NYC to Reykjavik to Amsterdam to Paris

Congratulations putting the trip together! You will find Iceland fascinating and should be able to see several of the natural wonders via tours from Reykjavik.

You don't mention your age, and I'm sure you didn't embark on these plans thinking "youth hostel", but that's where our family stayed in Reykjavik and it was very comfortable. Not noisy or full of drunks or dirty like people's visions of youth hostels - and certainly not just for the young. It also has the advantage of having a very nice and large, thermal water-heated public pool just a couple of blocks away. Many of the standard day-tours also make a stop (and can be booked) at the youth hostel.

We are going to Amsterdam in June this year. In my efforts to find lodgings, I discovered that Amsterdam is the most consistantly expensive city I have ever tried to book a room in. You will have some difficulty staying within your budget. The place we are staying (which we haven't been to yet, so can't really vouch for, and is a good 1 1/2 miles from the city center) is at

http://www.bedandbreakfastamsterdam.net/index.html

and a double with a bath is 95Euro or $140.

Perhaps you could make up for the extra cost in Amsterdam by doing the youth hostel in Reykjavik?

Good luck.

For Amsterdam hotel, investigate and consider Priceline for hotel. $250 a night hotels are going for $100- $120 for high season- those rooms are $70 in March.
Failing that, I would suggest the Old Nickel- if you want to be in the middle of the action and close to transport. It's a bar/hostel with bath in some rooms. Very basic, and one of few in your price range. I can't emphasize enough the Priceline deals- go to betterbidding.com for an explanation and "how to".

Doesnt icelandic air offer a good value stopover fare ?/ They have been advertisng around here as new service in Seattle

yes, they offer a fantastic stop over fare--but you have to stop on your way THERE (at least that's what i've encountered on my MANY MANY MANY searches) alas, we do not have time to stop on our way there, so we will be skipping iceland this time around (at least...i think. we're still in the planning stages of our airfare search...not for lack of searching!)

thank you...i will look at all of those sites (i have been on farecompare more than daily, but have not even heard of the other two). and to answer your question, we are traveling in July and August, so yes, we've not seen summer sales yet. though we are hoping they exist! again, thank you so very much!

ummm...iceland express is amazing...i think? i just went through four of the five booking steps to make sure i wasn't dreaming--newark to london ROUNDTRIP for $1,400 for BOTH OF US? yay open travel plans...we'll just do london and paris at that price. yay! i will post later if that's what we go with--i need to consult my husband before booking. and, yet again, THANK YOU. (i love this website. seriously. i may need to will something to rick steves when i die. it has been that helpful.)

i have never been so happy about living close to newark! ha ha ha! and don't worry, i don't have anything worth willing. i'll have spent it all traveling!

There's an Etap at Schipol that costs about seventy bucks a night and is ensuite. Train back and forth should keep the total cost to less than a hundred bucks. Not much ambiance, but it gets the job done.

Steve, they are looking for places for under $100 and you just suggested a hotel for 140 euro! Plus, who wants to be in a hotel next to the airport, any airport?

"If you have more than just five or six hours"

doesn't go with

"fly in to Amsterdam, stay three more nights "

but Steve still got to say something

Just a few points for the "pot shot group"

1. OP says that if she can't find cheap lodging, one stop may have to go which COULD reduce the stay in AMS to just a short stay.

2. Poster who was fussed at for posting $140 hotel indicated they KNEW it was over Tracy's budget, but was trying to point out the budget may need "adjustment"

original poster here...thanks everyone for your help. i appreciate all of it!!! keep it coming--as i continue to plan this trip, i find the advice on this site to be invaluable.

Dear Tracy:

Friday 5 Feb 2010

Anybody from Macungie (Indian for dead bear burial ground) knows how to improvise. But I think you are going to have to pay more - $150 - to stay somewhere half-decent in mid summer anywhere near Paris or Amsterdam. You are near Allentown (the place - as Billy Joel once sang in the seventies, where they're shutting all the factories down). Tonight it's the same but they are all getting out early because of the huge winter storm warning. Rick Steves'guide books are good but can be dated because things change. He would be the first to admit that. You might be lucky this summer because the U.S. economy is far from recovered and Europeans may realize a bird in hand in worth two in bush (with a nod to Bird-In-Hand, Pa.). But if you are operating financially on fumes don't count on bargains ever in Europe. They see Americans coming a mile away. Bon soir. Bill (who knows Macungie, Allentown, Bethlehem and European hoteliers).

I think if you use a hotel search site like www.hrs.com for each of these cities, you will find a decent place at a price you can afford. You will be able to get an idea and if you want to then contact the hotel in person, you can do that too, possibly getting an even better price. Another option is Priceline. Bid on some places, keeping it at your budget price that you want to pay. Utilize google to find B&B'S or pensions in those cities. Ricks books are great for lots of things, but extremely limited in finding a hotel, they list a few, but in cities that have 100's, there is no way all the good ones can be listed, or it would just be a hotel book and not a guide book.

There is some good information on the thread "Hotel in Brussels" about using Pricelin.