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Help pick between three different itineraries for late November (France and/or Amsterdam)

Posted by on

Hi everyone,

My wife and I are trying to figure out which itinerary to pick for a 10 night trip in late November around Thanksgiving time. She is set on going to Paris and Strasbourg but also possibly going to Amsterdam. We have points with Flying Blue for Air France/KLM and we can get a flight from NYC direct to Amsterdam or with a quick stopover to go to Paris (they might open direct flights at promo points pricing in future), then back from Paris direct. The two itineraries are basically one with Amsterdam, Paris, Strasbourg or only France. I suggested Amsterdam, Bruges and France but she doesn't want to miss out on the Alsace region.

Option 1:
- Amsterdam (3 nights, land at 7am, then 2 full days after)
- Amsterdam -> Strasbourg (By train, takes 6 hours! which I think is too much)
- Strasbourg (3 nights with 1 day trip to Colmar)
- Paris (4 nights)

Option 2:
- Lyon (3 nights, land in Paris the first day and then take a train getting there around 5pm)
- Strasbourg (3 nights with 1 day trip to Colmar)
- Paris (4 nights)

Option 3:
- Reims or somewhere else on the way to Strasbourg (2 nights, land in Paris the first day and then take a train getting there around 3pm)
- Strasbourg (4 nights with 1 day trip to Colmar and another day trip on the Alsace Wine Route)
- Paris (4 nights)

Posted by
2594 posts

I agree that Amsterdam to Strasbourg eats up too much precious time. Maybe fly in to Paris and go on directly to Strasbourg when you land, then do Paris and fly out of AMS. Strasbourg 3 nights, Paris 4 nights, Amsterdam 3 nights. If there's any way you can add another night or 2 to the trip, even better!

Posted by
14612 posts

Hmmm, let's see. 10 nights?

I'd probably go with Option 4, hahaha.....4 nights Paris, 3 nights Strasbourg OR Colmar with a day trip to the other and 3 nights back in Paris.

Have you been to Paris before? I've also looked at going to Colmar this time of year for the Christmas Markets. What fun!

Posted by
31 posts

@roubrat

That does make more sense to include Amsterdam, I can get flights back from Amsterdam but the flight to Paris still connects in Amsterdam which adds around 3 hours of travel time. We unfortunately can't add any more days to the trip which would make it an easier fix lol, used most of our PTO from work in Spain a few weeks ago.

@Pam

I've also mentioned doing 6 nights in Paris to my wife but she would rather see an additional place and only do 4 nights there. She has never been to Paris but I have been before. We probably will be back in Paris in the future anyway when we return to visit other things on the France bucket list (Normandy/Mont St Michel, French Riviera, etc.)

Posted by
2594 posts

We unfortunately can't add any more days to the trip which would make it an easier fix lol, used most of our PTO from work in Spain a few weeks ago.

I hear ya! I'm using every last day of my PTO on my UK and Spain trips later this year.

Posted by
5528 posts

I found that flying on Thanksgiving is great - the international terminals are empty. Do look into the dates the Xmas markets open in Colmar and Strasbourg. They are truly magical in these locations. Can you fly into Zurich, then onto Colmar/ Strasboug? Just a thought.
Have a great trip.

Posted by
31 posts

@Pat

I saw that Colmar opens their markets on Nov 23rd and Strasbourg on Nov 25. Additionally, we can get a flight to Zurich at the same price but connecting through Paris. It doesn't make much sense because it's like 12 hours 30 min total while direct to Paris is like 7:30 and the one we can get connecting through Amsterdam is 10 hours. I'm leaning towards skipping Amsterdam and trying to pick between option 2 and 3.

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