Help with itinerary for May vacation

After 6 days already planned, that leaves 4-8 days free for all the rest. You have time for one or two other places. If you try to cram in all that is any of these itineraries, you will not see much of Europe. You will see trains, airports, and maybe Europe thru your windshield. Pare it down. Option 3 might work if you leave out Munich.

I count you visiting the following places in 10-14 days - Paris, Luxumbourg City, Trier, Reims, Verdun, Brussels, Bruge, and the Mosel River and Rhine River areas (you don't mention which towns) and Amsterdam. Considering you want to spend 3 days in Paris, this leaves you 7-11 days to visit 6-7 cities and two river areas. You certainly do not have time to throw Munich in there too. You have less than one day per city as it is. You might want to pare this down.

All of these itineraries look too ambitious to me. Here are some tips. First, in general, seeing two separate cities in one day is rarely feasible, and never worthwhile (ie, Reims/Verdun- if it's the battlefield you want to see, that takes several hours in an of itself- Brussels, Brugge, etc.). Second, Pair down your wishlist while staying in Luxembourg. You might be able to fit in all of these locations in 2/3 days, but you'll spend most of your time in transit. The Rhine valley, in particular, is not as close to Luxembourg (in driving time) as it looks on a map. Third, only one night for Brussels and Brugge? Once again, you'll spend a lot of time either driving or on a train and see very little of the cities. Personally, I find Brussels more and more of a fascinating city everytime I visit. Fourth, the traveling time between Brussels and Amsterdam is a minimum of 3 hours (longer from Brugge). That doesn't even account for things like checking out of one hotel, getting to the station (or if driving, getting outside the city and likely getting stuck in a traffic jam along the busy Brussels to Amsterdam roads- this is Europe's version of I-95), finding your hotel in Amsterdam, checking in and getting settled. Then, you would have to do the same packing routine all over again the very next morning. Finally, going from St. Goar through the Black Forest then to the Romantic Road then to Munich in one day? You might be able to fit it all in without stopping much... but why do it? Other than the Alps at the southern end of the Romantic Road, you will see nearly identical scenery taking the most direct driving route from St. Goar to Munich. Even this is a pretty long drive.

I like your destinations but I agree with the others that you should pare this down a bit. Munich, Salzburg, and London require too much extra travel and expense to make them worthwhile in your time frame.

You can do daytrips from Lux to Trier and the Mosel towns (Bernkastel and Cochem are highlights; so is Burg Eltz, near Cochem) but it's a stretch to do the Rhine from Lux. If you can, stay in St. Goar or Bopppard for one night to give yourselves some time for the area. You could also stay in Braubach if you want to see Marksburg Castle (the best one on the Rhine, very good tour.)

You may be tired and jet-lagged after your flight and after negotiating your way into Paris; Friday will probably be shot as far as sightseeing goes, which means you have only a matter of hours in Paris. If you must leave on Sun or Mon, then plan a day or two more at the end of your trip. It's a huge place where most visitors would want to spend at least 4-5 days.

Here's how I would structure it given your limitations:

3 nights in Paris

4 nights in Luxembourg including a night for the Rhine.

4-5 nights between Bruges and Amsterdam (Brussels isn't a must-do in my book if you have limited time.)

Any extra time, spend it in Paris and fly out of there.

I would fly open-jaw flights. Into Paris and home from Amsterdam or Brussels. No backtracking that way. Brussels airport is wonderful to fly from. Clean, neat and accessible. Train loads/unloads under the station and bus is across the street.

Paris is a wonderful city and 3 days is not really doing it justice, but with limited time, I understand trying to see all you can. We spent 2 weeks there last year and are going back again this year. Did not see all we wanted, so 3 days you are only scratching the surface. That is ok. You will want to go back and it will still be there.

While in Amsterdam, try to eat a meal in an Argentine steak house somewhere. They have really good steaks and they are very reasonable. One we liked is close to the NH Hotel, down by the flower market.

"try to eat a meal in an Argentine steak house somewhere." This question is somewhat off topic, but... what is the connection between Amsterdam and South American cuisine? While looking for a place to eat in the Leidseplein area one night, I passed one South American restaurant after another, mostly Argentinian. And this seems to be particular to Amsterdam, as I haven't seen such restaurants in any other Dutch cities. Anyone have any ideas?

Tom, read up on maritime history:

Dutch East India Company had the wrong dope. They sailed trading routes backwards (against prevailing winds and currents). Passing by the pampas of Argentina, they had no ballast and bought cows. Forgot to buy enough cow food for the long trip home (they had the wrong dope, you see). Arrived back in Amsterdam with dead animals so hacked them up and sold steaks from rickshwas along the canals. Sheesh! The ignorance of some of the questions here try the soul.

And, if you ever find out the real answer, let us know. Herself and I were puzzeling over the same thing a while back.

My guess is that the S. American restaurants emerged during the BSE scare. All of a sudden beef from S. America was what EVERYONE in Europe wanted. So, Argentinian places are going to pop up everywhere with a good chance of success. The beef is quite good, especially when compared to a lot of the beef on the market over here.

I worked for one steak house chain in Germany and they had their own slaughterhouses in Argentina. The cows have lived on the pampas their entire life, and so are also antibiotic free. After slaughter, the beef would be immediatly vacuum sealed, cooled to -0 to -1, and shipped to Europe, which took 6 weeks. By the time it got here, it was aged perfectly. My bet is some supplier in Amsterdam is doing the same thing.