Road trip from paris to amsterdam
 

hey,
Im gonna go to Paris and then i will rent a car to go to Amsterdam. In between Im thinking of stopping in Bruges, can you tell me places to see in that trip? also if i stay in Bruges one day only would that be enough?
thanks!

Is there a reason for renting a car? The drop off fees for dropping in another country could be very high (several hundred). Trains are easy for the three destinations you have chosen.

We spent three nights in Bruges and loved it.

How long is your total trip?

Why drive? Take the train, enjoy the destinations. It doesn't really sound as if your trip is ultra long.

We are five so we figured it would be cheaper than train. If i rent it but then I give it back in paris theres no charge right? still dont know if were going back in the car.
We have a total of two weeks but were going to london and paris and then amsterdam. We were thinking about 4-5 days the whole road trip.

Are you talking about five adults with a lot of luggage? You might need a huge car. Before assuming it might be cheaper, why don't you actually look at a rental car site to see what kind of car you can get that can accommodate all of you. Use www.viamichelin.com to estimate the cost of operating car. You need to add parking costs.

A car will be useless in Paris, in Bruges, and in Amsterdam. A car big enough for 5 will be pretty expensive -- might need a people mover (minivan-type) or even larger depending on your luggage. What will you do w/ the car in those cities?

You want to do London, Paris, Bruges and Amsterdam plus a road trip in two weeks? That is a LOT of moving around.

We will rent the car in paris but at the end of our stay, then were gonna go to burges more like a pass by than a stay and amsterdam we would have to leave it somewhere

Use this site to figure out the approximate cost of the rental itself: http://www.kemwel.com/

There are generally no drop-off fees on a car rented in France and returned in France. You could return it in Calais and take the train to London. Your trip would then look like this: Paris--Amsterdam--Bruges--Calais--London, with an open jaw landing in Paris and leaving from London.

But I would take the train, looking for low fares between Paris and Brussels by ordering tickets three months ahead of time.

>>We will rent the car in paris but at the end of our stay, then were gonna go to burges more like a pass by than a stay and amsterdam we would have to leave it somewhere<<

Not a good plan IMO . . .

not a good plan IMO??

Oh sorry -- IMO means In my opinion.

Before going any further with your plan find out the cost to rent in Paris and drop in Amsterdam. I am guessing it will cost several hundred euros on top of the rental...

can you tell me places to see in the trip from paris to amsterdam?

You mean the rental drop-off cost? Go to a rental site you will be using and test book a car. Some say you must call them for a quote for this type of booking. If you want an easy estimate, just use hertz site. It would tell you they will hit you with 300€ for this convenience ON TOP of everything you normally pay for a non-cross boarder rental. Other companies will charge less, but still hardly a negligible number.

Coming back to your initial question (and omitting the issue of cross border rental fees, cost comparison rail/car, etc.) 4-5 days is a nice amount of time for that little road trip - if you are willing to veer off the direct Paris-Amsterdam route for a bit.

I'm a bit weak in suggesting stops in Northern France, but when you go North from Paris, Reims would sure be a stop worth a night. Next could be Brugge. If you arrive later in the afternoon from your prior overnight stop, I'd suggest two nights in Brugge.

If you want to squeeze Brussels in between, the car might actually be a blessing as hotels in Brussels proper are usually highly overpriced (due to the enormous amount of business travellers to the EU institutions). With a car you could stay in the outskirts (not that scenic, though), and commute by metro into town.

From Brugge, you could take the Breskens-Vlissingen ferry over to the Netherlands and scenic Middelburg.
Follow the coastal route across the impressive dams/ barriers (designated as N57 on maps) towards Rotterdam.
Rotterdam sure is worth a stop if you are into "something completely different" than the windmill-invested fairytale Holland of yesteryear.

A more inland route from Brugge could take you via Antwerpen and Breda towards Hertogenbosch, the Hoge Veluwe national park with the world-famous Kröller-Müller museum near Apeldoorn and Otterlo. And further North to quaint Zwolle and via the central dam across the IJsselmeer to even more quaint North Holland towns like Enkhuizen, Hoorn or Alkmaar before you end in A'dam.

Actually, if the car was a must, and Amsterdam was also a must I'd probably stay in one of the surrounding communities like Haarlem or in between Leiden and A'dam.
As in Brussels, the car would at least give you the opportunity to benefit from the much less pricier hotels with usually excellent rail connections to Amsterdam.
The trains run many times per hour till very late at night, so technically you could spend all evening in A'dam and still commute back to your hotel in surrounding communities.

Otherwise, Amsterdam has many parking garages, so dumping the car for a stay in central A'dam is by far not a problem. Just a quite pricey option as "downtown" parking is very expensive.

You may also want to consider that driving on the motorways between Antwerpen, Breda, Rotterdam, Utrecht and Amsterdam is not a quaint scenic drive but more like cruising the LA freeway system. With often more traffic jams.

While navigating the highways and byways should otherwise be no problem, driving into the cities or historic town centers may be a challenge with a minivan as most streets in the historic parts (IF you are allowed to drive there at all) and the parking spaces may be much narrower than your comfort zone asks for. Once you finalized your itinarary, a little planning in advance would not hurt to find comfortable parking at the edges of the old town centers, if possible. Or ask the hotels in advance.

"From Brugge, you could take the Breskens-Vlissingen ferry over to the Netherlands and scenic Middelburg."

I agree that from Brugge it would be very nice to stop in Zeeland. But there is no longer a car ferry; there's a tunnel.

I understand the idea of getting a car for a family of 5. We're a family of 5, and driving is usually much cheaper than train/plane tickets for 5. But do take account of the cost of petrol and parking. Or stay outside of town and take the train in.

In Amsterdam (and other Dutch cities) there are P&R (park & ride) parkings outside of town where you leave the car and take tram or bus into town;
http://www.amsterdam.nl/parkeren-ver...amsterdam/p-r/

In Antwerp you can still find free parking along the river a short walk from town.

In Brugge there's a car park next to the train station, you can walk into town from there.

I don't know the ages of your kids, but they may enjoy stopping for a day in Efteling:
http://www.efteling.com/

Dang, a tunnel replaced the ferry? Too bad, it was a nice "cruise"...

There's still a ferry - you can take your bike on it!

The tunnel goes past Terneuzen, and is easy if you want to get to Middelburg. Or Veere. Or go and eat mussels in Yerseke (it's a Belgian national dish, but this is where they come from) Or continue over the Zeelandbrug and visit Zierikzee.

Too much choice!

>With a car you could stay in the outskirts (not that scenic, though), and commute by metro >into town.

If you want to stay just on the outskirts of Brussels you might consider Tervuren, which has a very pretty tramride into the centre. A car is not necessary in Brussels itself as there is a good public transport system, and you will pay a premium to park your car in the centre.

Lavandula

thank you!