I booked tickets in the spring arriving in Amsterdam and out of Paris. After the Paris attacks I lost my steam in planning my trip. I have absolutely nothing booked. I have 2 1/2 weeks without a thing planned.
Would love suggestions for hotels in Amsterdam. How many days in Amsterdam? Last time I visited Amsterdam I was 20 yrs old.
Apartments or hotels in Paris.
I have some guidebooks checked out of the library. Per some suggestions from my previous thread one thought is train from Amsterdam to Paris. Pick up a car and head towards Normandy. Return to Paris, return car and spend the end of the trip in Paris.
Last time I was in Amsterdam, my D and I stayed at the Banks Mansion. It was lovely and seemed well located for us. We spent 3 days in Amsterdam and made it to the museums we wanted to see, with plenty of time for wandering and exploring. I’m headed back with my mom in April, but we’ll be only one night before we head out on a river cruise. I’m thinking of booking at Banks again…it’s small and the price includes everything, including breakfast, afternoon cocktails and nibbles and everything in the minibar!
Pre-book your tickets to the Anne Frank museum as well as any of the other museums that you want to see when you are there. It is definitely worth doing so.
Agree completely with Pizzagirl. We had timed tickets for the Anne Frank house, the Van Gogh museum and the Riksmuseum. It made the whole trip a lot more manageable, and although we were there in August, I’ve been told it’s good advice for any time of year. We also enjoyed wandering through Der Pijjp and the Vondelpark.If you have time, take the ferry to the EYE Film Institute. Even if you don’t catch a film, there’s a great restaurant, great view, and amazing architecture.
We went to the Ann Frank house when we were 19 and 21. I don’t think we need to go again.
What part of Paris did you want to hole up in? What month will you be going? You can stay in a home base in Paris and take a trip to Normandy w/o a car via the train and stay for the night. There are several great day trips via rail out of Paris. Chartres, Fountainbleau , Versailles are just a few. An Airbnb apartment is the best way to go in Paris. And you can easily return to your little Parisienne neighborhood of choice every night.
Re trips from ,Amsterdam, while Paris is always a great choice, if you want a change of pace, you might consider Bruges. I took a side trip from Paris to Bruges last year and greatly enjoyed myself. I didn’t go to Brussels but that’s another option.
If it has been a while since you last went to the Anne Frank House you might want to revisit. When I was there several years ago there was a special exhibit, very sad of artifacts that had been hidden within the wall of house and sadly no one survived to retrieve them. They were recovered when the house was being renovated. An exhibit was built with the artifacts and the story of the family that had lived there. There is also a whole area in which topical issues are posed with video clips and you have a button in which you can take a position pro vs. con on how you view the issue… such as youth wearing Storm Trooper clothing, wearing a burqqua, etc. We did not have reservations, was in late October but arrived at 9 AM and had minimal wait, around 15-20 minutes.
Lovely hotel in Paris that I can recommend, The Hotel Muguet… great location, very helpful service. In Amsterdam we stayed in a pension type hotel that was the smallest hotel room I have ever been in but at that time they did include a free breakfast, was a good location, helpful front desk, free computer terminal in the lobby, and they did have an outdoor space. Given it was late October and we had one day of heavy rain… did not use at all, the Owl Hotel.