December 15-24

[FriendlyEdgar]

Just out of curiosity, how much is the train to Paris? Not sure if I would want to go in part because if I did I would want to take some smoke and I keep hearing it's not a good idea to take anything on the train into France, but it could be an interesting day trip.

I am definitely not bringing anything... except maybe a slice or two of cake to eat before hitting the border

I think it is 45e each way for the train... I'm actually leaning more n more to turning this into an overnight since the latest train back is 715p or whatever... if you decide you really want to go let me know, but right now I'm looking at going right at the beginning of my trip when I will still be energized! I figure 12/13, my arrival day, I'll be crashing early between travel and first exposure to the 'dam gear. Get up early 12/14, get to Paris at 930a, Louvre is open til 930p on Wed, catch the last ride to the top of the Eiffel Tower @ 1030p, sleep, get up early, Notre Dame at sunrise, train to Versailles, maybe back to Notre Dame depending on the light and time, train back to 'dam... 34hrs in Paris, 41 with travel time!

The Louvre is also open late on Fridays, so this schedule would work for either Fri-Sat or Wed-Thur, if you want to go.

[DazedandConfusedinOR]

I've been checking out the prices at http://www.thalys.com/nl/en/ and also http://www.raileurope.com/us/rail/point ... affiliates and the best price I could come up with was around $178 at Thalys and $228 RT at RailEurope! That was for the first train out of Amsterdam at around 6:15am and returning on the same day (12/16) on the last train at 7:25pm. Maybe if you play around with the dates/times you can get it for less, but that is what I found. More than I want to spend I think.

I have been looking at Easy Jet flights out of Amsterdam to a lot of places like Berlin, Milan, or Prague for about $100 RT. They don't fly into Paris from Amsterdam though and I know you really want to go there.

I honestly don't think I will go to Paris for the prices they want. I wouldn't mind doing an overnight trip by plane to somewhere like Geneva or Prague though. I'll have to mull it over!

[FriendlyEdgar]

yeah, on closer inspection the 45e rate (thalys) is for a 2nd class ticket 15 days in advance... day of looks like 70e each way... that might be killing that idea. I have no problems with a 2nd class ticket, but I don't want to have to commit that far in advance...

Not that I wouldn't be down with going to any or all of those other cities, but from what I've been reading I don't know if I want to fly OUT of Amsterdam any more times than is absolutely necessary!!

[DazedandConfusedinOR]

yeah, on closer inspection the 45e rate (thalys) is for a 2nd class ticket 15 days in advance... day of looks like 70e each way... that might be killing that idea. I have no problems with a 2nd class ticket, but I don't want to have to commit that far in advance...

Not that I wouldn't be down with going to any or all of those other cities, but from what I've been reading I don't know if I want to fly OUT of Amsterdam any more times than is absolutely necessary!!

Hey, if you really want to do Paris you should just go for it. How many times do you get to Europe? On the other hand, if you are going back next year then you might want to wait although I doubt it will be any cheaper.

I am pretty close to booking an overnight trip to Geneva. The flight leaves in the morning from Schiphol and takes only an hour and a half to Geneva. Then a six minute train ride to central Genava, $35 for an overnight stay in City Hostel Geneva, and then I can fly back either the next morning at like 7 or later in the day for a little more money. You can even get a free transportation pass (good for 80 minutes) at the airport and then it's only a 5 minute walk to the hostel. They even give you a free transport pass for Geneva while you're a guest there. It's also an independent hostel so you don't have to have any hostel membership card.

I just have to do a little more research, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to do an overnight trip there as this may be my last trip to Europe as I plan on moving to Thailand next year.

[FriendlyEdgar]

I plan on being in Europe for 6-8 weeks next summer, so that isn't the issue... I was originally looking into this because I do really want to go to the Louvre, and I figured it would be less crowded on a Wed in December. Then I started to think in terms of avoiding the tourist trap next summer and was going to do an overnighter to hit a few of the big sights and hopefully save some $. But now that it's looking like this day and a half in Paris could be pushing $400 I might just go back to my original plan and focus on day trips within the Netherlands.

[DazedandConfusedinOR]

I plan on being in Europe for 6-8 weeks next summer, so that isn't the issue... I was originally looking into this because I do really want to go to the Louvre, and I figured it would be less crowded on a Wed in December. Then I started to think in terms of avoiding the tourist trap next summer and was going to do an overnighter to hit a few of the big sights and hopefully save some $. But now that it's looking like this day and a half in Paris could be pushing $400 I might just go back to my original plan and focus on day trips within the Netherlands.

Sounds like a plan. Haarlem is super close and Utrecht isn't far either. Last year I went to Zandvoort on the coast and stopped at Yank's coffeeshop and walked on the beach a bit - pretty quiet place in the off-season. Plus if you want to go farther afield you've got Rotterdam and The Hague so quite a bit to do in the Netherlands alone.

If I go to Geneva the flight leaves at 8:15am and gets there at 9:45am and then just 6 minutes to the city so I'll be on the ground by 10-10:30 hopefully. Check-in at the hostel is at 2pm and then I'll leave early the next morning (flight leaves at 7am and back in the Dam around 8:30).

The one museum I really wanted to see in Geneva was the International Red Cross Museum, but it's closed for renovation until 2013!! There still seems like some cool stuff to do and Geneva is only like 188,000 people so it should be easy to get around. I'll only be gone around 24 hours total and then I can at least say I've been to Switzerland!

[DazedandConfusedinOR]

Just booked my flight from Amsterdam to Geneva leaving at 8:15am on Dec. 17 and returning on Dec. 18 at 7:00pm. Paid $110 RT with easyJet. Not bad considering they charge more for paying with debit (vs. Visa Electron which we don't have in the US), but it was less than paying by credit.

This gives me almost a day and a half in Switzerland. Will spend the first day and night in Geneva and then the next day take a 45 minute train ride to Lausanne where I get to spend about 8-9 hours exploring the old city and cathedral and enjoying some fondue and good Swiss beer! This is turning out to be a great 9 days in Europe this time around.

[FriendlyEdgar]

from "not sure I want to leave since I only have 9 days" to "spending a day and a half in Switzerland!"

Good for you, man! I like the adventurous spirit. I'm definitely going to try and sweet talk some bonus x-mas money to pay for the trip to Paris! ...or at least enough to get the cost down to what I had originally estimated I would spend.

[DazedandConfusedinOR]

from "not sure I want to leave since I only have 9 days" to "spending a day and a half in Switzerland!"

Good for you, man! I like the adventurous spirit. I'm definitely going to try and sweet talk some bonus x-mas money to pay for the trip to Paris! ...or at least enough to get the cost down to what I had originally estimated I would spend.

haha!! you got me psyched thinking about taking a day trip and when I get on a roll like that, watch out! lol

[FriendlyEdgar]

Looks like Paris is back on... mom's gonna buy my train ticket for X-mas!!

We should still take a Netherlands daytrip or two together... I definitely want to check out the palace museums in the Hague, especially the MC Escher exhibit! and Haarlem looks like an easy trip just for a lunch...

[DazedandConfusedinOR]

I'm down for a trip to The Hague and/or Rotterdam. Not sure what the coffeeshop scene is like there, but M.C. Escher is cool. Haarlem is easy. There are a few coffeeshops I have on my list for Haarlem: Empire, Willie Wortel's, and Birdy. There are quite a few more, but those are the ones I definitely want to go to. I also plan on going to Utrecht at least once. We should have a meet-up at Paradox soon after I arrive and then we can make plans from there. I think samuraiwriter is there the same dates I am so we can all meet up at Paradox - they have a nice selection and sell 5 euro bags so it's a chance to try out a bunch of stuff. Getting closer - it's almost November!

[cattales1960]

Looks like Paris is back on... mom's gonna buy my train ticket for X-mas!!

We should still take a Netherlands daytrip or two together... I definitely want to check out the palace museums in the Hague, especially the MC Escher exhibit! and Haarlem looks like an easy trip just for a lunch...

The MC ESCher museum is totally awesome and well worth the trip. Dont know about the cs situation though but we brought our own.

[samuraiwriter]

we are down for Paradox and beyond. all the talk of side trips is making us wonder... but will probably just remain in the Netherlands. Zaandvort is on the list this time around, a freezing cold beach and a spliff sounds... memorable.

tick tock... tick tock...

[DazedandConfusedinOR]

we are down for Paradox and beyond. all the talk of side trips is making us wonder... but will probably just remain in the Netherlands. Zaandvort is on the list this time around, a freezing cold beach and a spliff sounds... memorable.

tick tock... tick tock...

I dunno, the beaches are awful crowded in Zandvoort:





haha!! seriously though, Yank's coffeeshop isn't a bad little place and fairly easy to find! can't wait for december!!!

[DazedandConfusedinOR]

Got my passport back today! Only took 2 weeks - apparently Washongton can still get some things done...lol. I can almost smell the sweet smoke wafting from the coffeeshops...