Amsterdam to Basel Travel

It's too bad you didn't book this as an open jaws flight, say into Basel and out of Amsterdam. Some of the lowest rail fares you are going to find are Europa-Spezial fares online from the Bahn. These fares have to start or end in Germany. German Rail has a station in Basel, Basel Badischerbahnhof, or just Basel Bad Bf, and, although in the town of Basel, a few km from Basel SBB Bahnhof, it is considered IN Germany. I found a Europa-Spezial fare from Amsterdam to Basel Bad Bf for €79 per adult (over 14). If any of your family are children under 15, they are free if inkluded on the ticket. Luxembourg makes it a bit more problematic. The closest I can get you to Luxembourg (from Amsterdam) with a Europa-Spezial fare is to Trier. For Sept 4, there are a slew of connections from Amsterdam to Trier for €49 per person. I found a number of €59 per adult connections from Luxembourg to Basel Bad bf for Nov 5. Fuel for a family car from Amsterdam to Luxembourg to Basel will be over €100.

Train or drive? I'm going to estimate that by car, it would probably take you about 8 hours. In November, if you drove in one day, it would be well after dark by the time you arrive in Basel. By train, adding Luxembourg complicates things quite a bit.

We are concerned about the cost of driving. Although that might provide us more flexibility in visiting Luxembourg along the way. Our arrival time in Basel is specific because we will be returning to Amsterdam via River cruise and will spend 4 days there before returning to US. Train seemed the best/lower cost/hassle-free alternative but we have never experienced train travel in Europe beyond Eurostar, London/Paris.

I traveled from Amsterdam to Basel last year (on my way to Lauterbrunnen). It was a fairly lengthy trip, direct on a high-speed ICE train - 6 hours and 45 minutes. Not sure if you could get much done in another country as a stop along the way.

The way to travel from Amsterdam to Luxembourg by train is via Bruxelles or via Maastricht/Liège. No need to take backtrips via Aachen or Mongedenblach.

The fastest way from Amsterdam to Luxembourg by train is to take a high-speed Thalys train to Brussels and an IC train from there to Luxembourg. The standard 2nd class fare for Amsterdam-Brussels is €69, but booking in advance (up to 90 days allowed) at thalys.com can get you a Smoove fare as low as €29. The 2nd class fare for Brussels-Luxembourg is €35.40 (no discount for advance purchase). If you're willing to get up really early, you can depart Luxembourg at 05:51, connect in Strasbourg, and arrive at Basel SNCF at 09:37. Or depart at 06:40, connect in Metz and Strasbourg, and arrive at 11:07. Or depart at 07:30, connect in Nancy and Strasbourg, and arrive at 11:55. The first route costs €57.20, the second costs €62.90, and the third costs €75.20. Seat reservations are required on the TGVs you would take on the first leg of route two and the third leg of route three.