wondering what the best "travel" way would be...
thinking of flying into Amsterdam and then either renting a car or taking train to Hannover for a wedding in May. possible sight seeing after the wedding for about a week...suggestions on what I can do in a week and how to get from point to point..If I have a starting point I can figure out stays and what to do..
Posted by
2081 posts
Barbara,
knowing what you want to do is half the battle. The rest is in the details.
happy trails.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
There are direct 4 hour IC connectons from Amsterdam to Hannover every two hours. With advance purchase, the fare is as low as 29€ per person.
In 2008, I went to Hannover, then took a regional train to Bad Harzburg and a bus from there to Braunlage, in the Harz mountains. If you like scenic beauty rather than crowded cities, the Harz is a perfect place. You can go from Braulage by bus to Schierke and take the narrow gauge steam train to the top of the Brocken, northern Germany's highest mountain.
From Braunlage, it's easy to get to Wernigerode and Quedlinburg to see some great examples of Fachwerk architecture.
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
To augment Lee's reply, if you prefer big cities to small towns, from Hannover you can get to either Berlin or Hamburg in less than 2 hours. Berlin, in particular, can keep you busy for days (I'm less taken with Hamburg, but others here love it).
Do you have a reason for flying into Amsterdam? If your goal is to get to Hannover, you'd do better flying there directly (or at least to Hamburg or Berlin; the latter gets some nonstop flights from the US). If you rent a car in Amsterdam and drop it off in Germany, you will pay a surcharge (potentially very high). But, cars rented and returned in the same country (even different cities) usually have no surcharge.
If you want to start in Hannover and end in Amsterdam, use the "multi city" option on Kayak.com or matrix.itasoftware.com/ to find these flights on one ticket. Don't buy two one-way tickets, as that's much more expensive.
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
I like the idea Lee suggested. Research those towns. You won't be disappointed. If you have little more of an adventurous spirit, you can also hike from Schierke to the summit of Brocken. It's a fairly easy hike and if the weather is good, you'll meet plenty of people on the way up, as this is a very popular hike. Among other things, there's a restaurant and Biergarten on top, and should you choose, you can ride the Eisenbahn down again.