Travel from Amsterdam to Italy

I think that's a decent idea. For one person, it would probably be best to fly from A'dam to Italy and plan to meet them at their first lodging.

How long would a flight be from Amsterdam to Italy? Where would be a decent safe place to stay for a single older woman in that area? Would I be able to take a cab or bus to see the tulip fields and windmills?

When we first visited Amsterdam we found day tours (by coach from Amsterdam) that went to the various sights- including windmills, flowers, cheese market, etc. they must still have them. You should be able to find them on the web. there is a recent discussion elsewhere on this site as to the best time of year to see the flowers- I believe the consensus is April rather than May. Others know the Europe train system better than i; but flying from Amsterdam to Italy seems the most efficient way

Susan I believe that you are travelling at just the right time, both for Keukenhof Gardens (website http://www.keukenhof.nl/ ) and both southern and northern Italy. I don't want to pry, but you describe yourself as "older". Are you comfortable travelling on your own? Are there any physical concerns which would cause concern? You use the expression Holland. Do you mean the provinces of North or South Holland, or are you referring to the Netherlands as a whole? There are several of us here who can give you specific advice for much of the country. ... to be continued ...

.... continued from 2 above .... If you want to travel to Italy by train, where? Most train connections are 19 hours or longer from Amsterdam Centraal to Firenze SMN and include a night train. I picked Florence as a reasonable middle. Only 2 all day (14 hours plus) connection are visible to me, the best is Amsterdam Centraal We, 10.11.10 dep 07:04 4b ICE 121 Intercity-Express Please reserve, Bordbistro Frankfurt(M) Flughafen Fernbf We, 10.11.10 arr 10:34 Fern 4 Frankfurt(M) Flughafen Fernbf We, 10.11.10 dep 10:54 Fern 5 ICE 515 Intercity-Express Bordbistro, Wifi on routes Dortmund-Köln-Frankfurt-Mannheim-Stuttgart-München Mannheim Hbf We, 10.11.10 arr 11:24 5 Mannheim Hbf We, 10.11.10 dep 11:36 4 ICE 375 Intercity-Express Bordrestaurant, . Basel SBB We, 10.11.10 arr 13:47 10 Basel SBB We, 10.11.10 dep 14:03 7 IR 2177 Interregio Number of bicycles conveyed limited, Partially, snacks and beverages available, Observation coach Arth-Goldau We, 10.11.10 arr 15:44 5 Arth-Goldau We, 10.11.10 dep 15:50 4 EC 21 Eurocity Subject to compulsory reservation Milano Centrale We, 10.11.10 arr 18:50 Milano Centrale We, 10.11.10 dep 19:15 ES 9533 EuroStar Italia
Subject to compulsory reservation, Global price, Bordrestaurant, space for wheelchairs Firenze S.M.N. We, 10.11.10 arr 21:00 I'd probably recommend to consider seeing what Easyjet can do for you. They can take you to Rome for €45 to €60. That would be my choice.

... a little more ... although that train trip, while pretty long, isn't as bad as it looks. Except for Basel and Milan all connections are cross platform so no stairs, and the trains are pretty posh, all ICE and Eurostar Italia, except the one from Basel to Arth-Goldau which is near Lucerne. Its likely that one will be a double decker, and the whole trip will have pretty good scenery until it gets dark around Milan.

Thank you all for the wealth of information you are sending me. I am in my mid fifties in pretty good physical health.I have been over seas twice before but always traveled with some one. The train sounds like you would see a lot.. expence would be a consideration also.. It all sounds exciting ..Easy Jet idea ..good to know. Thanks all

... or you could take the train to Luzern (Lucerne) and spend the night, continue your train trip the next day. When you let us know how many days and what part of the Netherlands we can pop up with windmills and flowers...