WillTravel

I purchased tickets for spring break for my daughter and me, SEA-CGN, CGN-YVR for $461 each all-in - March 15-25 - and I have 24 hours to cancel. So I haven't decided 100% to go, but it's likely.

Fortunately, we both like Cologne (my daughter really likes it). I also visited Aachen and really liked it. So we're happy with that part of it.

I bought the tickets roundtrip knowing that we could easily do train travel to Amsterdam, Paris, or Berlin.

For Amsterdam, we can get a deal where the two tickets for both of us will cost about 80 Euros roundtrip. (I think the promotion is called Surf and Travel on the Deutsche Bahn site).

For Paris or Berlin, we can get a deal where the two tickets roundtrip are about 120 Euros. This is Thalys for Paris, and I can't recall what it is called for Berlin.

So one option is to decide to go to one of these three cities - all of which are winners so far as my daughter is concerned.

The one thing I can't quite figure out is what if we want to do both Amsterdam and Paris on this trip. Is there any combination, other than a railpass, which would work well? I would like to avoid flights. The cheapest railpass option I can see is the Benelux-Germany saver option, which is about $500 for the two of us, and I doubt we'd get enough value out of it.

If anyone has a convenient itinerary, which would be enjoyable rather than taxing, that involves something other than a standard two-city plan, I'd be happy to hear it.

Is there a convenient way to add Maastricht to our itinerary? Would Maastricht be appealing to a teenager? What do you think of Maastricht as a daytrip from Cologne?

Or I could put Strasbourg on the itinerary, at the expense of something else, but how appealing would Strasbourg be to a teenager (who speaks some French)?

Any votes for Luxembourg?

Basically I know how to do a simple trip (like Cologne and Paris, or Cologne and Amsterdam, or Cologne and Berlin), but want to make sure I'm not overlooking good options for a more complex one.

Any thoughts on whether the German rail strike issues will be resolved by then?

Cowboy1968

Before the real train experts jump to the rescue, just some more generic remarks from my side:

I would assume that regular point-to-point tickets (with possible special fares included) will be cheaper than a $500 pass.

Timewise, I would say that the train is the best option to travel Cologne-Paris-Ams-Cologne.
Only if you wanted to replace Paris or Ams with Berlin I would check low cost airfare. CGN is somewhat of a hub for several LCC, so even traveling to Berlin can be cheaper by plane than by train.

Maastricht is a really nice town in NL, more lively than you may expect from a town that size. Though it is hard to anticipate if your daughter will like it.
It can be done either as a day trip from Cologne, or coming back to Cologne from Amsterdam (though it will be a detour from the direct connection from Ams to Cologne).

While Maastricht is indeed worth a visit, you will many other Dutch towns which can even be more interesting: Delft or Gouda are in easy reach from Amsterdam, for example.

kerouac

You could do a loop (or maybe a figure 8) -- Cologne to Paris on Thalys, Paris to Strasbourg on TGV-Est, Strasbourg to Amsterdam (via Brussels) by Corail and then Amsterdam to Cologne by Thalys again...

111op

Hi, just wanted to answer your questions you raised in a different venue since I can't use that method right now to answer.

The doubles I had in Tiquetonne were spacious (for me), but there was only one bed. One option you could consider is Cyrnos, the hotel you found for me a while ago on RatesToGo. It's near the Bourse and is a tad less convenient but still very central. It has 3*. I don't think all rooms have a/c (or maybe it doesn't have a/c at all), but that's not an issue in March. But the singles are small. Not sure about doubles. Obviously this depends on what rate you can find for it.

ira

Hi W,

How about Cologne-Amsterdam-Paris-Strasbourg or Nancy-to Cologne?

How many days in each city?

See www.bahn.de and www.voyages-sncf.com for ticket prices.

Look for discount fares 90-60 days out. (some start 90, some start 60)

Bahn.de offers C/A for only 19E.

Sncf has Strasbourg-C or Nancy-C for 69E,
Amsterdam-Paris for only 25E, and
Paris-Strasbourg or Nancy for 19E.

You can print PREMS tickets from SNCF online at home.


PS: C-P is 25E each way.

WillTravel

111op, thanks for your creative approach. I guess I will just have to phone the Tiquetonne if we end up deciding on Paris.

The price dropped to $422, and I cancelled the old tickets and bought new ones (which United allows within a 24-hour time period). Plus, I got the time approved, so I guess we are going.

Basically we have 9 nights on the ground. I'd want to have at least the first and last in Cologne. So that leaves 7 for some combination of some or all of Benelux, France, and Germany.

Kerouac, that sounds like an interesting way to see a lot of places, but I suspect it would be quite costly.

Ira, what is your opinion of Nancy and Strasbourg as destinations?

Another possibility I'm considering is something like Antwerp and Amsterdam, or Antwerp and Paris. This would be something like 2 nights and 5 nights. This might be an easier combo logistically.

WillTravel

I still haven't decided on anything, but I'm looking at various possibilities using
voyages-sncf.com and bahn.de .

For Strasbourg and Paris, I think something like this could work.

Please let me know if you see any flaws:
Cologne - Gengenbach - 29 Euros per person one-way. Then I discovered there is easy, cheap public transit from Gengenbach in Germany to Strasbourg in France, so this would cost only a few extra Euros. Going Cologne to Strasbourg by train one-way costs at minimum 76 Euros, so far as I can see.

Strasbourg - Paris - 19 Euros one-way if bought soon enough.

Paris - Cologne - so far as I can see, there is no cheap way to go one-way, so I'd either have to buy roundtrip Thalys tickets (the cheapest price for these is 50 Euros per person, so still not bad), or fly Germanwings.

kerouac

Don't fly.

wanderfrau

You have lots of places to choose from and not very much time. The more places you visit, the more time you spend traveling, rather than sightseeing.

First and last day in Cologne. You could easily add another day and not be bored, or take a quick train ride to Dusseldorf.

With your other 6/7 days consider dividing it between your choice:
- Black Forest area - Gegenbach, Freiburg and Strasbourg
BavariaBen gives info on free bus transportation in the Black Forest here: http://tinyurl.com/2du2vv

- Amsterdam with day trips to Delft, Gouda, Leiden, The Hauge

- 3/4 days in Paris

I think a teenager would enjoy any of those locations.

WillTravel

I've ended up going with a very simple choice. I know there are a million things we could do, but given how gruelling the plane travel will be (3 flights there and 4 flights back with LHR included), I decided on something easy and certain to be liked.

I discovered that you can buy cheap one-ways at voyages-sncf.com . I think these might go quickly, because I think when I looked for such tickets last year 2 months out I didn't see them, but we're almost right at the 3-month window, so I will buy the tickets shortly. When I look for a week in advance of our March dates, I seem them available.

What I have in mind is this:
Leave Seattle March 15, arrive March 16 Cologne
* 1 night Cologne
-- 19-Euro Deutsche Bahn fare to Amsterdam
* 4 nights Amsterdam
-- 20-Euro SNCF fare to Paris
* 3 nights Paris
-- 25-Euro SNCF fare to Cologne
* 1 night Cologne
-- Depart March 25 for Vancouver

My daughter likes all of these cities, and is really looking forward to a return visit. I have a very long list of stuff I want to see and do around Amsterdam and Paris, so I can live with a repeat.

If I want to do a daytrip to Strasbourg from Paris, it's now possible with the new TGV and the cost looks like it would be about 40 Euros roundtrip if booked far enough in advance.

If I want to do a daytrip from Amsterdam to Antwerp, it looks like the best deal is a roundtrip Smilys ticket for about 28 Euros also booked far in advance.