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Netherlands itenary for 3 days

Hello,
We are 4 member family including kids of 5 & 8, We have total 15 days to cover Amsterdam , Paris & Switzerland. We are more interested in natural attractions and fun places for kids, than visiting cities. Dates will be between 14th to 30th Mar 2018. We are first time visitors in Europe.

The plan in our mind is to fly in Amsterdam,
3 nights stay in Netherlands
train to Paris , and stay there 5 nights
train to Switzerland ( need help to finalize the arriving station in Switzerland ), 7 days in Switzerland.

Few questions to get help here is :

1- is the above route and day wise split is suitable for the days we have ?
2- help us to decide on trains :
A) what types of trains
B) Station names (starting and ending points )
C) Any advises / suggestions in booking the tickets
3) Where to be base in Amsterdam ( one or
Multiple location ?)
4) Must to visit place in Netherlands
5) Apart from train and Hotel, any other advanced reservation to be done ?
6) A best suitable itenary within Netherlands to adopt with the days we have( 3 nights )

7) Our plan in Paris is to spend 1 days for Eiffel Tower and other city attractions, remaining 4 days in Disney land. If someone can help me with a mini plan for this will be great help.

Thanks to all who is trying to help us to make
Our journey joyful.

Thanks

Posted by
7839 posts

1- is the above route and day wise split is suitable for the days we have ?
What you have is fine.
2- help us to decide on trains :
A) what types of trains
B) Station names (starting and ending points )
Amsterdam Cental to Paris Gare du Nord
this is the train where you book:
https://www.thalys.com/de/en/
C) Any advises / suggestions in booking the tickets
book as early as possible the price always goes up as capacity decreases
3) Where to be base in Amsterdam ( one or
Multiple location ?)
Stay in one hotel in the center in the Jordaan area. You can filter your search by neighborhood on most hotel sites
4) Must to visit place in Netherlands
You only have 3 days so maybe a daytrip to Haarlem or Delft.
5) Apart from train and Hotel, any other advanced reservation to be done ?
nope
6) A best suitable itenary within Netherlands to adopt with the days we have( 3 nights )
see answer to 4
7) Our plan in Paris is to spend 1 days for Eiffel Tower and other city attractions, remaining 4 days in Disney land. If someone can help me with a mini plan for this will be great help.
Their site has a lot of details that should answer your questions
http://www.disneylandparis.com/en-us/

You should submit a separate question on the forum about other details on tailoring you trip based on your family interests instead of something random like "what should we see".

Posted by
699 posts

OK. I'll be the first to ask why you are devoting most of your stay in Paris to Disneyland? Paris is an amazing city, even for small kids.

Posted by
1226 posts

Hi Mahr,

Gently, have you done any reading? All of you questions are answered in RS's guidebook to the Netherlands. There is a section for family excursions. Most are within a 30 minute train ride from Amsterdam. The Netherlands is small, and trains in Europe are very efficient, and navigating them is straightforward.
There is a science museum in Amsterdam called NEMO with a great rooftop deck and lunch spot. Definitely spend some time there. The old church in the attic would be fun for kids that age (also in AMS). Markham, Voldenham, and Edam (North of Amsterdam) are fun all-day excursions. Truly, look at Rick's Netherlands book.

And I absolutely agree about Disneyland. I can't imagine going to Paris for the first time and spending it at Disneyland! (granted, I am not a Disney fan). Ive been to Paris twice with my younger kids and have never been to Disney. Go to the Eiffel tower, the Catacombs, Notre Dame (make sure your shoulders are covered), Luxembourg gardens, etc. So much to do.

I would say you should immerse yourself in reading. That is what we all do before a trip: study for it like grad school ;p

best,
Jessica

Posted by
2487 posts

In Amsterdam everybody will love a canal tour. From the water the city is totally different and going under low bridges will be exciting for the kids.
You won't have much time for day trips. Haarlem and Delft are both very nice (as is my adoptive city of Leiden), but are a little bit Amsterdam on a smaller scale. Consider a trip to Enkhuizen: an amazingly attractive small former port town with the wonderful Zuiderzee open-air museum, and not so crowded with tourists as the Zaanse Schans and Edam/Volendam/Marken. Only 1 hr from Amsterdam Centraal station on half-hourly direct trains. (Use this train planner of the Dutch Railways. Ask for a Railrunner ticket for the children: a whole day on the train for only EUR 2,50!)

Posted by
228 posts

If you wish to see small villages close to Amsterdam you could take the bus behind Centraal Station in Amsterdam , This bus takes you to Volendam , Edam , Marken ( Note the correct spelling in case you'd like to research those ) and more . The whole tour can take 6 hours . It works like a Hop-on-Hop- off bus so you can wander around a village and hop on after you have seen enough . Costs 10 euro per person but no children's prices are given . Their website is www.localbus.nl/ and tells you a lot more . As mentioned here already ; these villages are a bit touristy compared to other villages that are further from Amsterdam .

Posted by
117 posts

Netherlands idea: I went to Enkhuizen, Netherlands with my family (kids aged 7 and 9) last year. We all loved this place. It was our favorite spot in our week-long trip to the Netherlands. There's a wonderful open-air museum up there. Fun for the kids and just a beautiful and peaceful. We spent most of the day walking around this open air museum. There's a nice indoor museum there too. And we also enjoyed some time in the little town. Enkhuizen is a one hour train ride from Amsterdam and there are many trains going to and from there all day. We bought our tickets from the agents at the desk at the train station in Amsterdam. They were very helpful and they gave us a list of all the times for the day.
Zaanse Schans might be a fun half day trip from Amsterdam, especially if you want to see a bunch of windmills. You can tour inside some of the windmills here and see how they work with interesting demonstrations. We learned a lot about how windmills are used from our tour there. You can take the bus there.

We also enjoyed beautiful Delft too...such a great city.

Have a wonderful trip!!!

Posted by
6539 posts

I agree with Suki. Disneyland Paris is fairly small and 1 day should be more than enough. Years ago when it had 1/2 price after 5pm, we visited and went on every ride by the time the park closed at 10pm. That was in July, during the tourist season. If you don’t like cities (I assume you’re referring to large cities) maybe select smaller towns closer to the ocean or mountains. The main sights in Paris can been seen in a day, but you want to enjoy your trip, so don’t rush it. I’ve always had a rental car driving around those countries, so can’t help with public transportation.

Posted by
15 posts

Thank you all for helping us and giving guidance.

One question I had is on the visa.
I’m an Indian citizen, resident in Middle East.

Regarding visa ,
As per I heard from the folks here is the time required for visit visa from German embassy is much quicker than Netherlands.
Can I fly in to Netherlands if my visa is issued from German embassy ??, I know that I have to show my booking for visa application.

Posted by
20090 posts

That question is beyond the knowledge base of most regular users on this forum. I think you should inquire at the German Embassy/Consulate. You could fly into Duesseldorf and start there. It is a 3 hour train (with a connection) to Amsterdam. Not very convenient. Or fly to Amsterdam with a connection in Germany, which would be where you enter the Schengen zone.

Posted by
2047 posts

Another place in The Netherlands that kids tend to love is Madurodam. It’s an open air museum in The Hague. It has many 1:25 scale replicas of may Dutch historical cities and landmarks.

Posted by
6292 posts

NEMO is great. We aren't kids, and don't even have any, but we loved it. And there were lots of families there, with kids of all ages. Also the Maritime Museum, with a real ship to explore. Way better than 4 days in Disneyland!