Amsterdam to Basel Trip by Car

I guess you have already checked the likely high costs for one-way cross-border rental car (or own one?); same for special requirements if you travel in Germany with a car not registered in Germany?

Re-question to yours:

• For which month(s) do you plan the trip?
• What is the planned duration of the trip?
• What are the interests of the group?

Hi Mark,
So sorry about leaving the dates off. We’ll be traveling from Sept 21 to Oct 3, 2026 ( 11 days).
We haven’t checked costs of rental cars yet. Is the cost prohibitive? What
Do you mean?

Hi Mark,

I left off our interests🤭. We’re an older couple with slight walking issues, so very low key activities. Kind of our last hurrah trip! Just like to see the different towns, the river and interesting sights.
Mountains, unique cities, the river, and any beautiful sights along the way. We’ll take a river trip on the Rhine for a short ways.
What more can I tell you.

Joanne

You will want to do some zig-zagging for a nice trip.

A very interesting way to reach Germany from the Netherlands involves heading to the Maas River area. There's plenty of nice water-scenery in between Venlo (at the German border) and the beautiful city of Maastricht to the south. This area is that little finger at the southern end of the Netherlands which is sandwiched in between Belgium and Germany.

https://maps-netherlands.com/img/1200/netherlands-cities-map.jpg

Directly east of Maastricht is the handsome German city of Aachen.

South of Aachen and Maastricht: the Ardennes mountains and Battle-of-the-Bulge towns of Stavelot, Malmedy, St Vith. Near Eupen is the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery / Memorial Site.

I would then head towards the RHINE, entering Germany via one of the country's most beautiful old-world towns... Monschau. It's just across the border with the Netherlands. After Monschau, head toward Bonn. This video gives you a look at this drive from Monschau to the town of Bad Münstereifel. See the route map for this drive in the video at around 01:45. The city of Bonn lies beyond Bad Münstereifel to the east.

The most scenic part of the Rhine (castles, small old-world towns, vineyards, great river scenery) lies between Bonn and Mainz. Koblenz - Bingen (the Rhine Gorge) is especially scenic. And it is here that you will want to take a river cruise.

From Koblenz, a detour up the Mosel River would also be enjoyable. Towns there:
https://www.mosel-inside.de/en/travel-guide/mosel-villages.html

South of Mainz, the Rhine flattens out and river front towns become less interesting. I suggest you explore some other river valleys nearby... The Neckar, which connects Heidelberg and Stuttgart, is awesome.

Neckar River towns: Heidelberg, Bad Wimpfen, Besigheim, Ludwigsburg, Esslingen, Tübingen.

How would I organize this trip? Well, if you are flying into AMSTERDAM, then after sightseeing there, you might postpone renting the car and take the train from A'dam to the German city of AACHEN. After some time there, pick up the car there to avoid big drop-off fees, then cross the border via Venlo into the Netherlands to begin sightseeing in the places I have mentioned.

You may want to add some destinations in between Tübingen and Basel - where the Black Forest is located - before you turn in your car. Do that somewhere in Germany before heading to Basel (which is well served by train.)

This is amazing. You seem to have outlined what seems to be a very scenic trip, while saving on rental car fees. I’ll map it out and see where it takes us?

You should be a travel agent! Thanks so much.