Help with itinerary - Germany, Austria, Amsterdam

I wish I could get more enthusiastic about Amsterdam proper. It was an exciting place to be when I was 20. Maybe you'll like it if you're in that general age bracket. But for me now, it's kinda trashy and way overpriced. 3 nights there... OK, I'd make a point of visiting Zaanse Schans (a short outing by train to Koog-Zaandijk station, as I recall) which should take half a day.

https://www.zaanseschans.com/en/

As for Tulips, Keukenhof is the usual destination, though it may or may not have a total display, depending on your April travel dates.

Last year, on our way to Germany's Rhine Valley from AMS airport, we spent a few days in some towns outside Amsterdam... Naarden & Bussum... also Deventer & Zutphen, just to the east, both Hanseatic-League towns on the Ijssel River that have good train connections. We were completely wowed by Zutphen.

https://www.visithansaholland.com/all-9-hanseatic-cities/

Many years before that, we had a couple of nights in Delft, also a very charming place.

All these places are great for heading out on a bike ride. Amsterdam itself has a lot of bikes but riding within the city is quite intimidating.

I offer these cities as alternatives to Amsterdam rather than as day trips. We found it simple to route last year's by train - so I imagine it would be simple for you to do the same in reverse for a Boppard > AMS airport journey, if you chose to do so.

Salzburg: A full day there is close to enough. W/ 3 days I'd suggest an outing by train to Werfen and/or the Berchtesgaden area if you want some time in the mountains.

https://www.werfen.at/en/home-en

Just a thought. When you fly into Munich take subway to central station from the airport then train to Salzburg. Stay 2 nights unless there are day trips you want to do like the salt mines or Eagles Nest. Then train back to Munich and continue your trip. You can add another night to Amsterdam or the Rhine River area. We used the Bayern Ticket for the train to and from Munich to Salzburg. That way you can get on subway in Munich and any regional train with that ticket and not worry about what time your flight gets in. We really enjoyed doing it this way when we did our trip in August 2019.

I'm going to disagree with Russ about Amsterdam. I went for the first time at age 50ish and enjoyed it. I went again earlier this year and REALLY enjoyed it. Don't bother with the bar scene and the Red Light District, and you'll have a great time. It's a beautiful and unique city with lots to see and do for people on either side of their 20s.
As far as allocating nights, the way to do that is to make a list the things you want to see and do in each place and figure out how much time those things require. Keep in mind that Anne Frank House, the Van Gogh Museum and probably other popular sites require advance reservations, sometimes months in advance. Lots of info about this here on the Forum.
For train information, including where and how to buy tickets, see The Man in Seat 61. https://www.seat61.com

You could shorten Boppard to 2 nights to add one to Amsterdam, which most find needs more time.

Hi, do you have your flight purchased already? I’m going to throw out an idea because I’m seeing your train travel hours are so long, and that will eat into your time in each city quite a bit. Feel free to ignore all of this…. : )

Fly into Vienna. Stay 2 nights.
2.5 hour direct train to Salzburg. Stay 3-4 nights and spend some days out at Berchtesgaden & Wolfgangsee or similar to enjoy hiking in the mountains & lakes.
2 hour train to Munich. Stay 3 nights.
Fly to Amsterdam on a direct flight. Finish with 3 nights near or in Amsterdam.

"You could shorten Boppard to 2 nights..."

If one were interested only in Boppard and a few things right nearby, this MIGHT be a reasonable suggestion.

Day 1: Travel Munich > Boppard 9:28 - 14:39... check in, drop bags... hustle to the chairlift for a ride up and some refreshments with a river-gorge-view... see Boppard's Roman ruins park briefly... dinner...

Day 2: Train to Bacharach for a walk around town 8:44 - 9:26)... Train to Bingen Rhein Stadt (11:35 - 11:58) for lunch and a Rhine cruise (Bingen > St Goar, 14:00 - 15:45 with Bingen-Rüdesheimer)... Hustle up to Rheinfels Castle (ruins) for a quick tour... return to Boppard for dinner...

But even with tight, careful planning like the above, truly exploring the area, your stated goal, isn't possible. What's been left out?

• Intact medieval castle tours (Burg Eltz, Marksburg),
• a visit to Cochem (with a scenic train ride up the Mosel River),
• the entire "right" bank of the Rhine (Rüdesheim, Braubach) the Rheinsteig hiking trail, Koblenz (aerial tram up to Ehrenbreitstein fortress),
• time for wine tasting
• WW II "Peace Museum" in Remagen

Other somewhat lesser-known daytrip options come to mind as well for explorers... the open-air museum in Bad Sobernheim; the Mosel villages of Beilstein (see Rick Steves) and Winningen; the Geierlay Hanging Bridge; the Günderodehaus; the Rhine Castle Trail...

Not that 3 days would begin to cover all of this. But you could at least lay a claim to having done some exploring.

I agree with the points that GerryCee made. With 4 diffrent cities, time management will be very important. And the travel time between cities is a big factor. Munich to Boppard is around 5 1/2 hours. Similar time required from Boppard to Amsterdam. That's a BIG chunk taken out of 2 days right there. I also recommend going straight to Salzburg on your arrival day. On a Bayern ticket, you can take any Sbahn and regional train no matter when your flight arrives. Depending on how much you plan to see in Munich, you may be able to steal a day from it and add it to Amsterdam - especially if you plan on seeing the Keukenhof.

You can buy your Bayern tickets when you get to Munich. There's no savings with advance purchase. You can make advance purchases for your long distance trains on the Deutche Bahn website, where you can save money on the sparpreis tickets ( restrictions apply). For those trips I'd recommend also buying seat reservations. https://int.bahn.de/en

"Please give advice if the time in each place is not enough/if I should just remove Salzburg all together to spend more time in the other places..."

I'm on the same page with the other posters inasmuch as your 3-3-3-3-night breakdown is a squeeze.

For me, your fear-of-missing out when it comes to Salzburg is justifiable... even if you were to allocate only one day for it, as many people staying in Munich do, I think it's worth keeping.

I do NOT think it's wise after a long flight to immediately hop on a train from MUC to Salzburg for another 2.5 hours of travel. Treat yourselves more kindly. See Munich first, and add one night there (for a total of 4) so that you can day trip to Salzburg for your visit there. Ideally, you would do this day trip on a Saturday or Sunday; on these days, the Bayern Ticket (which CJean mentions) is valid at any hour, so you will have the option of leaving as early as you like for Salzburg and returning as late as you like that evening to Munich. Sample train schedule below for a random Saturday in April with roughly 9 hours' time in Salzburg:

Morning journey Munich > Salzburg
07:55 - 09:46 or
08:55 - 10:46

Evening return journey Salzburg > Munich
18:55 - 20:46 or
19:55 - 21:42

So you now have a 4-3-3 schedule and one less destination to book, which also means unpacking/packing up one time less. You also have TWO free nights so that you can have additional time in the Netherlands or on the Rhine, or perhaps even in Munich, if you want more time there..

Thank you so much everyone - this has all been really helpful! I would like to throw something out there to see if anyone has any advice.

Would flying into Munich then going to maybe Innsbruck & Salzburg (or any other suggestions) and then flying to Amsterdam from Salzburg be a crazy idea??? And not go to Boppard/rhine valley??

After reading other forums about Rhine valley, I am a little nervous. We are going early April and some people said that it would not be a good time to go/boats wouldn’t be open yet???

This would also eliminate the long train rides & after looking its looks like I can get to Amsterdam within about 1.5 hours.

If this is a terrible idea feel free to be honest! I have a strong case of decision fatigue it seems.

If you skip the Rhine, then the only place you will see in Germany at all is Munich.

It's hard to understand choosing Innsbruck over the Rhine. And even if Innsbruck were a great destination, weather in the Alps in early April is especially iffy. The Rhine is one of Germany's warmer areas in this month.

And the other facts say there's no reason to drop the Rhine in April as well. Everything is open - the castle tours, the chairlifts, etc. - and the cruise boats will be running too. In 2024, the K-D cruises commenced on March 30. In 2025 it was April 5 - but Easter was on April 20.... This year EASTER is early - April 5. It's spring break from March 30 to April 10 in this area, so in 2026, it will surely be cruise season, at the very latest, from Easter weekend onward.

The Munich > Boppard train journey isn't short, but it's quite manageable when compared with flying.

"...its looks like I can get to Amsterdam within about 1.5 hours."

I would not compare flight hours to train hours....

You don't have to arrive 2 hours early at the station like you would have to at an airport, or go through security, baggage carousels, etc. or concern yourself with getting a transfer to/from the airport... I like to begin long-ish train rides in the late afternoon... I'd maybe sightsee in Munich in the morning and early afternoon, then board the 15:02 train with a picnic lunch and arrive in Boppard just before 8 pm.

It has been 52 years since I have been in Amsterdam so I have no meaningful advice on it, BUT I have seen several recommendations to stay in nearby Haarlem and get into Amsterdam by a short tram ride

Suggest that you focus on fewer places.
You are apparently stuck flying into Munich and out of Amsterdam.

Munich and Salzburg are great but, you are ignoring the rest of Bavaria and Austria. Why not spend the entire trip in that area.
There is much to see in Vienna, then in Bavaria, you could visit Nuremberg, Garmisch/Fussen area, Berchtesgaden (while visiting Salzburg), and do The Romantic Road from Fussen to Wurzburg. Several Medieval walled villages along this trail, especially Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Dinkelsbuhl. Also, Augsburg, over 2000 years old and the site of the Passion Play at Oberammergau.
While in Garmisch, go to the top of the highest mountain in Germany, the Zugspitze and visit some of King Ludwig's castles.
https://www.romanticroadgermany.com
It's not too hard to see the reason for the popularity - despite the modern roots of the idea, the tour combines the historic cities of Würzburg and Augsburg with the three medieval walled towns of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Dinkelsbühl and Nördlingen, and then finishes off with the tourist highlights of Neuschwanstein Castle and the Alps.

I have been to Amsterdam twice, the last time three years ago. My wife and I spent 7 days there and saw all the great museums, the Anne Frank House, the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum and more in that city. Also, took a tour of the countryside visiting the Zyder Sea, villages with windmills and more.

If you can't change your flights, then still focus on one place.