Help with Itenerary, 16 days from Dusseldorf

Hello Susan. I do not recommend renting a car for any part of this trip. You will be at each city for a short time. Apparently, the 3 days in Amsterdam includes one day for travelling from Dusseldorf to Amsterdam. And the 3 days in Brussels includes time for travelling from Amsterdam to Brussels. If you travel from Paris to Germany ; ride in trains. France has high speed trains, and Germany has an excellent railroad passenger train system for going to the places in Germany that you wish to go to. You can ride in trains to Wurzburg and Rothenburg. If you would not feel good about not seeing medieval castles at the Rhine River (between Koblenz and Bingen), remember : Rothenburg is a medieval town. I think going to Wurzburg and Rothenburg is a good combination. Wurzburg has the bishop's palace (its exterior looks good), and the fantastic Rococo chapel, and a good view from in front of the "castle" on top of the hill.

For staying and travelling between cities best is taking the train as a rule of thumb, so for instance better pick up the rental car after visiting the Dom in Köln and travel by car to Brussels.

A possible itinerary (besides already mentioned places) with UNESCO sites, marked with *

Düsseldorf
Aachen*
Köln* , nearby castles of Augustburg and Falkenlust at Brühl*
Via Koblenz, Mosel Valley, Burg Elz, Cochem and Bernkastel-Kues
Trier*
Luxembourg*
Bastogne WOII?
Leuven and or Mechelen
Brussels*
Dordrecht
Mills of Kinderdijk*
Castle de Haar near Utrecht
Amsterdam*
Paris

If you want to see Amsterdam, Paris, and Brussels, it makes more sense to take trains instead of renting a car. If you want to drive, it makes more sense to focus on smaller towns and areas not easily accessible by train. But renting a car to see your big cities will cost you a lot of money in parking, while the car sits idle.

Hi,

How adventurous do yo want to be with that many days? How far do you want to go? If you did not have this rental car, I would suggest Munich and Berlin. Take the CNL night train Düsseldorf Hbf to Munich Hbf., arriving there shortly after 0700.

For Berlin almost likewise. Take the U-Bahn from Düsseldorf Hbf to Duisburg Hbf. Take the CNL from Duisburg Hbf to Berlin Hbf. Both places you saved much of a day of traveling.

Thanks. The day trip to Berlin sounds interesting since this would be the trip we could fit it in. We did the Bavarian Area last year with Vienna, Prague, Dresden & Munich. I didn't want to miss Berlin, but it didn't make sense to spend that much time on the road.

Hi,

If the CNL night train is disagreeable to you, then take the early ICE train from Düsseldorf Hbf to Berlin Hbf., even better. You'll be in Berlin before noon. No need to go up to Duisburg. Besides, with the refurbishing of Düsseldorf Hbf (one of last ones to be done), it is much better than Duisburg Hbf.

I would also recommend train for connecting these big cities. When is the trip? Train tickets are deeply discounted when they go on sale, about three months in advance of the travel dates, which is helpful to keep down costs for a few longer, big-city connections. There is also usually an overnight train option from Paris to Munich or Berlin, or you can often fly for a reasonable price. How to Look Up Train Schedules Online gives you the DB train schedule link and tips for using it. For flights within Europe, try www.skyscanner.com.