amcjmc68

We're working out a 23 night itinerary, and I'd like some advice.

Our flight dates are fixed, and we'll use hotel points in both Amsterdam and Paris, making 4 or 6 nights in those cities the best option due to point deals available. We have an interest in history, culture, and food. How does this sound? We don't like to move every day, and prefer the moving concentric circles style of travel

1. Arrive AMS May 2--to Delft
2. Delft
3. Bike Barge Tour with HAT our of Amsterdam--this date is fixed as this is the only tour date that works with our May 2 arrival.
4. Bike Barge
5. Bike Barge
6. Amsterdam
7. Amsterdam
8. Amsterdam
9. Amsterdam
10. Bruges
11. Bruges
12. Ypres, Dunkirk
13. Ypres, Dunkirk
14. Compeigne
15. Paris
16. Paris
17. Paris
18. Paris
19. Paris
20. Paris
21. AMS airport hotel
22. 11:00 am flight home

Questions--Do we need 4 or 6 nights in Paris? We're not really big city fans, but there seems to be too much for 4 nights. We spent 6 nights in Rome a couple of years ago and thought that was perfect.

Is Delft a good 2 night option when we first arrive at AMS? We need someplace to stay relatively near Amsterdam, but don't want to use our city nights because we think we probably need 4 nights. If we were going to stay in Amsterdam only 2 nights, then we'd start there and fill in with more country nights along the way.

The HAT tour is being considered because of the short daily cycling distances and the fact that it's only 3 nights. We bike at home, but not enough to go 20 miles or more for several days. And, more than 3 nights on the barge starts sounding like a pain, not charming.

How about Compeigne? We hear it's very interesting. We know we want to see both Ypres and Dunkirk as we're military history buffs. We also know we could see them from Bruges, but unless there is nowhere really good to stay closer, we'd rather be closer than spend 2 days with several travel hours

Any and all advice greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

amcjmc68

I've read the other posts on this area, but since we're heading east out Netherlands, those responses aren't quite in the areas I'm looking for. Thanks for help.

hetismij

Which HAT tour are you taking?

amcjmc68

The 4 day, 3 night Tulip tour.

Ozarksbill

No doubt you will enjoy your travels. You can see our trip: Springtime in Holland and Belgium and the tulip gardens and fields in bloom are awesome. Am wondering if May 2 is a bit late for full displays but probably not. We liked the picturesque Dutch towns and Bruges...also Amsterdam for its canals, museums, vibrance, etc. Of course we'd love to be in Paris again with so much to so and see...and looks like you've got almost a week there. Planning is always fun.
Ozarksbill [email protected]

amcjmc68

I've been doing more reading, and it seems that Haarlem is a particularly interesting town, and with the HAT tour, we have little time there. We could, of course, backtrack once back in Amsterdam, but an option would be to skip the tour, stay in Haarlem, and day trip from there in order to see the tulip views. That's assuming that they are still in full bloom. Ozarksbill, your comment gives me great pause. If the blooms aren't that great, or if the weather is bad, we may prefer the flexibility of self-planning vs a tour, even one so unusual (for us) as a barge-bike tour.

If we skipped that piece of the trip, we'd have a bit more flexibility in Belgium and may be able to add Dinant or other interesting sounding destinations.

What do you think?

Palenque

Compeigne is an OK small town with a fantastic chateau - and for war buffs the old train car where Hitler made the French humble when the gave up (same train car i guess where Germans surrendered to Allies in WWI) i guess is still on its clearing in the forest as a memorial

StateMaster - Encyclopedia: Compiegne
It was returned after World War 2). Copy of the original train carriage where ... in 1940, Hitler forced the French to surrender in the same car (which was ...
www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/Compiegne

Reims is a really sweet regional town and for war buffs you can visit the War Room, just behind the main train station and see the Map Room with maps still on the wall for the final assault on Germany - chair and name plaques still there where the Allied generals plotted the war from here. Reims of course is also famous for its Champagne tours with ornate Champagne wine hourses and caves where you see the wine being processed, etc. Only 45 min from Paris now by train.

#
48 Hours in Reims - IgoUgo Reims Journal
War room. After sipping all that champagne, I figured my visit to Reims needed ... see the room where the Germans signed their surrender at the end of WWII. ...
http://www.igougo.com/journal-j41915..._in_Reims.html
#
The end of WWII took place in Reims - P&O Ferries
May 7, 2008 ... The end of WWII took place in Reims. The French city of Reims was the location of the German surrender at the end of the second world war. ... Furniture in the room remains as it was and maps of the rail route which were ...
http://www.poferries.com/.../_footer..._438011521.htm

amcjmc68

Wow, Palenque, thanks for the info. We were looking for stopping points between Brugges and Paris, and I knew we wanted to see Ypres, but it looks like Reims is a much better choice than Compeigne.

Palenque

World War One Cemeteries - A comprehensive guide to Military ...
This site contains NEW Photographs of all 940 cemeteries in France and Belgium of ... The Canadian Virtual War Memorial is an invaluable research tool for ...
www.ww1cemeteries.com/

Canadian National Vimy Memorial - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Canadian National Vimy Memorial is a memorial site in France dedicated to the commemoration of the Battle of Vimy Ridge and Canadian Expeditionary Force ...
- - -
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_National_Vimy_Memorial

Vimy Ridge is one of those monumental memorials - huge soaring statue - Canadian TV had several specials on Vimy Ridge - very famous WWI point

And Verdun is not that far east of Reims - to me the most interesting of all WWI battlefields - you can see the trenches still there, etc and grasp the horror done here in the Battle to End All Battles.

#
Verdun 1916 - Tours of the Verdun Battlefield by Somme Battlefield ...
By comparison to Ypres and the Somme, the Verdun battlefield is slightly smaller; ... The battlefield of Verdun has the tragic record of having the highest ...
www.btinternet.com/~sommetours/page18.html - Cached - Similar
#
Verdun Battlefields
Jan 21, 2009 ... This part of the site will look at various aspects of the Verdun battlefields and it will also contain a 'rough guide' for first time ...
battlefields1418.50megs.com/verdun_battlefields.htm

In Paris itself you may want to trek out to Suresnes and Mount Valerien and the American Military Memorial high on a hill with a bird's eye view of Paris spread out below - note W was there not long ago to commemorate the troops that lost their life in the area.

# [PDF]
American Battle Monuments Commission Suresnes American Cemetery ...
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat -
Mont Valerien, 4 miles west of the center of Paris, in the city of Suresnes. .... At the end of the loggia, one enters the World War I memorial room and ...
www.abmc.gov/cemeteries/cemeteries/su_base.pdf - Similar
#
President George W. Bush pays his respects at the Mont Valerien ...
A headstone at the Suresnes American Cemetery and Memorial in Paris reads: ... President George W. Bush is flanked by two U.S. World War II Veterans during wreath ... President Bush arrives Mont Valerien memorial Saturday, June 14, ...
georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/.../20080614-2_d-0549-4-515h.html

Palenque

In Amsterdamned note the Dutch Resistance Museum should be very interesting to you.

Amsterdam.info - Dutch Resistance Museum Amsterdam
The Resistance Museum recreates the atmosphere of Amsterdam during the German occupation of the WWII.
www.amsterdam.info/museums/verzetsmuseum/ (Museum Pass accepted - the National Museum Pass will be a boon for you - pays for itself if you go to Riksmuseum, VanGogh and a few others - better deal for most than the Amsterdam Card IMO

Museumkaart - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Museum card (Dutch: "Museumkaart") is a card that allows free entrance ... Allard Pierson Museum / Archeologisch Museum Der Universiteit Van Amsterdam ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museumkaart

Palenque

The World War I Chateau-Thierry American Monument
The World War I Chateau-Thierry American Monument is located on a hill two ... and a half miles southeast of our Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial ...
wikimapia.org/.../The-World-War-I-Chateau-Thierry-American-Monument

OK i've shot my wad but here's one more major war-themed site - this one sits on a ridge high above the dreary town of Chateau-Thierry, overlooking the Marne River - if driving from Reims a really sweet drive takes the secondary roads along the Marne (after you crest over the ridge coming from Reims) and then follow the Marne all the way to near the Paris conglomeration - passing numerous Champagne-producing villages and Champagne tasting places via Chateau-Thierry and the immense monument you can see for miles around.

amcjmc68

Now I have a whole new bunch of research to do. Thanks.

Palenque

And of course the Ecole Militaire (Military School) in Paris, near the Eiffel Tower - see Napoleon's stuffed dog and a lot of military-themed exhibits

École Militaire - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jun 7, 2009 ... The École Militaire (English: Military School) is a vast complex of buildings housing various military training facilities located in Paris, ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/École_Militaire

Ozarksbill

Glad to "chat" about our Springtime in Holland and Belgium report. Back to your projected trip, you've gotten some excellent pointers on military sites and can find a good deal of course on Fodor's forum about where you want to be. Been too long for us to comment on Paris, but so far you've not gotten much about other destinations.

So let me mention a few highlights we did enjoy in Netherlands: Zaans Schans which is so quaint with windmills, Leiden as an old city with castle and pilgrim's house, Enkuizen to the north and other such towns in area but we skipped Volendam, Hoorn for strolling in streets, the Hague for Peace Palace, excellent museum featuring "Girl with a Pearl Earring", Kinderdijk - village with windmills incl. repair shop, Delft -yes pottery and also nice town, Veere - another nice town for strolling, Delta Works not far away - an engineering project to control flooding, and then also Keukenhof Gardens which was a highlight and you should check their website as to May blooms...they don't just have tulips. Yes, we did have a gorgeous sunny day there and in fact almost the entire time. Of course Amsterdam where besides Ann Frank house and wonderful art museums I would point to the Church in the Attic, flower auction market, Begine retreat, canal cruise of course, and an Indonesian restaurant.

Comments about Belgium: we skipped Brussels but it is worthwhile as is Luxemburg and American cemetery there. Ghent has the awesome St. Bavos Cathedral with art works, Antwerp features Cathedral of Our Lady and you can't miss the Ruebens painting up front and might walk over to artist Rueben's house. And then there is Bruges already discussed in our report as a charming place. Hard to believe that some buildings date back to 1300s when this was such a commercial center. Recommend besides Church of Our Lady with its art peeking into the little grotto chapel in Burg Square then over to Groening Museum in a nice little garden. One note: we chose to relax here rather than go over to the battle and
cemetery sites as did some in our party but you can do both of course!

My only question is allowing enough time...maybe (god forbid) a day less in Paris? Looks like you are thinking of Amsterdam as a base but might want to relocate in some of those Dutch towns. However, you can get places easily by train. Are you starting out in Delft because of the bike-barge tour?

Ozarksbill

Palenque

Waterloo, one of the most famous battlefields of all time is in the Brussels suburbs - at Waterloo, of course.

Waterloo battlefield
Waterloo Battlefield - Official web site of Waterloo Battlefield. Visit the Lion Hamlet and experience the new animation : Battlefield Tour.
- - -
www.waterloo1815.be/en/waterloo/