# Help plan my European vacation! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 8, 2012, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-plan-my-european-vacation/640418 "2012-11-08T22:54:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-plan-my-european-vacation/640418/22 "2012-11-11T11:58:24Z")
> [@polar\_bear](#): > > While I like Maastricht and wouldn’t want to piss off **Maastricht** , it is quite a trip from Amsterdam. You’d be in Antwerp, Brussels or Cologne much faster. Correct. However, it is an\* awesome\* two hour train trip from Amsterdam to Maastricht, especially if you travel in the two-level trains and sit in the upper level. As a tour of the Netherlands as a country, it doesn’t get any better or more convenient. As **polar bear** said, if you get in in Amsterdam, you don’t have to change trains or carriages, as long as you sit in the front carriage. If you’re not sure and don’t understand the Ducht broadcasts in the train, just ask anyone. The train splits about 20 minuts before you arrive in Maastricht. Antwerp, Brussels and Cologne are bustling modern cities with tiny remains in the city center of the old towns they once were. Maastricht, Ghent and Bruges, however, are almost museum towns. There are much more old buildings, old street plans, etc, beautifully interwoven with some modern buildings. Maastricht does the old/new combination the best of the three, I think, but I’m biased. Aachen is in between: a small city, with an old center and an awesome old cathedral, reigning site and burial place of Charlemagne the Great. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-plan-my-european-vacation/640418/23 "2012-11-11T17:05:58Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > Antwerp, Brussels and Cologne are bustling modern cities with tiny remains in the city center of the old towns they once were. Maastricht, Ghent and Bruges, however, are almost museum towns. There are much more old buildings, old street plans, etc, beautifully interwoven with some modern buildings. Maastricht does the old/new combination the best of the three, I think, but I’m biased. Aachen is in between: a small city, with an old center and an awesome old cathedral, reigning site and burial place of Charlemagne the Great. Nah, it’s unbiasedly true: Maastricht does the old/new thing very well. It’s a beautiful place, and very different from the rest of the Netherlands. When I’m there it feels like being on holiday, it’s so un-Dutch. Also true that Antwerp, Brussels and Cologne don’t have _much_ left of their original beauty, but they are still really fun cities to see. I just recently visited Cologne (with some excellent Doper advice and a mini-mini-Dopefest thrown in) and it was amazing. Cologne is a fantastic city with a great vibe and loads going on. However, for a super fast tour of that side of Europe it may not be first on the list. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-plan-my-european-vacation/640418/24 "2012-11-11T18:14:50Z")
I am a huge fan of Berlin and always suggest it for people traveling to Europe, but in your case - pass. Berlin is worth more than one or two days, and you simply don’t have the time. I suppose if I were living there now, I could give you the fast tour - but it would be such a blur that you would only remember it when you got home and looked at the pictures. With such a short trip, I would probably just stay in Amsterdam and do a few side day trips. I always give the example: Imagine if you were a European coming the the US for six days in February - how many cities could you/would you visit and have a “vacation”? That should give you pause about trying to cover so much territory, and see so much, in such a short period of time. Have a great trip - and don’t forget to report back and let us know how it went! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-plan-my-european-vacation/640418/25 "2012-11-11T19:19:33Z")
I also like [Sacre Coeur](http://www.gothereguide.com/sacre+coeur+paris-place/) in the Monmarte quarter of Paris. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-plan-my-european-vacation/640418/26 "2012-11-12T00:37:01Z")
I was going to recommend the Musee Picasso in Paris, [but it looks like it’s closed for renovations until the summer.](http://www.musee-picasso.fr/homes/home_id24302_u1l2.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-plan-my-european-vacation/640418/27 "2012-11-16T15:35:41Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > Yay! Mr Excellent, if \*\* kitten\*\* can’t give you a tour at an conventient time, I’m willing to step in ("m free on wednesdays and thursday afternoons and in the weekends). Why don’t you both go? I’m sure I can show even kitten some things he didn’t know yet, as I’ve worked in the past as a tourist guide. > > In Maastricht, you should see: (about six hours worth of a trip, including food and rest) > -the old town, especially the Our Dear Lady church and a nice walk along the river Jeker in the town. > -indeed, the Bookstore in a Church Selexcyz > -the Roman museum cellar underneath Cafe Derlon (next to the OUr Dear lady Church) > > I also recommend a daytrip to Aachen & Kologne, or a daytrip to Brughes or Ghent. Thanks, **Maastricht** and **willthekittensurvive**! I’ll get in touch closer to my trip - would love to see the place with people who know it well. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-plan-my-european-vacation/640418/28 "2012-11-16T15:53:19Z")
Also - can anyone recommend a good website for learning Tourist Dutch, preferably with audioclips so I don’t butcher the pronounciation? Things like, “Hello,” “My name is,” “I’m sorry, I don’t speak Dutch - do you speak English?” etc. I’m also not even remotely above wanting to learn a bit of Bar Dutch - “You’re very pretty,” “can I buy you a drink?”, or whatever else fits in the local cultural convention. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-plan-my-european-vacation/640418/29 "2012-11-16T16:00:54Z")
Oh - and if I could mooch off the Teeming Millions a bit more: Does anyone have a favorite English-language history of the Netherlands? Survey-level is fine (preferable, really) - I don’t need to be an expert, but I like to know a bit of the history of a place I’m visiting. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-plan-my-european-vacation/640418/30 "2012-11-16T18:35:18Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > Also - can anyone recommend a good website for learning Tourist Dutch, preferably with audioclips so I don’t butcher the pronounciation? Things like, “Hello,” “My name is,” “I’m sorry, I don’t speak Dutch - do you speak English?” etc. > > I’m also not even remotely above wanting to learn a bit of Bar Dutch - “You’re very pretty,” “can I buy you a drink?”, or whatever else fits in the local cultural convention. 😃 I admire the sentiment, but don’t bother. Everyone speaks English and loves to show that off. ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-plan-my-european-vacation/640418/31 "2012-11-16T18:47:37Z")
Yeah, the only people in Holland who don’t speak English are tourists So some German or French would serve you better, Shame they didn’t translate “van null tot nu” a Dutch comic about the History of the Netherlands, most of my knowledge of Dutch history comes from reading it when I was a kid ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-plan-my-european-vacation/640418/32 "2012-11-16T20:31:18Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > I admire the sentiment, but don’t bother. Everyone speaks English and loves to show that off. Yah, but I wanna show off, too! 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-plan-my-european-vacation/640418.md?page=1)