My husband and I are taking our first RS tour (13 night Germany) in June. We fly into Amsterdam( as we are able to fly nonstop from Portland and like the flight) and we were just going to continue on to Hamburg, but I just found out we can leave afew days early,so why not add to the trip, right? We were planning on arriving in Hamburg a day early, do the tour, spend a week in Switzerland, fly back to Amsterdam, where we have been before, spending 3 nights there (to see Delft and Haarlem?) before flying home. So if you had three additional nights at the beginning of the trip, what would you do? We aren’t museum people, we like walking and bike tours, hands on activities, history and architecture. I suppose we could train somewhere or even train to Hamburg if there is anything interesting along the way. Your thoughts?
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
11841 posts
Denmark?...
Posted by
Washington DC
27927 posts
There are many very picturesque cities and towns in the Netherlands (Den Haag, Utrecht, Gouda, etc.), or you could spend three days in Belgium (Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp?)
Posted by
OP
Happy Valley,OR
83 posts
Hmm, I am intrigued by Bruges with maybe a side trip to Ypres for the WW 1 battlefields...
So maybe fly into AMS, train to Bruges for 3 nights, train toBrussels airport and fly to Hamburg...
Posted by
San Francisco
14915 posts
Hi,
So if you had three additional nights at the beginning of the trip...?" I would suggest getting to Hamburg 3 days early, then go straight east, a direct shot to Schwerin, spend the nights there, visit the town and its famous chateau/Schloss, the next day a day trip to Ludwigslust since you're in that area already...well worth it seeing this part of Germany.
If you have three full days, all this is logistically very doable. Or, instead of Ludwigslust, take the day trip in Rostock. Given the two, my preference is Ludwigslust.
Posted by
UK
1015 posts
If you headed to Hamburg straight away, the lovely old Hanseatic port of Lübeck is worth at least a day of anyone’s time. Or you could take the fun train ride to Copenhagen from Hamburg - the train travels by ferry part of the way. It’s about five hours.
Alternatively from Amsterdam, I found Brussels more interesting than many - plus there’s Bruges and Ghent.
Posted by
Paradise
7021 posts
Look into Lüneburg and Bremen as day trip options from Hamburg. Bremen could possibly be turned into a long stopover on the train ride from A'dam to Hamburg; use station lockers for bags.
Posted by
Greeley, co, usa
2574 posts
Ratzeburg near Lubeck