Amsterdam/Paris?

[buckeyegirl]

My Mom has always wanted to see the tulips in Amsterdam so that is the basis for this trip.  I am a teacher and can only go school breaks.  So next Spring Break we have the first week of April.  We will have 8 nights for my DH, Mom, 2 DS and me.  She also mentioned she has always wanted to see Paris.  We could split 4 nights in each and take the train between or do any combination for 8 nights.  My DH and I were in Paris for 4 days about 10 years ago so it's been awhile.  How many nights would you prioritize to each city?

[wise_rita]

I'd make a list of everything you want to see/do in each city and break it down from there, but I don't think you'd want anything more extreme than 3/5. If the list is pretty equal then I'd go 4/4.

But more importantly I'd look at flight times and connections, and see how they stack up in the inbound and return directions.

[mildop]

We are literally finishing up this exact trip now! I have an early flight in the AM, but I will come back with my own thoughts in the morning.

[erbear]

I’d do 5-3 Paris, with the travel days taking away parts of the Paris days.

[dutchgirl678]

Are you planning to see tulips IN Amsterdam or outside of Amsterdam? The most famous place to see many tulips is the Keukenhof. It is also extremely touristy with millions of visitors per year. It is approximately 25 miles from Amsterdam. Surprisingly there is not a great connection with public transit because despite its close proximity it seems that it could take an hour to get there from Amsterdam.

Have you ever been to Amsterdam before? It is a great city, but again there are always lots of tourists and if you have been there before I would also see if you could go to Rotterdam or The Hague instead or maybe even Haarlem.

[buckeyegirl]

I was thinking we would go to Keukenhof. It just seemed the easiest to guarantee we'd see tulips since this is the whole reason my Mom wants to visit Amsterdam. I know it will be touristy and I am ok with that. We will also be there at the very beginning of their season so maybe slightly less busy. We haven't been there before so I think we're going to try and stay in the city. We aren't against a day trip if travel is easy.

[pittpurple]

Just an FYI that I went to Amsterdam in early April in order to see the tulips and it was definitely too early - so just to have realistic expectations.

Personally for just a week I'd stick with one place and really enjoy it but it depends on how ambitious you are and how much you like to do in a day. I always want lots of down time :-)

If I was splitting I'd do 3/5 as well - but if these days include travel days then you are already losing a lot of time.

[mildop]

We did 5 days in Amsterdam and 3 in Paris.
We went the last week in April, and while Tulips were still blooming, the fields of earlier plants (daffodils, hyacinths) were already done. We took a field bike tour (very easy biking) and then went into the gardens.

Keukenhof was so lovely! Also, crowded. We took a large charter style bus to get there, it was just easier for the 4 of us.

We took a train to Paris, which was easy, but it took up a good 1/2 day to get to our place in Paris after leaving Amsterdam with the train transfers, getting metro tickets, etc.

[dreamcrisp1]

May 3, 2022 8:21:51 GMT -5 buckeyegirl said:

I was thinking we would go to Keukenhof. It just seemed the easiest to guarantee we'd see tulips since this is the whole reason my Mom wants to visit Amsterdam. I know it will be touristy and I am ok with that. We will also be there at the very beginning of their season so maybe slightly less busy. We haven't been there before so I think we're going to try and stay in the city. We aren't against a day trip if travel is easy.

Keukenhof is lovely. Even as locals, we still go and it’s gorgeous. It might be a bit too early for all the flowers to be in bloom. The 2nd week of April tends to be best. I’d do Paris first then Amsterdam for that reason alone.

[tvlmm]

I would do 3 in AMS and 5 in Paris. We did France during Spring Break 2017 and I'd be happy to share our trip report. After Paris, we did the Alps and Burgundy.

[mich1]

May 1, 2022 18:38:29 GMT -5 dutchgirl678 said:

Are you planning to see tulips IN Amsterdam or outside of Amsterdam? The most famous place to see many tulips is the Keukenhof. It is also extremely touristy with millions of visitors per year. It is approximately 25 miles from Amsterdam. Surprisingly there is not a great connection with public transit because despite its close proximity it seems that it could take an hour to get there from Amsterdam.

Have you ever been to Amsterdam before? It is a great city, but again there are always lots of tourists and if you have been there before I would also see if you could go to Rotterdam or The Hague instead or maybe even Haarlem.

We did a Viator to see the tulips in Keukenof last month.  The tour bus picks you up at central station, provides tickets and drops you back off at the station at the end of the day.  I want to say it was about 35€ pp.

www.viator.com/tours/Amsterdam/From-Amsterdam-Fast-Track-Keukenhof-Ticket-and-Transfer/d525-332919P1