My DBF are in the early stages of planning a trip to Europe. He wants so badly to see Amsterdam, and his cousin lives in Paris, so we will head there for a couple of days as well, but he also would like to see some part of Germany. I have only ever been in the "heart" of Germany, but we won't have time to go deep into it, so I am not sure what there might be to see that is not too far from Amsterdam. Any thoughts? TIA!
Posted by
Freedonia
16250 posts
Think open Jaw. Fly into Amsterdam, train from Amsterdam to Paris but instead of the normal direct route via Brussels, take the train to Cologne, down to Trier, through Luxembourg and on to Paris. (or vice versa). Check out the towns in between and see where you want to stop. Time to get a good guidebook and decent map.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19273 posts
In accord with Frank, I would say fly open jaw and explore the part of Germany between Amsterdam and Paris. Take your time, spend a few days, see particularly Köln, Koblenz, the Mosel, Cochem, and Trier. Maybe take in the Mittelrhein (St. Goar, Bacharach, Marksburg) as a side trip. Make good use of your time in this area.
On the other hand, if you just want a day trip, try to limit your travel. I think there are things to see closer to Amsterdam than Köln. Trier is definitely too far away for a day trip. I was in Duesseldorf once. It has a nice river walk and interesting old town. There must be some other places there in the Ruhr Gebiet worth seeing (Essen, Muenster, Gelsenkirchen).
Posted by
Gettysburg, PA
1589 posts
Trier is also within striking range and quite pretty. Lots of Roman ruins. You could stop at Bastogne on the way.
Posted by
Berlin, Germany
337 posts
If you're interested in medieval history at all I would visit Aachen aka Aix-la-Chapelle. And even if not: it is generally a nice city with interesting museums and a spa. And you will not find anything German closer to the Netherlands.
If you're interested in Romanesque architecture the Maria Laach Abbey is wroth a visit.
Posted by
OP
Houaton, Texas, USA
19 posts
Oh, we already are going to fly open jaw. It is just that we don't have a lot of time. 10 or 11 days at most. I don't yet have the itinerary firmed up since the trip is a year away... just trying to get ideas. But right now it is looking like this:
Paris - 2 days
Bruge - 1 day
Amsterdam - 3 days
Cologne - 2 days
If we are feeling especially adventurous, then we might pop into London at one end or another.
Posted by
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
2779 posts
You might want to consider the Münsterland, an area bordering to the Dutch Twente region (around Enschede) - http://www.muensterland-tourismus.de/Münster itself is at least as picturesque as Heidelberg, Marburg, Freiburg and is also one of the largest student cities. There are many palaces and castles in the area - and it's not too far. Also consider Düsseldorf and Benrath castle (do an image search on bing.com for Benrath)...
Posted by
Seattle, USA
990 posts
Somebody is going to ask it, and it's gonna be me. Is this your first trip to these places? You will want more than two days for Paris, especially if you are arriving directly there. Your first day you will likely be tired and jetlagged from the overnight flight and won't be efficient sightseers. Why two days for Cologne? It's got some tourist sights of interest, but not a patch on Paris. Most people would give less time to Amsterdam than to Paris as well. And in a trip as short as you will have, don't even think about popping into London.
You're thinking along the right lines by picking places that are geographically continguous. So what I would suggest is first to get a copy of Europe Through the Back Door. It's full of sound advice for beginning European travelers. Then start thinking about what you want to see in each place. For example, you can do a nice walking tour of the old canal area of Amsterdam, visit the Anne Frank House, pop into the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum, check out a "brown cafe" for lunch, eat Dutch pancakes, and try an Indonesian dinner in a two day visit. Travel videos are great for giving your ideas and inspirations, as are guidebooks.
Pick your landing city and then your terminal city and book open jaw tickets to avoid backtracking. Be realistic about your itinerary--10 or 11 days is not much, especially since you will lose one day in transit, and even speedy rail journeys will take up a good part of the day getting from one place to another.
Posted by
Myrtle Beach, USA
12313 posts
I like Frank II's idea. Koln is a great visit and easy trip from A'dam. Heading down the Mosel to Trier would round out a brief but nice visit to that part of Germany and not be too far out of the way to continue to Paris.
This is one trip that makes a good circle. After Paris, heading back up to A'dam through Brugge (or other brief stops) to catch your plane home would give a nice overview of the area.