Europe in July

[tielan]

So from the 14th July to the 25th July I'm in Europe.

At the start, I'm in Paris. At the end, I'm in Amsterdam/Rotterdam (my stepbrother/sis-in-law moved there a couple of months ago and I hope to meet up with alphaflyer).

I'm trying to work out what to do in-between.

The easiest thing would either be to stay in Paris, or to go to London. It requires little effort, I'm familiar with the area, and it's not going to be too costly. (I think.) Cost has become an issue in the last week. Oy.

The alternative is to make a slow way from Paris up north by bus or train. (I don't think I'm up to driving in Europe.)

I'm slowly going through ideas for what I'd like to see and where I'd like to go. Does anyone on my f-list have places they'd recommend?

Comments

[rmc28]

The train to Amsterdam from Paris is only a few hours.

I like the Netherlands a lot, and visited quite a few times before I had children (only once since!). I found it easy to get around by train, certainly compared with the UK.

I have friends in Leiden and Delft and both have lovely small historic centres which are pleasant to walk around with touristy things to do:

http://www.delft.nl/delften/Tourists
http://www.visitleiden.nl/en/discover-leiden/highlights/first-time-in-leiden

I enjoyed Rotterdam a lot, especially the boat tours of the harbour: http://spido.nl/en/rotterdam-harbour-tour-2016 (I keep promising myself I will go back and do the full day tour to the north sea)

I liked Utrecht, where I mainly remember going to the musical automata museum: https://www.museumspeelklok.nl/lang/en/ and a fun boat tour of the canal around the centre.

[tielan]

Ooh, thanks for the links!

[theladyscribe]

Normandy is really lovely, though I've never been there in high summer. Lots of good food and lovely spaces, as well as a lot of history. I highly recommend visiting Omaha Beach and Point du Hoc while you're there.

[tielan]

That's a thought - I would like to see the battlefields of France and Belgium.

I guess the big issue for me is that I'd be doing it solo, which is always a lot less enjoyable than doing it with other people you know. At that point, I almost want to just meander up to the Netherlands, taking my time.

[monanotlisa]

Go check out my home regions! Go through wine country (the Upper Rhine Valley) and drink REAL Riesling; hit Bonn and see the old capital of Germany; go check out Cologne and the capital of the state too!

[everbright]

Check out some of the ww1 Ossuaries? Probably the best social history of WW1 I ever read was a little pamphlet produced by the staff of the Douaumont Ossuary, where they broke down how public mourning rituals helped disrupt the Victorian death cult. I mean, I know you're not really into WW1, but the architecture is all from the twenties so it's a fest for the Art Deco attuned eyes. I'd just go to look at the monuments with my mouth open.

It's a little east of a straight line from London to Paris, but there's a LOT of WW1 stuff in NE France and Belgium. Walk a Trench line! Listen to farmers bitch about new-found unexploded bombs! Eat fries with mayo on them!