Help us with Itinerary
My first post here, and thanks in advance for any help!
We are going to be in Europe starting 19 June to 5 July
Here is what we have so far:
Day 1 to 6: London
Day 6 to 12: ???
Day 12 to 17: Paris
The "???" is my dilemma. We think we would like to go to Amsterdam, Rhineland, and Somewhere in the Swiss Alps.
Would like to get view of people with more experience, how would you split it up?
BTW, london hotel is booked, but not Paris. However we are flying out of CDG on the way home and that is a factor.
Thanks Again!
Derrick
edited to correct mistake on days.
Derrick
Houston, Texas USA 5/7/08
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Well, I like the fact that you are planning plenty of time in London and Paris.
However, 3 other venues in 7 days? Travel between them is likely to take most of a day each leg, maybe not 8 hours, but significant time. That really leaves one day (plus change) for each venue. I would eliminate one of the three, at least.
Other than that, I think you need to do more research on each one and decide what and if you like. I'm not going on the trip with you (am I?), so I really can't decide what you like.
Hello Derrick. I did not do that trip, but I can help you plan the beginnings of it. If you go to the Rhineland or the Swiss Alps, I recommend fly from England to the country that you want to go to. Your transportation from that country to Paris could be in railroad trains. One of your travel options, that is not complicated, is to fly from London to Strasbourg in France. Strasbourg is in Alsace, in the western Rhineland. Stay in Alsace for 4 whole days. And ride in a train from Strasbourg to Paris. Read about Alsace in the books "THE ROUGH GUIDE TO FRANCE", and "Rick Steves' FRANCE".
I'm a bit confused. Day 1-6 in London, then day 1-5 in Paris? Or, you mean 1 to 5 days in Paris?
Thank everyone so much for the help. I guess I was suspecting I might have to drop one of the locations, but wanted to avoid that if possible.
I am going to look into flying as one part, that may help some.
I have corrected my flub on the days in Paris.
Keep the suggestions coming!
These ideas are a bit general, but you could take the Eurostar from London to Brussels, then visit Brussels, Brugge, Ghent, Amsterdam, and Haarlem. This would minimize your travel time and maximize your sight-seeing time, since all of those places are relatively close. You can get from Amsterdam to Paris in 4 or 5 hours, depending upon the train you take.
While I think that Rick's suggestion about ranging between Amsterdam and Paris is the most logistically sensible (and would also make a pleasing itinerary), with a week you do have other options if they really call to you.
For instance if you wanted to spend time in the Alps you might look at flying to Switzerland and taking a train to the Berner Oberland. Even accounting for the time spent getting there, and from there to Paris, you will still have 4 days there--enough for a very satisfying visit.
Up to you, obviously, what is best.
I would spend some time in Brussels and/or Bruges on the way to Amsterdam, then head over to Paris. The Chunnel is a really quick way to get from London to Brussels.
I did London-> Brussels-> Paris last winter, and I would say 2-3 days in Brussels would be perfect.
We are going to try the overnight ferry to Amsterdam next month. You take the train from London to the coast and then hop on an overnight ferry. It looks interesting and could be an adventure.
www.dutchflyer.co.uk