Quick advice please

You may need to prioritize and not try to do everything. Look at google maps or rome2rio to determine travel distance and drive time. Are you flying r/t Amsterdam? Arrange your stops to loop back. It will be hard to fit in Switzerland and Germany with time to actually see anything.

Get a car big enough for 4 adults with luggage and avoid huge fees for returning the car in a different country.

Enjoy the trip!

This is a hard one - family of 5 adults in one vehicle for an extended period. I don't think its a good recipe.
I would revisit you cost comparisons with trains when you decide on a final itinerary.
Road tolls and fuel costs are very high in Europe.
I would think to maybe fly with low cost Easyjet from Amsterdam (4 nights) to Prague (3 nights).
Then fly (or night train) to Zurich for nearby Lucerne (3 nights) in Switzerland
On to Paris (4 nights) by TGV train for your final stop.

That is a lot to see in under 2 weeks.
If you haven't already, use google maps to get an idea of drive times between places you want to visit. Amsterdam to Prague is 8+ hours. You most likely don't want to spend your trip in a car.
If you are flying in and out of Amsterdam, I'd plan things for there, northern France, (since Normandy is of interest to your wife and you are planning on Paris). Belgium is in between those 2 places.
Driving is not fun in the big cities. The shorter trips, say from Amsterdam into Belgium, then Belgium into France might be more reasonable price wise on the train. Definitely less hassle than renting a car, finding parking, navigating cities.... A car would probably be nice in the Normandy area or other country side type places.
If you are flying home out of another airport, which is what we usually do, then you can plan you trip to see things between the 2. We've done Zurich to Paris, with stops in grindelwald, zermatt, annecy. Lake Como to Venice via Lichtenstein, Bavaria, Austria, northern Italy, lake Garda, Verona. The cinque terre to Rome with stops in Florence and Tuscany. We usually stay 1-4 night at each stop depending on what we want to see. A few stops were a few hours, Verona, Chamonix, Lichtenstein. This was all by car, 4 adults and 2 kids. By rental car I mean 9 passenger van. 6 people and luggage and room to stretch on long drives. I think our longest drive was Annecy to Paris.
As far as things to do, Paris alone has enough to keep your family busy for your whole trip. We've been 3 times and still haven't seen everything we want to see. The Normandy area, a few days.
Maybe pick a reasonable route and see what everyone wants to see along that route. Whether between 2 airports or a loop starting and ending in Amsterdam.

Larry,

A trip covering that many destinations in a short two week time frame by car sounds like a nightmare! You'll be covering a lot of territory and will need to be aware of things like highway tax vignettes which are compulsory in some countries. Well planned rail trips may have been cheaper with tickets purchased well in advance, and rail would have been faster especially when using the high speed trains. For five adults with luggage, you'll have to rent a larger vehicle which may not be the most "nimble" when going into towns with narrow streets.

Don't forget your I.D.P.'s for driving in France.

Good luck!

Go to Gemut.com for expert advice on car rentals. There is an excellent free download called "What you should know about renting a car in Europe." Read it and thoroughly explore the website, then contact Andy for advice on car rental and to help you with the rental should you decide to do it.

Five adults with luggage will require a vehicle of a size not often found in Europe and likely more expensive than you think, even if you all do the smart thing and travel with only one carry on and personal item each.

If you do rent, anyone who plans to drive needs to learn everything they can about driving there and have an International Driving Permit, only available through AAA in the US. Andy can tell you whether the kids are old enough to drive a rental or not.

It sounds like you only have 12 nights to spend, well really only 8 since you have booked 4 in Paris. As already mentioned, that's not nearly enough time to go to all the places you listed -- especially when you will move at the pace of the slowest one in your group.

Also as already mentioned, you need to research distances and the amount of time it takes to travel them, by car, train or plane. When you do, I think you will find you need to cut more.

For example, Rome2rio.com says that it takes about 3 hours and 45 minutes to fly from Amsterdam to Geneva. That's not counting getting to the airport in time to go through all the hoops to fly plus dealing with the arrival at the other end.

R2R says it is about 915 km between those 2 cities and takes about 10 hours to drive. R2R also says the fastest train option takes about 7 hours and 45 minutes, and it goes through Paris with a station switch in Paris.

All of those options are very time consuming and pricey for your large group, especially since you are so close to your departure date.

With only 8 nights to play with, keeping in mind that you all are likely to be trashed on your arrival day (day 2 of your trip), I'd limit the trip to the Netherlands, maybe Belgium, and Northern France to include the WWII beaches if those are a must.

You could do all that by train, probably cheaper than renting a car. You definitely do not want or need a car in Amsterdam or Paris.

I would never want to drive in Paris. It is not linear driving but spatial. Look at some of the train passes/tickets for groups. You might be surprised how affordable the trains can be. It sounds as if this is a pretty impromptu trip. Just start reading the travel forums for the locations you are interested in. You will learn a lot.

I suggest you narrow your focus to 2-3 places you really want to go and learn about them as fast as you can.

Thanks everyone. My gut and what research I've done so far was telling me that I was over reaching. Your comments have certainly helped confirm it.
I guess I need to look at trains which I would personally like better than driving. Any suggestions on a rail pass vs point to point? As far as I know I could get a rail pass to cover 4 country's, and I've heard that that there are family discounts. Please suggest the best way to see a good solid chunk of the above places by train without over reaching. Which countries to leave out and what to leave in or put in.
I'm guessing my family is not the type of family that wants to spend the day going thru museums they're more like an hour or two here and there and they will want to see or do something else. I know they will get off seeing the alps, pristine lakes castles, short hikes interesting churches etc.

Larry,

In order to comment on a Rail pass, it would help to have some idea on which destinations you've decided to visit, as I'm not clear on that. One point to note is that Rail passes do NOT cover the seat reservation fees which are compulsory in some areas (ie: TGV in France). You'll have to pay out-of-pocket for the reservations.

Also note that in France pass holder reservations are limited, and once the quota is filled for a particular train, pass holders can not travel on that train even if there are seats available (they'd have to buy a regular ticket). One place where a Rail pass will save money is in Switzerland (which is expensive at the best of times!). You may find it helpful to have a look at the excellent Man In Seat 61 website on that topic. Scroll down to the section "Should I Buy A Rail Pass".

Go to the Man in Seat Sixty One (seat61.com) to research the rail pass vs. point-to-point options. In general p-t-p is cheaper for shorter distances, and you still might be able to have some group savings. With only a week until your departure, it might be too late now to do anything but buy tickets at the stations anyway.

If you have no other lodgings reserved except in Paris, you may also have some challenges finding places to stay for your group.

It does sound like this is a last minute thing. I hope all your passports are current and in order. And that your credit and debit card companies know where you are going and when. And that you've dealt with any issues with using your mobile phones on the trip and the potential exorbitant costs for data that can be run up literally in minutes by frequent users.

Go to the Travel Tips section of this RS website for sections on Money as well as Phones and Technology.

Did you decide to go to Switzerland? It was hard to tell from your last posting.

Ask your wife and kids to all nominate say 3 places (besides Amsterdam and Paris).
Look for some general consensus amongst the nominations.
Plan you logistics, plane v train v car, from here.
Amsterdam (3) Bruges (2) Cologne (1) Heidelberg (1) Lucerne (3) Paris (4) ... might be a nice tight circle by train.

it is terrific that you and your family have the opportunity to go on this type of trip. I'm sure all of you will remember it for a long time.

You are definitely in a time crunch between now and your departure. Is there any possibility that 1-2 of the other four adults can help you with some of the research and decision making? For example, could one person volunteer to notify your banks or credit unions if you are using a credit card or ATM, that you will be out of the country and what countries you will be traveling to? could someone else use usps.gov to stop the mail while you were on vacation? someone else could investigate the logistics/options/availability of the Omaha Beach visit? from the ages of your children, I would imagine they have super research skills, all kids are quite adept at using the internet to find out all sorts of information. It would also give them more ownership of the trip and save you from being overwhelmed.

Have a great trip!

Looking at things within a reasonable distance from Paris since that is one of your planned stops....
For pristine lakes and alps, look at Chamonix and vicinity. 5.5 - 7hrs by train from Paris, 6.5 or so hours by car. A quick search for a rental passenger van for 5(from the photo it looks like a small mini van)- $61+ per day, rome2rio says cost is $90-$130(which I'm thinking is gas and toll estimate) Quick look on the sncf site for a train on a random weekday in July- $90-$100pp one way- takes 5hrs40mins to 7 hrs. There is a cheaper train, its a night train, $58, takes 11.5hrs.
http://en.voyages-sncf.com/en/train-ticket/result?hid=RNY
There are castles within day trips from Paris. Versaille, Chantilly, Fountainbleu, I'm sure there are others.
There are wonderful castles in Germany but I'm not sure how you'd fit that in.
Bruges is a nice town in Belgium if you are passing through that way.
Are you flying out of Amsterdam, also?

Like others have mentioned, get a map of Europe and look at your starting and ending points. You didn't say whether you are flying out of Amsterdam or Paris. Either way, you want to make a full circle and see a combination of cities and towns/villages along the way. Sounds like you have 12 days on the continent.

Do you have room reservations in Amsterdam? If not, that's the first thing to do. How long do you plan on staying in Amsterdam?

If you're renting a car (which would be my choice of travel), you need to arrange for the rental car before departing the States. Go online and look up AutoEurope and Kemwel. You can get an idea of the size and cost. Be sure to read the Terms and Conditions. Make sure you get a car big enough for the luggage and you might want to limit everyone to one carry on size luggage. You could supplement that with one 24" for the whole family for extra things on the way home. I call one of the two companies above and arrange for my rental by phone. I prefer Europcar versus Avis/Hertz.

Like others have said, it's not easy to drive in some cities and impossible to drive in Paris. DO NOT drive in Paris. Park out on the outskirts and take the train in.

This would be a possible route if arriving and departing from Amsterdam. Amsterdam; Cologne, Germany (see cathedral); Rhine River Valley, Germany; Black Forest (love Muenstertal), Germany; Colmar, France area; then go towards Paris either by way of Burgundy or straight across; then Omaha beach; Bruge, Belgium; back to Amsterdam. Even with this itinerary, you are packing in a lot.

Thank you again guys for your great advise.
Our latest thought is. Landing in Amsterdam on the 17th around noon, getting on a plane latter in the day and flying to Prauge. Spending a couple of days there then take train over to Munich or Salzburg then rent a car or use the train to visit that Alp and Switzerland area for about three days then take a train to Paris for a couple of days then decide the rest of the time between Belguim and Amsterdam. I'm still way up in the air about affording train travel and how to go about it. My wife doesn't want to rent a car, but my son thinks it's the best way to see the alps and Switzerland area. But he's never been there. Any thoughts on where we're getting off track( no pun intended ) would be greatly appreciated. Also any action that I need to take care of right away would be awesome. Thanks again!!

Doesn't really seem like you are factoring in the time you are losing in transit from one destination to the next, plus the additional time needed to get 5 adults checked out and checked into new lodgings. For example, the distance between Prague and Munich may be only about 4 hours, but again, add in the time it takes to check out of your Prague hotel, a quick stop somewhere for lunch or a bathroom break, and checking into the Munich hotel and now you've lost about 6 hours. From the Swiss Alps to Paris, whether you drive it or train it, it's going to eat up the better part of a day - you could try to find some cheap flights between longer distances, but the best ticket prices are usually scored at least a few weeks in advance - and even if you fly instead of drive, getting to/from the airports and dropping off your car rental before you fly is going to use up a decent chunk of time. You aren't leaving much time for yourself to explore both Belgium and the Netherlands on the back end. If you have no interest in cities and want to spend your time hiking and doing outdoor things, then cut out the days spent in cities and just focus on the countryside. Save the cities for a separate visit.

It sounds like you all are developing a final itinerary and that Prague and the Swiss Alps are absolutely essential to the trip in spite of the logistics and travel time to get there.

The first thing you need to do is nail down the flights for the 5 of you to get to Prague from Amsterdam. Unlike the trains, you can't just walk up to the ticket counter and buy tickets. And the cheap flights may already be full at this time of year.

Once you determine that you can get there and when (it may not be possible on the 17th), you can make your hotel reservations.

Then you can go on to the rest of your trip planning with the goal of getting you all back to your departure city to get back home.

About driving the Alps...my husband and I did that a few years ago, but we took 2 weeks to do it. I assume that you and your son have thoroughly explored the Gemut.com website and studied the downloadable brochure and therefore already know that you need to buy vignettes for both Austria and Switzerland.

Remember that the guys at Gemut are experts at travel in that part of Europe. They will be very realistic with you about what is doable in the brief time you have, and they are very responsive by email and phone. They are actually in Oregon. With so little time left, you might consider having them help you with hotel reservations for that part of the trip and other logistics as well.

What you may not know is that many of the breathtaking places in Switzerland do not allow cars and are only accessible by train. Zermatt is one example. If you go to the Switzerland part of the forum, you will learn a lot about places to go and amazing train rides to take.

When we drove the Alps, at Gemut's suggestion due to cheaper car rental costs in Germany, we rented our car in Stuttgart, drove through Southern Bavaria, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, France and back through Switzerland to return the car just over the border from Basel in Lorrach, Germany. The whole experience was in or adjacent to the Alps in all those countries.

The distances are not far compared to the US West, but the driving is slow and through many little towns and villages which will be packed with people this time of year. I can understand your family's fascination with going, but the Alps are not wild like the Wasatch or the Rockies. They are far more civilized than you may expect.

I'm not understanding your concern about train costs above all else. Considering the rush planning and the desire to go to Switzerland, a very expensive country to visit, train fares would be the least of my concerns.

At this point, I'd be more concerned about getting to where you want to go and having places to stay while there.

And don't forget that you will be operating in 3 currencies: Euros, Czech crowns and Swiss francs. That's always fun.

Hello Larry. If you will go to Switzerland, I recommend this travel plan :
First night in Europe : Amsterdam.
Second night : Amsterdam.
Third night : Paris.
Fourth night : Paris.
Fifth night : Paris.
Sixth night : Paris. (I think you and your family will want to be at Paris, 3 whole days)
Seventh night : Paris. (After a day trip from Paris to the palace of Versailles)
Eighth night : Gimmelwald in Switzerland.
Ninth night : Gimmelwald.
Tenth night : Gimmelwald.
Eleventh night : Paris.
Twelfth night : Amsterdam.
Ride in trains.
Travelling from Gimmelwald to Amsterdam in one day is possible, if travelers fly from Geneva or Zurich to Amsterdam. But I doubt that you can acquire airline tickets for 5 persons for that flight.