We arrive in Amsterdam on December 14th and had planned 4 nights there, then travel to Prague (Friday, Saturday & Sunday) then on to Paris on Monday for 5 nights. Does this sound like a good plan or is Prague a wrong choice? Any better ideas for the middle segment of our trip?
Posted by
Freedonia
16250 posts
That would be similar to traveling from San Diego to Salt Lake City to Monterey.
You decide. If you were traveling, would that be okay or would you prefer to visit closer cities?
Posted by
Vienna, Austria
517 posts
As Frank II points out, Prague certainly does seem like quite a detour that will eat up a lot of travel time in both directions.
If it were my trip, I'd probably go from Amsterdam to Cologne and then take a Rhein cruise (through the scenic middle Rhein) to Wiesbaden. From there, Paris is a half-day train trip (From Frankfurt I think you can get to Paris even faster. 3 hours on Eurostar, if I remember correctly.) Of course, December is not the ideal time for a Rhein cruise. :-) Then again, any German city worth its salt will have a Christmas market open at that time of year. How about Amsterdam-Brugge-Paris? Or Amsterdam-Reims-Paris? So many options are possible. But unless you are going to Prague on pressing business, I might be tempted to save that for another trip. Have a great trip!
Posted by
St Petersburg Florida
951 posts
Amsterdam-Bruges-Paris is a great trip. I took it last year. I did 3-2-4 days in each city, respectively. Not too much time is spend getting to each city. I would do it again in a heart beat.
Posted by
New Paltz, NY
9110 posts
Just to mix things up a bit, there is a direct night train between Amsterdam and Prague. So if you really want to do this itinerary, take the round trip night train and then the Thalys high-speed from Amsterdam to Paris...it's just 3 hours and 18 minutes.
Posted by
Myrtle Beach, USA
12313 posts
I like to keep my itinerary closer geographically so travel time doesn't eat up my vacation. It's your choice but make sure you understand the time implications of that much travel on Friday and Sunday.
I would probably do less time in Amsterdam and see some smaller Netherlands,Belgium and/or French towns on the way to Paris.
Five nights in Paris is a good idea. You won't run out of things to see and do.
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
Here's a more direct and faster night train route for Prague-Paris. Take a CNL night train from Prague to Offenburg, the S-Bahn from Offenburg to Strasbourg, and a TGV from Strasbourg to Paris. See the timetables at www.bahn.de. After you get summary timetables for Praha(Prague)-Paris, click on the arrow to the left of each departure time to see the connecting points.
Or fly Prague-Paris on Smart Wings.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
689 posts
I've done the same trip as Kelly (Amsterdam-Bruges-Paris) and it worked wonderfully. Prague is too far for this trip.