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[Weasel]

So next spring my wife and I are planning on taking my parents out to Europe. I know close to nothing about European travel, but what I do know is a couple spots we want to see and the timeline (2 weeks, maybe 3).

Places I for sure want to check out: Amsterdam, Paris, Rome. From the little Ive read, Im assuming getting a train pass seems to be the way to go (fly into Amsterdam, train our way down and fly back from Rome?) Any spots in between we should stop at? Im tempted to make a stop in Bruges simply because the movie was so awesome

Also, aside from flights, no idea what this would typically cost/person. I see the train passes can get up to $500 (not sure if its cheaper to pay per ride or just get the pass), maybe another $1500/person for food, drinks, tourist attractions, and hotels? Id love to hear any input or pointers from you guys that could help me out!

[shel311]

The NDL should get paid for their services, with all of these vacation plannings.

[Weasel]

The NDL should get paid for their services, with all of these vacation plannings.

I do all my NDL:Medical advising pro bono!

[DRiccio21]

i'm going in May on my way back from Tanzania, i'll let you know my thoughts then.

i'm doing a couple days in Amsterdamn, 3-4 nights in London and 3-4 nights in Paris.

[Uuaww]

eurorail is no longer the way to go, its more scenic but rarely cheaper unless you plan on doing A LOT of traveling. The thing about euro rail is taking a train isn't cheaper but they let you take unlimited so it becomes cheaper. If you have a set time limit (of lets say 18 days) you have 5 days in 3 cities plus time to travel. You go from Detriot to AMS to ROM to CDG to Detroit. You would buy the ticket from Detroit to AMS and on the way back from CDG to Detroit. In between you use ryanair or easyjet which is about $100 each person, maybe $50 if you buy them early enough. The flight to europe should run you $1000 each.

Adding Bruge could happen, tacked on to AMS, depending on how long you can take, if its closer to 3 weeks, 4 cities is def possible. You want at least 4 FULL days in each city to enjoy it.

Flights (all flights) for 4 people: $4500 on a good day, $4000 on a great on (you will be traveling during the low season), $5000 if you are unlucky

Hotels: If staying somewhere fancy isn't a priority, you can get FANTASTIC places for under $100 a night EASILY

Food is similar, you can judge that, a lot of things are free, some aren't for attractions. I recommend taking a soccer game in somewhere.

[Uuaww]

if you have any questions, lmk, I know a lot about traveling and finding deals.

[Weasel]

i'm going in May on my way back from Tanzania, i'll let you know my thoughts then.

i'm doing a couple days in Amsterdamn, 3-4 nights in London and 3-4 nights in Paris.

Absolutely, Id love to hear about it. Considering doing London too, but for two weeks it just doesnt seem to fit, and Rome is definitely higher on the priority list for me

In between you use ryanair or easyjet which is about $100 each person, maybe $50 if you buy them early enough.

Great advice, never thought of that

Hotels: If staying somewhere fancy isn't a priority, you can get FANTASTIC places for under $100 a night EASILY

Anywhere in particular that youve found to be the best place to book online?

[Uuaww]

Anywhere in particular that youve found to be the best place to book online?

tripadvisor is your new best friend. learn to love it.

[JohnnyP]

kiss ass and thanks for the invite

[Weasel]

kiss ass and thanks for the invite

Youre invited, save up nuck futs

[Weasel]

tripadvisor is your new best friend. learn to love it.

This site kicks ass. Already thinking of doing London over Amsterdam

[DRiccio21]

tripadvisor is your new best friend. learn to love it.

This site kicks ass. Already thinking of doing London over Amsterdam

thats not even a close call.

i'm only doing Amsterdamn because i need a day to chill after my flight and its the only airport that flies from Kilimanjaro.

London over Amsterdamn for sure.

[Weasel]

London over Amsterdamn for sure.

The only reason we were going to do Amsterdam was because we thought it'd be cool to experience the red light district and whatnot, but there is waaaay more to see/do in London

[DRiccio21]

London over Amsterdamn for sure.

The only reason we were going to do Amsterdam was because we thought it'd be cool to experience the red light district and whatnot, but there is waaaay more to see/do in London

knowing what i know about you, what the hell are you gonna do in the redlight district other than giggle for a few minutes.

its not far, i land in Amsterdamn at 7 am, i'm staying one full day then leaving for London the next day at Noon. i'm going to see the redlight district and check out Van Gogh then i'm good with Amsterdamn.

[shel311]

what the hell are you gonna do in the redlight district other than giggle for a few minutes

Maybe Weasel wants to have one solid night of comlpetely debauchery for just once, so he's doing it in a BIG way!!!

[Nole4real]

Anywhere in particular that youve found to be the best place to book online?

tripadvisor is your new best friend. learn to love it.

tripadvisor is the best

just be wary that if you find places with mostly positive feedback and a few negatives...dont let the negatives scare you off. people are idiots

tht being said though, if 25% or more of the reviews are negative or "not good"...u defintely want to pass

[Weasel]

knowing what i know about you, what the hell are you gonna do in the redlight district other than giggle for a few minutes.

Pretty much. Wife and I were thinking out loud, saying okay, aside from the red light, what else do you want to do in Amsterdam... ... ... ...okay lets do London

[Weasel]

tripadvisor is the best

just be wary that if you find places with mostly positive feedback and a few negatives...dont let the negatives scare you off. people are idiots

tht being said though, if 25% or more of the reviews are negative or "not good"...u defintely want to pass

Yeah I always get a kick out of reading reviews of a place that will have thousands of 5/5 reviews compared to a couple dozen bad ones, then reading what those few dozen were really complaining about (usually some trivial bullshit)

[shel311]

reading what those few dozen were really complaining about (usually some trivial bullshit)

Not putting a mint on my pillow is not trivial bullshit!!!

[Weasel]

Not putting a mint on my pillow is not trivial bullshit!!!

From a hotel with 96% positive ratings:

The hotel staff emailed us directions on how to arrive at the hotel via Venice. He told us what subways to take to arrive within a few miles of the hotel and then when we got there to call and he would send the hotel shuttle! Well there we were standing in a shady area of town at 10pm with all our bags, in the middle of nowhere and the public phone he told us to use was broken.

Obviously the hotel knew that particular public phone was broken.