Hi all,
Trying to decide which city to eliminate from my itinerary, Vienna or Amsterdam.
My daughter (high school age) will be in Hamburg for 3 weeks on an exchange and I will be meeting up with her there to explore some of Europe for 10 days after that. This is in June. We will for sure be going to Munich and Salzburg. We are trying to decide if we should head over to Amsterdam then over to Munich and Salzburg or if we should skip Amsterdam and add Vienna after Salzburg.
Any ideas? Which city would appeal more to a teenager?
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Posted by
Seattle
4637 posts
To a teenager? Amsterdam for many reasons.
Posted by
Olympia, WA, USA
208 posts
Agree with Ilja
Posted by
Vienna, Austria
5382 posts
For a teenager, Amsterdam for sure. I would suggest flying from AMS to Munich.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16893 posts
Will the exchange program include any side trips, or is it too short or too focused for that?
Both cities have great art museums, transportation, city walking, etc. The royal palaces and treasury are a selling point for Vienna but you could substitute Nymphenburg Palace near Munich. In Amsterdam the Anne Frank House and Dutch Resistance Museum could tie in well with some history she's already studied.
Train travel time is a few hours longer for Hamburg-Amsterdam-Munich than for Hamburg-Munich-Vienna, e.g., 13 vs. 10, but that's not a big deal, and flying could solve the problem (www.skyscanner.com). You get the best prices by booking the longer-distance train tickets (not necessary for Munich-Salzburg) 91 days in advance of travel, through DeutscheBahn.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
My daughter will be going to Berlin while she is in Hamburg but that is about it. We would be looking to explore history and culture while we are there. We thought we would try getting out of a German speaking country, that is why we had looked into Amsterdam. The Ann Frank Museum and the Rijksmuseum are the main reasons we were looking into Amsterdam. But not sure it is the best use of the short time we have to go that far west.
Posted by
Prague
11 posts
I'd also say Amsterdam would be better.. As beautiful as Vienna is, you'll have already quite a few German and Austrian cities on your list, so it would be good to freshen your itinerary up a little.
In the end, whichever of the two you'll go with, you won't regret :) Both Vienna and Amsterdam are very special..!
Posted by
348 posts
Everbody in Amsterdam under the age of 80 speaks English. They are required in school to speak Dutch, French, German & English.
If you are going to the museums in Amsterdam, I highly recommend buying your tickets online. We did last year and walked past hundred waiting in line. The Rijks ticket is good for a year. The Van Gogh will give you a date & time. The Anne Frank house is the biggest draw in town w/ the longest lines going up the tiny staircases. Be sure to buy the tickets directly from the museum on line and not a consolidator which charges an extra 10E. We paid 15 Euros for each. If you go to Berlin, Potsdam is a wonderful stop nearby with loads of history and the beautiful palace.