-Benelux Railpass - a 'Eurailpass' good in Benelux (Beligum, Netherlands and Luxembourg and all over France) - you would have to be traveling more than just to Paris however to make it attractive but if you are....for lots of train travel in those countries i always spotlight these info-laden sites that are a good primer to learn about trains there - www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteves.com

Try to hit Bruges, one of the most fantastic old-world dreamy looking cities above the Alps en route to Paris

My advice applies just as much in late August as it would in May
There is plenty for you to see and do without leaving the Netherlands, especially if you are willing to hire a car to explore the north, which is not well served by trains.

Thank you again for your input. I was able to make our flight arrangements leaving LAX on August 22, arriving in Amsterdam on the 23rd, and returning from Paris on September 2nd. Now for the fun part, planning the itinerary. Do you think hotel accommodations should be made ahead of time at this time of year?

I personally would have stayed in the Netherlands myself, maybe a few trips in to Germany, but everbody their own choice, so I'll try to comment/give input for these dates/travelplans.

I assume you are still staying two nights in A'dam and two in Groningen. Groningen btw is well served by the intercity train from A'dam. I believe it is a 2,5 hour trip. Almost the same by car. Although by car you could take the scenic route over the Afsluitdijk (long dike -30 km or so- with a highway on it which divides the Waddenzee and the Ijsselmeer.

So you will leave Groningen on the 27th. Assuming you go by train, a nice stop (day trip) could be Zwolle (an hour from Groningen)and/or Amersfoort or Utrecht (1,5 hour).

Maybe an extra night in Amsterdam (maybe visit Haarlem) and then take the train to Belgium. There you can do the 'usual suspects'; Antwerp (my favourite), Brussels, Gent, Brugge. You could take a base in Antwerp and make daytrips to Brussels, Gent and Brugge.From Antwerp, you can take the train to Paris in little over 1,5 hours.

Advice on reserving hotels; August is top holiday month in Europe, so there is a chance that al lot of hotels are fully booked (Amsterdam is rather popular in summer, as is Paris). But it is also the month that there is less business travel. So my guess would be that some of the higher end (4/5 star) hotels problably haven some good offers. I would make my reservations beforehand, if you can get some good deals.
If you limit your bases to 4 (Amsterdam, Groningen, Antwerp, Paris), it isn't such a hassle.

My tip for Antwerp; the Hilton on the Groenplaats. In the middle of town, nice hotel, good deals often. At the moment Hilton gives 50% off weekends, Antwerp is as low as € 109, including breakfast. Brussels sometimes is even cheaper, so you could also take this as a base in Belgium.

As Tommie says Paris hotels appealing to business types have lots of vacancies in August when the suits on also on holiday

the Paris Visitors and Convention Center even deems August to be an Off-Peak time for Paris hotels - but i always book ahead now or you waste so much time tracking down a hotel and then can't really scrutinize the place like you can online - i find i get a better deal for a hotel in advance booking online then just showing up at say the Gare du Nord and having the Paris Tourist Office book one for me - they always can but you may have long lines to wait in, etc. Pre-book and you just need to get off the train and head to the taxi ranks or metro and get going.

Brussels also has great deals in August - no Europarliament visitors to fill the hotel rooms then.

Hetismij makes a great point about considering Germany as your other country - more convenient from a Groningen base - you could take a train across the border then head south to the Rhine Gorge area or even go to Berlin, etc. before heading back to Amsterdam - if doing that investigate the Germany-Benelux Railpass, good in Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and Netherlands.

a neat way to go from the Rhine Gorge area (where K-D boat rides of a few hours go thru the fabled gorge itself www.k-d.com; railpasses valid) is to go up the lovely Mosel Valley (to me Europe's sweetest river valley) via Luxembourg and Maastricht back to Amsterdam. Not sure how much you want to travel but this is easily done.