mother daughter trip...amsterdam, berlin, munich & paris

srqmama
1. Don't assume that a Eurail pass is necessary, more economical, or saves you any hassles. It will take some effort, but you can get an idea what point-to-point tickets cost, and then see if it's worth it. Best resource for rail travel information is the website "the Man in Seat 61" . You'll have to google it as I'm too lazy to create a link.
2. Rick Steves guide books on those cities are worth reading first, as they will help focus you on specific questions. Travel between them is easy.

3. Lots of threads here and elsewhere on safety of travel. Lots of emotions and statistics, but only you can decide what you want to do. Consider what information anyone could give you that would make you feel easier about going to California right now. I can't think of any that would keep me from going.

No one can predict the future, but I don't think Paris is dangerous. My husband and I will be there in July with our daughters. But if you will be worried all the time you won't have fun.

I wouldn't get a pass of any kind. Things have changed and now point-to-point tickets bought 90 days out are usually cheapest. When you do a price comparison check to see if seat resevation are compulsory on any of your trains. Compulsory reservations are an additional cost beyond what is covered by passes. Sometimes they are substantial. Make use of The Man in Seat 61. In addition to a travel page for each major city he has ticket buying information more generally.

How old are your girls and how many nights will you be in Europe?

Thank you Stan, I will take a look at "the Man in Seat 61"
Jen, thank you as well, I think I can get over my fear. The girls are 19 and 16 (will be turning 17 on the trip)

Jen...I forgot to tell you, we are thinking of spending 3-4 weeks in Europe. We will be meeting up with the husband/dad in Paris.

There is no objective reason to fear anything happening to you and the girls, in Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin or wherever you go. What are the chances something like that happening again in one of these cities, you being there exactly at that day and time, and - to make it even more unlikely - you being at the exact spot something is happening? I would say »go«, but it's you who has to feel comfortable.
That being said, there is no need for any pass. Bought in advance (starting 91 days before departure date) a ticket for the trip between Berlin and Amsterdam can be bought from around €40 (normal price; possibly even cheaper for the girls); and between Amsterdam and Paris from some €35 (which can already be bought). These are comfortable trains, for which there is no need whatsover to pay for the useless first class. You can do the reservations on the website of the Dutch railways: https://www.nsinternational.nl/en
Instead of staying in Amsterdam itself, consider Haarlem. Amsterdam is getting more and more like a theme park, with crowds and prices to match. Haarlem (after which the New York Harlem is named) has everything you expect from a historical Dutch city, and just some 20 minutes away by very, very frequent trains.

Srqmama - I would look to fly what is called "Open Jaw" into Amsterdam and out of Paris. As others have mentioned, I would look the man in seat 61 (www.seat61.com ), also get a copy of Europe thru the Backdoor from your local library. For information on train schedules check out the DB BAHN website (www.reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en).

Seeing you have some 3-4 weeks at your disposal, I wouldn't restrict myself to these three cities, and have one or two stopovers en route in some smaller city. Why not put in Gent, which is a good base for those gems in Belgium like Brugge, Antwerpen and/or Brussel?
Berlin is a somewhat isolated city, but Amsterdam (or Haarlem) gives you ample opportunities for rewarding day trips. Dordrecht (already half way to Belgium) is for example a much overlooked historical river town, and a good base for visiting the nearby impressive windmill complex of Kinderdijk, which can even by reached by river ferry, which makes it even more fun.
Belgium and the Netherlands being so small and having such a good rail system, about half the country is within reach.

You are going to have a marvelous time, and you have a generous amount of time. You could easily add Nuremberg, Prague, Dresden, Salzburg, or a little romp through the alps---not all of them, but a couple.

There are many day trips possible from Amsterdam and several from Munich as well. Day travel passes for groups are very affordable in Germany. http://www.bahn.com/i/view/USA/en/prices/germany/laender-ticket.shtml

thank you all for the great advice..definitely planning some day trips...was thinking of Salzburg from Munich and Versailles from Paris. Also, I hate to say this, but...Disney Paris (on my daughter's b-day...last year she celebrated at Disneyland & enjoyed it???)

I am very excited for you. My daughters (19 and 21) and I are also planning a 3 week mother daughter trip with dad/hubby joining for the last week. We've been dreaming together for a long time and in May it is all going to happen. The planning has been such fun - if you haven't already, get those girls working on ideas with you. Mine are both in college and I love it when we get a group text going full of ideas and excitement! They also bring me down from my fussing about "what ifs" and remind me to leave time for some spontaneity. Enjoy your adventure!!!!

If you're ending in Paris, begin in Germany. It makes sense to start in the east - Munich, then Berlin, Amsterdam and finally Paris. For trains in Germany, there are passes that may give you discounts. From Amstrdam to Paris, your best price will be buying train tickets at huge discounts when they go on sale (6 months in advance?).

How long do you have before meeting up with Dad? How long with Dad?

srq,

THIS is the link for the Man In Seat 61 website. I linked the section on "Should I buy a Railpass" but there's lots of other great information on the site.

The route you've mentioned makes a good loop with reasonable times between each city, so that should work well. With four weeks, you could certainly add one or two additional cities. One possibility would be to go south from Munich to Italy and then return to Paris via Switzerland. There are lots of options.

In terms of the "safety" aspect, Europe is typically very safe although you'll have to contend with pickpockets and other scammers. If you're aware of the problem and take reasonable precautions, you shouldn't have any problems (wear Money Belts). Terrorism can be a problem anywhere (as in San Bernadino recently). Your profile doesn't indicate where you're located, but your home area is likely more dangerous than Europe typically is.

For planning sightseeing in each location, you may want to check out the RS guidebooks for each of the places you'll be visiting. These should be available in your local Library or larger bookstores. You can also download E-book versions in a variety of formats (Kindle, iBooks, etc.). The guidebooks provide an enormous amount of information on sightseeing options, hotels, restaurants and local transportation. The information will help to plan your touring efficiently. For example, the Louvre is open Mondays (and all other days) and closed Tuesdays, while Versailles is the opposite. The guidebooks also have tips on beating the queues, which can be substantial in some cases. For your trip to Paris, you might consider Paris Museum Passes.

I like your pace - rather than trying to cover all of Europe in 3 weeks!

I have just come back from 8 days/7 nights in Berlin and taking it at a reasonable pace, we didn't have chance to cover everything there. I had a great Airbnb apartment in Kreuzberg near Viktoriapark, which was only 2 tube stops out. You could easily spend 7 to 10 days in Paris. Amsterdam - 4/5 days will be plenty. I haven't been to Munich, so can't comment on that.

You will lose half a day travelling between destinations. If you are going for 3 weeks, I wouldn't add any more places, but if going for 4 weeks, you could maybe add Bruges or Ghent in Belgium. Personally, I didn't care for Brussels. There are plenty of day trips out of each location.

Disneyland Paris and any other Disneyland are quite different. It is a nice idea to have her birthday at a different one for a couple of years. I think that's cool parenting.

It is arranged a bit differently, and of course they serve wine and beer in the park.

It is sounding like a fun trip for all involved.

Is hubbie's part a business trip?

Great trip! All of these places I would consider very safe. On your list, I've been to Amsterdam, Munich and Paris (all this year as well). I agree that reading Rick's books for those destinations are a great start and the man in seat 61 was a great guide on trains - really most everything you need to know.

In general, I like the MotelOne chain, but it can be difficult since they don't have any triple or rollaway beds. IBIS is a good budget that usually has some triples and are centrally located.

In Munich, I would not recommend staying by central station, it is a dodgy neighborhood. Nuremberg is a great trip from Munich (day trip or overnight) - nice old town and some very interesting Nazi sites.

I don't enjoy central Amsterdam, it really isn't my cup of tea. But I do enjoy the outskirts of Amsterdam. Zaanse Schans is worth a visit. Staying in Haarlem or just on the outskirts of the city is much more enjoyable for me and Netherlands is a super easy country to get around. I would also suggest considering a stop in Rotterdam and visiting Kinderdijk with it's old windmills (this could be a day trip from Amsterdam, a long one). Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague is very nice to visit as well.

Keep in mind that most stations have lockers so you can stash your stuff if you are just making a quick stop.

I love Disney and I love Paris Disneyland. I took my mom and we had a blast. Be sure to stay late and watch the amazing fireworks show, it was a highlight!

A quick word on trains - I would probably avoid night trains. They seem like a great idea to get from place to place, but in practice, they are super tiny rooms and I felt like the time I stayed by going overnight was not worth the lack of sleep. I took them for the first time over the last two weeks and although I may take them again depending on the circumstances, I wouldn't want to share one of these tiny compartments with anyone, even my mom;-)

You'll have a great trip.

Hi,

With you itinerary I definitely would not use a Global Pass. I use a rail Pass but not for your itinerary unless you plan on doing day trips on a whim in Germany and take the night train. Your choice of cities here offers two direct CNL night trains, Munich to Berlin, and Munich to Amsterdam. You could do Berlin to Paris night but that requires transferring at Offenburg, ie Berlin to Offenburg, then the S-Bahn Offenburg to Strasbourg, then TGV Strasbourg-Paris Est.. It all depends on how the trip is arranged.

In Munich I stay at a small hotel/Pension in the train station area, Munich Hbf. since I travel solo. It's not an unsafe area. If I had kids with me, I might reconsider but it's nothing like US cities, so basically no need to be concerned about safety according to the US definition by staying in the Hbf area, where the price ranges from hostels, Pensionen to super pricey hotels, eg, the Sofitel.

Picking Berlin and Munich is a good introduction to Germany (depending upon the depth of interests in Germany ) with its contrasts in style, geography, cuisine, beer, size, culture, and the obvious history, dialects, I went to both my first time in Germany. Both get tons of international tourists but you'll run into more Americans in Munich.