London => Paris => Amsterdam

I have been to Paris, London and Amsterdam. I loved Paris and London, but thought Amsterdam was just OK. I am going to throw out a suggestion that you consider visiting Bruges, Belgium which is a smaller city and very charming. I loved it there. You can easily travel by train between all of these cities. I would recommend 5 nights in London, 4 nights in Paris and 3 nights in Bruges or Amsterdam. If you decide to visit Bruges I would sandwich it between London and Paris because it gives you a break between the larger cities. If you decide to do only 10 days, I would just visit Paris and London, as there is so much to see and do there.

The best way to get from Paris to Amsterdam is the Thalys train. Book NOW on www.thalys.com for best fares (these go up substantially as the cheaper fares sell out). As for experiences with your destinations, you will find the gamut. So, if these 3 places call to you, go there; if some other place (like Bruges) interests you more, go there instead. But in 10-12 days, you can only see a few places, so there will always have to be sacrifices on such a trip. Don't make the mistake of trying to see a month's worth of places in less than two weeks - no matter how many people tell you that this or that is a "must see while you're so close."

hi, as Keith and Harold stated, go by train. i went from Paris to Amsterdam last year and didnt know about the train. Took me 6+ hours with the layover in LHR. iirc, it was more expensive too. iirc, the train is 4 hours (direct). just an fyi, they have a direct train too. depending on what you like to do/see, London can fill up 4+ days. Paris the same, but again, would depend on what you want to do/see. happy trails.

The Thalys train is more like 3 1/4 hours between Paris and Amsterdam, less to Brussels. I haven't been to Amsterdam (going this fall) but given your timeframe I'd spend less time there than in the other two cities, if any. London and Paris themselves can easily take your whole time without day trips. Assume you will return. As often noted on this board, open-jaw flying into London and home from Amsterdam (or Paris) will save you time and travel cost.

I've been to Paris twice and Amsterdam once. I'm planning to go to London this summer and also spend three days in Amsterdam this time as I was only there one full day my first time. The high speed train from Paris to Amsterdam is the way to travel - it was the quickest and easiet train ride I've had in my two trips to Europe (though I did it the other way). I liked Paris but it is somewhat big and overwhelming. I had a better plan for what I wanted to see during my second trip there. I highly recommend the Hotel Brittannique - it has relatively inexpensive and has a great location for all the main sights.

James I think your plan is good. I agree to give Paris and London an extra day , Amsterdam is nice, but its a lot smaller and there really is literally hundreds of things more to do in both London and Paris. I would do 4/4/ 3 myself. Buy Thaly train ticket as soon as dates are set, we paid 35 euros last year for our ticket, but I booked months in advance. I have been to Paris, well too many times to count, but to London only 4 times and Amsterdam only twice, I would go back to London in a heartbeat, but will wait another 10 or more years to do Amsterdam again..