Which second European Country?

What about Germany? Berlin for a few days, Dresden, and then Munich or head for the Rhine. Pam

have you considered Austria. Vienna and Salzburg are great! I'd also suggest Norway. It is beautiful.

From Amsterdam you have your pick of places to head. You don't mention your mode of transport, I will assume train. You can take a night train and end up in either Munich or Zurich, and in the summer some go on to Salzburg, or you can stop short of Zurich in Basel and head south to the Berner Oberland. Will you have to return to Amsterdam to fly home, or are you going open-jaw? Do some research into these areas and then people here can help with things to do in the one you choose.

Gute Reise
Kevin

Hello All.

Return is open Jaw. Time is not a constraint. We have a full week and I am leaning towards either Italy (would love to hike the Cinque Terra) and then head to Rome. Or else Switzerland (too many Indian movies filmed in this country to miss). Also woould spend about 3 04 days in BO and then hike in Lautterbern.....Please suggest which country?

Simran, both are first-class destinations and would make for a memorable trip. How can we help?

You can't really want a bunch of strangers to tell you which is going to be best for you and your husband. You are the best judges of that.

If you are truly indifferent, let him decide. If you both are truly indifferent, pick the one that is cheapest or logistically simplest.

Adam

I have ordered a bunch of Rick Steve books and will read up some stuff in those. Once I read up I will post sample itens. and ask people for suggestions.
Thanks for all the help.

If you haven't been to Italy, I recommend you go there.

I agree with BG, I love Italy!

One possible suggestion: Book your main tickets into Amsterdam and out of Milan. After the concert, book a inter-Europe flight from Amsterdam to Rome. Do Rome, train up and hike the CT, then train up to Milan and fly home.

Italy is a place you have to see at some point in your life, why not now?

There are plenty of popular tourist sites to see, along with plenty of relaxing destinations.

If you're thinking Switzerland or Italy, why not spend a night in Switzerland on the way to Italy, or spend some time in the Italian Alps on the border of Switzerland before working south?

Okay- I googled Amsterdam and U2 and it looks like the concert is in July. If it were me, I would choose Switzerland. It is so beautiful in the summer, the hiking is superb, and it is the best time to go for summer activities. Italy will be hot and crowded ( particularly Rome) I remember last summer reading complaints from people about the Cinque Terre being "overun" I visited in October, it was still crowded, but not horribly so. If this trip was in late September or October, I would say Italy. For July, it would be Switzerland for me. Both are great destinations and you will have an awesome time.

For my money Italy would be fine if it weren't for the summer heat in July and the bigger tourist crowds in the summer. If you have a high tolerance for both, Italy would be a good choice. However, given that Amsterdam is in "northern" Europe, I'd pick somewhere nearby such as Scandanavia, which sommeone suggested. Germany is so close I'd also consider it. There are many possibilities in that huge country, although I'm personally not very taken with northern Germany. If you wanted to venture south into Switzerland, Geneva and the lake region around it (including parts of France below the lake) would not take you too far afield. The Berner-Oberland region is spectacular and gets you into the heart of the Alps. But there would be more travel time involved to get there and depart. If you did go to Italy, I'd suggest flying to Milan, going to CT from there, then heading down to Rome via train to depart from there.
Enjoy the U2 concert!

Hello All

It looks like we are going to settle for Switzerland - since the weather is going to be perfect too and we love hiking. We are going to spend 7 - 8 days in Switzerland and then head to Northern Italy for 2 -3 days (we have friends that we are going to meet there) and will fly out of Milan. We will keep Rome and CT for another visit. Thanks so much for all the help. :)

Italy !!! definately.