Help with itinerary: Mosel, Alsace/Champage?,Belgium, Netherlands

IMO 3 - 4 days is too long for Amsterdam unless you plan to make day trips from there.

I haven't been to all of your stops but that sounds like a good itinerary to me--not too rushed at all. you certainly should be able to drop your car in Germany--just find a rental car outlet at a train station on a line that you'll use to get to your next destination--then you will avoid big drop off fees.

"Bruge/Gent for a couple of days". I would use Bruges as a base for a daytrip to Ghent. You can see most of the interesting sites in Ghent in one day. Bruges is a much smaller city, but much more pleasent.

Hi Amy. I got back yesterday from a trip that included the Mosel and Amsterdam. We were in the Mosel three nights and then visited Trier on the way to the next town. We stayed at Hotel Haus Lipmann in Beilstein (in Rick's book). Great B&B. I highly recommend it. There are three Lipmann hotels in tiny Beilstein so be sure to get the Haus Lipmann. It's right by the Mosel River. We rented bikes one day and there's lots of castle opportunities so it would be good for kids. We stayed in Amsterdam (actually in Haarlem) three nights and for us it wasn't enough. We did two full days in Amsterdam and wanted more. We didn't even get to the Dutch day trips. Three-four days in Haarlem/Amster would be good.

I agree with Amanda on Hotel Haus Lipmann in Beilstein. GREAT little hotel/B&B with excellent food and a great river view (if you great the right room). Beilstein is small, quaint, and quiet. Cool Castle ruins, with beer garden, on the hill right above town and a great church. No nightlife... at all. We enjoyed it for a couple of nights and did day trips to Cochem and Trier. Cochem was interesting but kinda touristy. I thought Cochem Castle was worth the day trip.

Trier was simply wonderful. The Roman ruins in that city are amazing. I was very dissappointed that we didn't have a couple of days to explore Trier.

Thank you all for your responses. I have heard so many good things about Haus Lippman, but it didn't appear on their website that they can accomodate 3 people to a room. Does anyone know?

Am also thinking now that we need to spend the first night closer to Frankfurt (no more then 1 hour driving time from airport due to tiredness issues). I was thinking somewhere on the Rhine around Rudesheim/Bingen. Does anyone have any suggestions for lodging around there?
Then we would head to the area around Cochem for the next two nights.

"Need to balance historical/cultural sightseeing with active fun kids stuff since we will be traveling with our 8-year old daughter."

We took our daughter to the Mosel at the same age. I question whether Beilstein will meet any of the needs you mention. It is perhaps the smallest town on earth with very little to do - a honeymoon sort of place. I think you'd be better off staying in Cochem, where there are lots of diversions (chairlift ride to lookout, mustard mill, etc.,) shops, bakeries, open markets, and interesting cobblestoned streets and alleyways to explore at any hour.

It would be more convenient for you to stay 3 nights in one place than to split them between Bingen and the Mosel area. If you're worried about being tired, that's very understandable - it's not a good condition to be in when driving in strange places. Instead of driving, I'd suggest taking the train straight to the Mosel. Then pick up your car in Trier when you visit there (a short train ride away) which should also help you avoid airport pick-up fees.

There are several connections to Cochem where you can hop on at the airport, make one change in Koblenz, and your there in 2.5 - 3 hours' time. If you stay awake, the scenery is fantastic and no one has to drive.

The train ride to the Mosel will be quite cheap - 27 Euros for all three on a "Rheinland-Pfalz" ticket daypass (good from Mainz onward) plus a few Euros each for FRA - Mainz (not covered by the R-P ticket):

http://www.vrminfo.de/vrm/english/sites/tickets/rp-ticket.html

On Sat or Sun, you can use the "happy weekend" pass instead:

http://www.bahn.co.uk/db_uk/view/products/weekend.shtml

(Use the regional and local trains - RE, RB, S and TR trains - with these discount tickets. To find these trains, use the following page and tick off "only local transport" under "means of transport".)

http://www.reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

Regarding the car: You could drop off in Germany to save the drop off fee - a wise choice. Maybe Emmerich would have a drop off station? Then train back to Arnhem.

However... it could be better to pick up and drop off in France, where the car will be most convenient. Forbach, just across the border from Germany, is easily reached by train and has a Europcar outlet, perhaps others:

http://www.europcar.com/car-rental-FRANCE-FORBACH.html

Then drop the car in - Lille? - and take the train into Belgium from there. (There should be a bus from Arnhem or Apeldoorn to de Hoge Veluwe.)