Germany trip planned

Icanandwillsavemoney

Hi

I hope you can help.

My DD has asked that we all clib together to buy her an experience for her 16th Birthday as opposed to loads of gifts. She loves Germany and speaks it fluently so we thought Germany would be a good bet. She also is facinated by all things war and has expressed an interest in Berlin as well as a visit to Anne Frank's house in Amsterdam.

I know this is a little excessive for a birthday gift but she is such a wonderful kid, never asks for anything, always puts others first and is so dedicated to her studies that we all feel she has more than earnt an extra special treat.

We are looking at poss 10-14 days and would like to cover both Berlin as well as a short trip to Amsterdam for the canals as well as Ann Franks house.

Where you could help, I wuold like to take her to a couple more places too and spend poss 3 days in them both so the trip could look like this:

1. Berlin 4 days
2. Somewhere else 3 days
3. Another place 3 days
4. Amsterdam 2 days

Where do you think could be of interest and what would be the best way to travel between said places. Bearing in mind we need to do this as MSE as possible even though family will all chip in.

We would be flying Birmingham to Berlin and could fly from Amsterdam to the UK.

Any thoughts would be welcomed and appreciated.

Many thanks

ICAWSM

spadoosh

Could be worth dropping by normandy and the like if she likes all things war. If thats too far out of the way dunkirk could be a more suitable p.o.i?!

Public transport is probably best round europe, trains and busses are fairly cheap and well connected between the big cities.

Dunroamin

I don't think that two days is enough for Amsterdam and feel that you'll be too rushed if you try to do 4 centres. I would aim for staying one other place, perhaps in northern France or Belgium, where you could visit places like Vimy Ridge (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_National_Vimy_Memorial) or other WW1 battlefield/memorial/grave sites.

ScarletBea

I don't know about you, but I spent 5 full days in Berlin and 4 full days and Amsterdam (2 different trips) and I didn't see everything I wanted...

Limana68

I lived in Germany for a lot of years, and love it!
I would say it would be easier travelling by car but not sure if that is possible. I would definetly take a trip to the mosel area aswell!

Voyager2002

A trip to just Berlin and Amsterdam would be perfectly adequate. You could get between the two by train: see if you can get an overnight sleeper so that you save a night's hotel bill and don't waste time sitting around at airports. Rail fares in Germany are similar to those here: very expensive if you travel on the spur of the moment, but very reasonably priced if you book well in advance. Die Bahn (German rail) has a very good website available in English, but visit the site for The Man in Seat 61 for more information and hints on booking.

If you want to see more places then you are spoilt for choice: no need to travel hundreds of miles to France. Places that I recommend include Koln, Bonn and Trier in Germany, and Maastricht in the Netherlands.

Bob_the_Saver

Dresden, Easy by coach from Berlin.

https://www.berlinlinienbus.de/index.php?lang=en

joerugby

Cologne is the place

It's a nice city with some war history and plenty of other things to do inc sightseeing, river trips and shopping.

Most importantly it is a Deutsche Bundesbahn hub with fast, direct trains both from Berlin and to Amsterdam. There are plenty of hotels in all price ranges near the station. Couln't be more convenient for your journey

phatbear

highly recommend when in Berlin visiting the dome on top of the reichstag its free and you get a great view across berlin.

You need to apply at least two days in advance and give them an exact time you wish to visit:

https://visite.bundestag.de/BAPWeb/pages/createBookingRequest.jsf?lang=en

GlynD

There is still so much to see in Berlin to interest avid WW2 buffs. Sachenhausen Kz, The Reichstag, the Russian War Memorial made from stone looted from the Kanzlei, the Holocaust Memorial, Templehof Airfield, Treptower War Memorial Park, Checkpoint Charlie, the remains of the Berlin Wall (getting less every year), the Air Ministry Building, the site of Gestapo HQ, the old Flak Towers - I could go on and on and on and on. What always amazed me is the obvious scars of battle on so many of the buildings, more particularly in the eastern part of the city which wasn't repaired as much due to partition.

Outside Berlin I'd recommend the Bundeswehr Tank Museum in Muenster.

Icanandwillsavemoney

Thank you for all your replies, loving the idea of overnight sleeper train - DD will LOVE this!

Will Google some of the places mentioned and see what sights might appeal.

Need to Google Amsterdam sights too as I need to keep clear of the ;-) area as DD will only be 16 :-/

Thank you all again for your suggestions, now for a lot of research!!

ICAWSM