Germany stop over on train from Milan to Amsterdam

There are night trains from Zürich to Amsterdam, so if you want to take the night train it's perfectly possible.

oh that could be cool then! They have never done that.

Night trains can be a lot of fun. Plus they save you the cost of a hotel room for one night.

The primary route for that journey takes you up through Bern, then Basel, and up (or down) the Rhine Valley.

Look at the stops in Switzerland, I can't recommend any personally, but for Germany, most trains stop in Freiburg, which is a really neat town, very scenic, good for some outdoor activity, and very bike friendly. It is about half-way in your journey.

Cologne is also usually a stop, a neat town, even if you just do a few hours there.

There is also the Middle Rhine from about Koblenz up to Bingen that offers scenic views and castles, for which you would need to get off the fast trains and take regional trains along the river.

Night trains are worth doing once, I don't think they save you much money, the difference in ticket price for 3 or more, to get a private berth (unless you want to share beds in a six person berth) is probably approaching a room cost. Plus while they promise to be better than the old days, it is a toss up whether you sleep well, or have a fitful night. The third factor is considering what you might miss in scenery for the overnight section.

When is this trip? Season/weather matters when you want to visit "cute little towns." And night-train schedules aren't necessarily available just any day at any time. If sleeping on a train sounds good to you, you would probably need to board the Zurich > Amsterdam night train. So rather than doing Milan-Zurich-Amsterdam in one fell swoop, you may want to travel Milan > Zurich on one day (roughly 2.5 hours), spend a night or two thereabouts, then board the night train, which leaves around 9:30 pm (if it's available on the date you want it) for the 12-hour ride to A'dam.

Agree to question of Russ: When or minimum which time of year?

I don't see the romance of night trains. I don't sleep well on planes, either. And some worry about crime. (No experience myself.) I think it's a backpacker's hotel-saving idea whose time has passed. Honestly, I would not combine Milan and Amsterdam on the same trip to Europe. It's just too far. Both Italy and the Netherlands/Belgium have two weeks of sights, and more.

I happen to like Cologne, but it could be said to be too far along the way. I pick Cologne over Frankfurt. Do you know how expensive Switzerland is? We need a MONTH of the year to recommend Switzerland. I think I like Basel better than Zurich. And you could rent local bikes (?) to go to the very unusual Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein. (Advance booking only.) It looks to me like Strasbourg or Luxembourg City are more along the rail route. But teens might like Freiburg im Bresigau better than Strasbourg. I cannot say enough good things about Antwerp, Belgium and it is a transit hub.

I and my family has taken night trains in the past in Europe and enjoyed that experience. Dining in the dining car, etc.
There used to be two types, first class where you have a room for two just for the two of you with a sink. The other is couchettes with a room for six persons and the room is insecure, so you sleep with your wallet under your pillow.

I don't recommend stopping in Frankfurt. I suspect that night trains won't stop at small towns. There are many interesting places to see in Switzerland and Germany, not sure what cities the trains go through. Geneva is interesting, also, Cologne to see the Cathedral. Trier is wonderful, an ancient Roman city, but it is a bit out of the way. Heidelberg has its castle and more, but I doubt if the train stops there. The Black Forest is nice, for a day, from Baden-Baden.

If I were already in Switzerland trying to get to Amsterdam, I would do the night train option, ie Zürich to Amsterdam, most definitely, no problem at all.

The only problem nowadays , ie post pandemic, is reserving seat in the general seating area or in a compartment last minute in the summer may not be possible since too many folks have done this to the extent that these seats are sold out.

As pointed out above, I would take the night train here to save on the hotel as well as squeezing out another travel day.

ohhh the black forest sounds awesome- or a spa on the way in hot springs. Does anyone have any good ideas on how to visit the blackforest for a few days and or spa?

Thank you everyone!

STAUFEN, one of Rick Steves' picks for the Black Forest, might be a convenient stopover. It's not my favorite town or my favorite part of the Black Forest, but it might be just right for a Milan > A'dam train journey. Scroll down on Rick's page below to read his comments:

https://blog.ricksteves.com/blog/black-forest/

Bad Krozingen is near Staufen between Basel, CH and Freiburg, DE, right on the main Rhine Valley Railway that you will be using:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Karte_Rheintalbahn.png

You would change trains Bad Krozingen for that short ride to Staufen.

And Bad Krozingen (like many "Bad" towns) has a spa:

https://www.bad-krozingen.info/en/Vita-Classica

(German spas hold no interest for me, so this is not a personal recommendation.)

FREIBURG is a larger city - a very nice one, though it doesn't have much to do with the Black Forest - and it's right on the main railway. You could stay there and visit the spa in Bad Krozingen with a short train trip of 10 minutes.

A nice way to visit the BF, spas aside, is to base in GENGENBACH, an old-world town not unlike Rothenburg, on the scenic BF railway, and visit nearby towns and villages by train. Gengenbach is also just a short (8 minutes?) train ride from the main railway at Offenburg. The Black Forest Open-Air museum is very close by. Catch a train from Gengenbach to the "Gutach-Freilichtmuseum" stop.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Verlaufskarte_Schwarzwaldbahn_%28Baden%29.png

Thank you so much for all this information!

I think it is sad when someone recommends not visiting a city, when they haven't been there for well over 30-40 years and know absolutely nothing about that city. Cities change so much. I barely recognize my own hometown that I left 38 years ago. It looks nothing like it used to look. Frankfurt is the same. Sort of like Rick advising not to visit Mainz or Heidelberg, when the last time he was in either of these 2 cities was probably the early 80s.

With the teens though, I think stopping in one of the towns on the Rhein that has a castle would be fun. There are. couple of hostels along the Rhein that would fit the bill for you. I especially like Burg Rheinfels as it has cool tunnels to tour in. You do have to book a tour to go down in the tunnels. Stunning view of the Rhein and there is a hostel in St. Goar.

Frankfurt: A'dam is a 12+ hour train trip from Milan. Stopping over in Frankfurt would make your first travel leg around 8 hours long, twice as long as the final leg to A'dam. Maybe that works for you, maybe not. Is Frankfurt the sort of "cute little town" with the "scenery" you are looking for? Probably not. It may be great city, but I'd be looking at something smaller and something further south.