Going to Paris and Amsterdam

[freeazabird]

my family will be vacationing in Frace and the Netherlands this fall. Any recs for things to do while there that are not expensive?

[lemanfan]

What are you interested in?   Ages of any kids?

[freeazabird]

I'm interested in pretty much anything. I will have an infant with me.

[JJNL]

How long do you have in each country and where exactly are you planning on going?

For the Netherlands, I can recommend the following:
- do NOT rent a car. We have excellent public transport and you pay through the nose for parking anywhere in a city centre (we do this on purpose, as our city centres were not built to accommodate a lot of cars). The trains even give you a discount if you travel in a group. Get a temporary OV-Chipcard (it's a card you put money on to ride) for everybody if you want to use public transport. Unfortunately, the system isn't always clear for non-Dutch speakers. Ask for help if you don't understand, pretty much everybody here speaks English. If you have more than 2 or 3 days here, I recommend seeing more than 1 place and going there by public transport.
- I am a proud Amsterdammer, so i definitely recommend going there. However, this is also the obvious choice - will give you some other tips later on. In Amsterdam, if you're remotely into art at all, visit the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh museum. They are not the cheapest thing to do around, but they are SO worth it! The best free entertainment is just walking around town - it's the best way to get to know the place, really. I love just ambling along the canals and soaking up the atmosphere. Just watch out for bikes, we Dutchies cycle everywhere, and Amsterdammers (including me) ride like maniacs and expect lowly pedestrians such as yourselves to make way when you're not on the sidewalk. Also, we have some pretty nice parks to walk and sit in. Buy picnic supplies at a supermarket and have a cheap lunch there when the weather is nice. For a nice, free view and an affordable cup of coffee, visit the public library near Central Station, there's a café with a rooftop terrace. Some nice lively places to visit and people watch at 0 cost: the weekly biological market at Noordermarkt on Saturday, the Albert Cuyp market, the flea market at Waterlooplein (both every day except Sunday). Another relatively affordable activity is renting a bike for an afternoon and just cycling around town, or going for a longer cycle in the beautiful countryside just outside Amsterdam (highly recommended is cycling along the IJsselmeerdike to Durgerdam, and if you're really into cycling, all the way to Marken). Another 0 cost nice place you shouldn't miss is Begijnhof and it's 2 churches. The entrance is in the middle of the main shopping disctrict, and it's like stepping into another world. Take the free ferry to NDSM werf behind Central Station when the weather is nice. The view on the water is cool, and NDSM werf is a former wharf which is being regenerated. There's still some rough edges to it (regeneration started with squatting artists), and it has several really nice places to eat and drink, with views on the water. If you're into classical music at all and here on a Wednesday, try getting into the free lunchtime performance in the world-famous Concertgebouw. It starts at 1230, but you should arrive early!
- Amsterdam still has a shortage of hotel rooms, which drives up prices. Book in advance, shop around on booking.com for good deals, and definitely also consider AirBNB (airbnb.com). Hotels that are a bit further away from the city centre are loads cheaper, this could be well worth it even with added public transportation costs. There's also this: http://hotelschool.nl/en/hotels-restaurants/skotel-amsterdam#!rooms, it's the training hotel for a prestigious school for future hotel employees. Also check youth hostels, they often have reasonably priced family rooms available.
- If at all possible, do NOT just stick to Amsterdam. Haarlem is only a 15 minute train ride away, and is pretty much as beautiful, but smaller and a lot less hectic and touristy. Here also take the time to walk around the city centre, it's gorgeous. And step inside the St Bavo church (they charge admission these days but not very much). Haarlem has 2 very worthwile museums: the Frans Hals museum (gorgeous paintings by Dutch masters) and the Teylers museum (science and technology). Teylers really is worth it, it's the oldest museum we have and contains lots of weird inventions from when we were actually at the forefront of science a few centuries ago. Haarlem has lots of hofjes (like Begijnhof), check them out, they're usually free and very pretty.
- From Haarlem, there's trains going on for another 15 mins to Zandvoort, i.e. the beach. The town itself is really quite ugly, but the sand dunes and the beach are well worth a visit for an afternoon walk (just hike along the beach and back through the dunes or vice versa) and for watching the sunset.
- Utrecht is also a nice place to visit and walk around, with a smaller and less hectic city centre than Amsterdam. It's about 20 minutes by train from Amsterdam Central. There's beer cellars along the canals which now house restaurants and pubs, so you can have a drink at water level - do that! I recommend Museum van Speelklok tot Pierement https://www.museumspeelklok.nl/, dedicated to automated musical instruments, and the Spoorwegmuseum (reached by a special train from utrecht central) http://www.spoorwegmuseum.nl/, dedicated to the railways - these are especially nice if you have children.
- The Hague is the only Dutch city which actually has beachfront access, so you can combine a city trip with nature / beachcombing. It's about 40 minutes by train from Amsterdam Central. Here, visit Mauritshuis (one of the best museums in the Netherlands), poke around the houses of Parliament at Binnenhof for free (who knows, you may run into a prominent Dutch politician, they're definitely a lot less heavily guarded than yours). ProDemos has affordable guided tours, on which you can visit the inside of these buildings. See here: http://english.prodemos.nl/English/Visitor-Centre/Guided-tours. Take a tram to Scheveningen or Kijkduin and walk on the beach for free. And here also: walking or biking around is the best way to see the city centre.
- Halfway between Amsterdam and The Hague is Leiden. It has a very large university in a small, historic town, so there's a decidedly studenty feel to the place. Lovely city centre to just walk around in, lots of greenery where the old city walls and fortifications used to be, and lots of affordable places to eat and drink (because duh, students). The very old university has spawned some pretty good museums: I recomment the Museum of Antiquities (Rijksmuseum voor Oudheden - hosts classical Greek, Roman and Egyptian art), the Museum of Ethnology (Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde - hosts art from all over the world, mostly from our former colonial empire) or Naturalis (the museum of natural history).
- Rotterdam is the 'other' large city in the Netherlands. It was heavily bombed in WWII, so the city centre is mostly concrete - it's the only Dutch city with an actual skyline and lots of modern architecture, some of it quite experimental. However, I think it still merits a visit. It's about 50 minutes by train from Amsterdam. The recommended museum here is Boijmans van Beuningen - art, but from more modern days than the other spots i recommended. Definitely try to walk or cycle across the vey impressive Erasmusbridge across the river Maas, which runs through the middle of town. Have a drink at the atmospheric and artfully renovated Hotel New York - where immigrants used to leave for America. The neighbourhood of Delfshaven is reachable by metro from Rotterdam Central, and has survived the war so it's nice for strolling around.
- On your way to Rotterdam, you'll pass through Delft. This is also well worth a stop. It has a very beautiful historic city centre, great for just walking around in or sitting somewhere with a coffee.

[JJNL]

Addition: don't balk at the cycling b/c of the infant, just find a place that will rent you a bike + kiddyseat! You'll see loads of parents transporting their infants on bikes here, in all manner of seats, trailers, transport bikes and other contraptions.

[JJNL]

Just thought of some more things:
- you might want to repost this question under Ask a Mustachian. It's in Welcome now - I bet less people regularly see that bit.

- When you're out and about in the Netherlands, your biggest expense apart from accommodation is going to be food. Here's some tips to limit that:

1. Find somewhere to stay where you can cook some of your meals, or at least have like a refrigerator and a hot plate. This is where airBNB (staying in somebody's house) beats a hotel: you can unashamedly bring shopping home, and often also use their kitchen. Hostels also usually allow this and have kitchens. Just having a supermarket-bought breakfast every morning instead of a buffet you have to pay for is going to save loads.

2. In this vein: pack/bring/supermarket buy lunches. Eating out in the Netherlands is a lot more expensive than in the USA (staff actually make a living wage and then there's taxes, both show up in your bill), whereas shopping for food is in my experience easier and cheaper. Supermarkets are everywhere, also downtown, and easy to find. Also: buy sandwiches or good bread that doesn't need anything else (like raisin rolls, muesli rolls or croissants) fresh from a bakery at like 50 cents a piece, also a lot cheaper than a sit down lunch. Street markets that sell food (In Amsterdam: Albert Cuyp, Noordermarkt, Dappermarkt, Ten Katemarkt) are also good for lunch on the go, and amazing value on fruit and veggies. If you REALLY want to go native, try a raw herring sandwich at the fish stand on a market / street corner. It helps to remember that this is basically the Dutch version of sushi.

3. If you want to have a sit down meal, avoid the most touristy areas like the plague. They are overpriced - and usually there's much cheaper stuff literally just around the corner. Museum cafés are ALWAYS a bad idea: overpriced and often crappy food. Rule of thumb: if there are NO Dutch people eating where you are, there is a good chance it's a rip off, as we tend  to be a relatively price-conscious bunch. Try around the corner / a few blocks away. Obviously, you would prefer a charming place to eat that is highly individual and what not. You can find these by just walking around in nice less touristy neighbourhoods. If you're not going for atmosphere but for value and a quick meal, the following local chains are a good option: MAOZ falafel, does pitabread with falafel and unlimited salad bar. If you're smart about refilling your salad often before finishinig your pita bread this equals a full meal. La Place is a subsidiary of the V&D department store, found in pretty much every main shopping drag and large railway stations, which sells relatively high end food but also often has good deals on things like coffee + apple pie (you can NOT leave the Netherlands without eating Dutch apple pie), and also sells bakery items. HEMA is a department store which can be found on pretty much every main shopping drag in the Netherlands. It usually has a restaurant and/or food corner on the street, and is increasingly also present at train stations. If you're not a vegetarian, try the 'broodje rookworst' - a sandwich with 1/2 a Dutch smoked sausage. HEMA also has good deals on things like continental breakfast, coffee + pie etc. FEBO (or other places with 'snack bar' on the window serving similar food) is a quintessentially Dutch fast food joint (it originated in Amsterdam but is now everywhere). A Dutch fast food meal consists of a portion of fries with a sauce (mayonnaise, ketchup, peanut sauce, curry sauce etc.) plus something else deep-fried, like a kroket (mushy meat in a breadcrumb crust) or cheese souffle (deep fried battered cheese). For a real Dutch experience, get your snack from the automated dispenser in the wall. BTW, if you find a place that sells genuine Flemish / Belgian fries: these are good to try. I hate to admit it, but the Belgians do have us beaten on the fry-front. There's several places where you can buy these in downtown Amsterdam alone. Obviously, you don't want to have this every time, or even more than once, but I think it is fun to experience what lots of Dutch people eat when they don't feel like cooking ;), and it is a rather cheap (and fast) dinner or lunch option.

4. Do NOT give in to homesickness and enter a Starbucks/McDonalds/Burger King/Dominos/New York Pizza. Starbucks is expensive compared to its Dutch competitors (like Bagels & Beans or Coffee Company, which occupy a similar niche), and mainly thrives on homesick / clueless tourists or Dutch people wanting to appear hip and happening, b/c Starbucks is new here and people here know it from having visited the USA. There are Dutch fast food alternatives to McDo and BK that taste better IMHO (see under 3), and you can get an Italian style pizza for 1/2 the price of Dominos/NYP anywhere - and in a sit down restaurant to boot.

5. Do NOT attempt to have authentic Dutch food for evening dinner. I will give you a pass on pancakes - they are relatively good value and fun for your infant to eat for dinner once (and yes, pancakes, or rather: 1 huge pancake with toppings = dinner here), but that's it. We don't have much of a national cuisine, fancy food in the Netherlands has traditionally meant French-style dining, and when we go out to eat it will be something like that or Italian/Asian/fusion/high end burger place etc. Dutch food is what your mother cooks at home (or you yourself, though the majority of my peers don't cook a lot of traditional Dutch meals), not something you go to a restaurant to have. Restaurants serving 'genuine Dutch food' are basically all tourist traps. So eating out like a local means eating something non-Dutch. Things I definitely recommend: try Indonesian food. Indonesia used to be a Dutch colony, and when it became independent lots of Indonesians migrated here. Indonesians specialise in the kind of meal where youre meant to share the flavourful dishes + rice / noodles, so if theres a group of you, you get to try lots of different things. Watch out, their food is quite spicy! Quality varies enormously though - check Tripadvisor, or its Dutch subsidiary iens.nl. Another good thing to try out here is Surinamese. Suriname is also a former Dutch colony, and has a distinct and yummy cuisine. Try roti (i.e. thin pancake thingies in pieces of which you grab vegetables/meat/tofu flavourful stuffing so you can eat with your hands).

[JJNL]

And my last bit of advice: tip like a Dutchman. Americans tend to tip like drunken sailors. I've worked as a waitress in the Netherlands for almost 10 years, so I am definitely pro tipping, but restaurant staff actually make good wages here so stick to Dutch-style tips. If you're just having coffee/a drink, either don't tip or round up to the next euro - definitely do not leave a large tip if you haven't had an actual meal or spent a lot of time sitting there and being waited on. If you've had a meal or been there a long time, tip 10% if you're satisfied. If you're really happy, go up to 15%. If you're unhappy with your experience, don't tip at all.

Also: we only tip in restaurants/cafes etc. Taxi drivers (which you shouldn't encounter as taking a taxi is one of the most expensive and stupid things you can do as a tourist), hair dressers, porters etc do not expect a tip.

[HenryDavid]

For Paris:
-also don't even think about driving. Pure hell. Transit is great. Research the day pass systems. But do NOT pack a ton of luggage in suitcases. Use stuff you can carry up steps, because Euro cities have lots of those. Test-pack at home, then carry baby and luggage up and down steps ten times. Then repack. Leave almost everything at home-- shampoo etc you can buy there, clothes make good souvenirs if you find you packed too light. Make your life easy and under pack.
- Paris restaurants get cheaper and better as you get farther from big monuments like the Eiffel Tower, Louvre etc.The trouble is you run into another one . . .
-small bakeries and delis-- called charcuteries-- have sandwiches, small salads etc. and grocery stores like Monoprix do this too. Get picnic food then go to a park. Lovely parks in Paris. For restaurants, try the fixed price menu at lunch.  Menu means "set meal" not food list menu.  Carte is food list menu. Lunch is better value.
- do learn ten words of French. Hello, excuse me, please, thank you, where is. French business people with their own businesses--not the chains though -- think they are welcoming you to their home. You must say hello before you start to do business. Everything takes ten times longer! Just plan on it. If you speak French you can have a nice chat.  If not, just smile patiently. It's not a fast culture.
-don't try to do too much. Build in some down time, because cities are work. Assume you will be back, so pick one main thing per day and calm down.
-have a fantastic time!

[Davids]

Check out Sandemans, it is a company that offers free walking tours throughout various cities in Europe, including Paris and Amsterdam. It is free in that you tip the guide whatever you feel it is worth so no upfront charge. They are great, the guides are great (since they are working for tips) and of course it is lots of walking so good exercise. The tours are offered daily, usually they have a morning tour and an afternoon tour but check the website to see the times.

[freeazabird]

Thank you everyone for the wonderful advice. I truly appreciate it! I'm now more excited to visit. It's so cool that there are Mustachians all over the world ;-)

[Dicey]

I'm interested in pretty much anything. I will have an infant with me.

HeeHeeHee "Free as a bird" with an infant strikes me as funny. I hope you have an awesome trip!

[MsPeacock]

How old will your baby be? Have you done much traveling with the baby before?

I ask because traveling with little ones really change some aspects of your trip.  I found that we needed to plan around naps, babies don't understand jet lag or getting on local time, and lots of kid activities (toddler age on up) had to be included in the itinerary.

Strollers don't always work well on cobblestones, for starters, and large American strollers don't fit well in many smaller European stores, restaurants, etc. Learn to ask "where are the diapers" in the local language of every place you visit. Makes sure you stay places you can do laundry every few days. If you rent a car you may find that your American car seat either doesn't fit or doesn't' meet European safety standards.

[JoJo]

One of my favorite day trips from Amsterdam was Zaane Shcans.  You can do this as a tour but alternatively for a few euros, you can catch the train from the main station and walk a little to the site.  They had free cheese & wooden clog demos.  Free cheese samples, a pretty river and several relocated windmills.

[rubybeth]

I've been to both Paris (5 days) and extensively in Amsterdam (one trip was only one day, but we went back for 11 full days there--we loved it so much). I'd say it really depends on what you enjoy. Both cities are big on museums, history and art, but you could also just enjoy parks/gardens or walking around. For Paris, I'd say hit a few highlights--see the Eiffel Tower, Louvre, etc. but definitely buy or get a couple guidebooks from the library now and start looking at other things you'd like to do. For Amsterdam, the Van Gogh Museum and Rijksmuseum are great, but there are many other smaller museums that are lovely (we really enjoyed the special exhibits at the Hermitage, for example).

Exactly what month will you be there? Prepare for cooler weather in Amsterdam. We were there in late May and it was very cool--think layering with fleece and windbreakers. What I think was interesting was that 60 degrees there felt much colder than 60s in the midwest (thinking the sea air/humidity levels changed how it felt). We also did tons of walking in both cities; familiarizing yourself with the public transit in both cities will be essential with an infant--and I'd think infant wearing would be easier than navigating with a stroller, but not sure what your options will be.

[freeazabird]

To answer a few questions.....we will be traveling at the end of October. Our daughter will be 12 months old.

One of my favorite hobbies is thrifting. If anyone has recs on where to thrift in either location, I'd appreciate it.

[JJNL]

For Amsterdam (I'm giving you places to buy 2nd hand clothes - I imagine you wouldnt want to buy bigger things... and I've focussed on the city centre)

- the flea market at Waterlooplein. Try the market itself, and there's several 2nd hand clothes shops in the area directly around it.

The area called the 9 streets had lots of vintage clothing stores, like these:
- Laura Dols, Wolvenstraat 7
- Episode, Berenstraat 9
- Lady Day, Hartenstraat 9
- Kledingwinkel van den Volksbond, Haarlemmerstraat

And then there's these:
- I love vintage, Prinsengracht 201 and Haarlemmerstraat 25
- Tutti frutti, Bilderdijkstraat 147 and De Clercqstraat 112
- Serendipity (only for kids clothes), Leliegracht 32

On 3 and 4 October, theres the monthly flea market in the IJ-hallen, on the NDSM-wharf. You can get there by taking the free ferry from Amsterdam Central. They charge 5 euros admission (2 euros for kids). The market starts at 9, be there early or all the good stuff will be gone.

[Gerard]

Thanks to JJNL for that long and useful post! Next time I go, I'll definitely take advantage of those hints. Plus I'll second the ones with which I have some experience. Indonesian food is amazing. And the small university towns are very cool (I spent a week in Groningen last summer). They have a lot of the things that make anywhere in Holland pleasant (bikes, old buildings, narrow streets, markets, food, good vibe), without the tourist-trappiness of Amsterdam and with MUCH lower airbnb prices.

Also, and this is admittedly shallow of me, but man, Dutch people are attractive. And tall and fit and happy.

[Seppia]

For Paris: Paris has some of the best museums in the world, and they are CHEAP.
there is even a day (when I was living there it was the first Thursday of the month, not sure this is still the case) when entrance was free.
The Centre Pompidou is in my opinion the best modern art museum in the world together with the MoMa.
The Musée d'Orsay has some spectacular impressionist stuff and the building itself (an old train station) is stunning. 
Also, do not miss the Sainte Chapelle, the most beautiful example of gothic architecture in the world and (to me) the single most beautiful thing in Paris.
If you want to do a boat tour of the Seine river (which I strongly recommend) take the Bateau Mouches, other operators are much more expensive.

[KCalla]

Oh My!
These tips are so helpful.  Amsterdam has been on my "someday" list.  Readin these posts has moved it to the very top!   Thanks to the original poster who started this thread and mega thanks to the generous responders.

[JJNL]

Just thought of 1 more handy thing. OP, you do realize you need to pack rain gear for yourselves, your infant and his/her stroller since you're visiting us in late October, right? TBH one should ALWAYS bring raingear here, but in fall chances of rain are higher than in mid-summer. A very handy app to install on your smartphone / website to put in its favourites while you're here is Buienradar (www.buienradar.nl). The app is available for Android and IPhone in the Google Play / Apple app store. It lets you look at real-time radar views of the weather above the Netherlands, including projections a few hours out. Since you are on holiday and don't have a strict schedule to keep, this will let you avoid the heaviest rain showers. The radar pic is pretty self-explanatory, you don't need to speak Dutch to use it.

[iamlindoro]

The major museums in Paris (The Louvre, the Orsay, etc.) offer free admission the first Sunday of each month.  This drastically increases the number of people there, but it is a great opportunity to save.   Other museums like the Carnavalet museum are always free, and the Carnavalet in particular is a good one to visit.

If you want to enjoy some typical Paris, take the metro to Place Monge and walk to Rue Mouffetard.  It's a great, mostly pedestrian-only walk jam packed with pubs, cheese shops, bakeries, patisseries, charcuterie, and other "real life" Paris.  It's picturesque and it's where Hemingway (and I!) lived in the city.  Just a fun afternoon or evening.  Everyone goes out and has ice cream, grabs something to drink, and joyfully walks down the road enjoying a beer, some wine, or whatever.  When I think of the moments that brought me real joy when living in Paris, simply "being" on this one street is high among them.

[markbrynn]

In regards to the request for information about thrifting, please see link below to some of the flea markets and vintage/thrift stores in Paris.

http://www.timeout.com/paris/en/shopping/flea-markets-in-paris

[2Cent]

https://www.ns.nl/producten/en/uitleg-overige-producten/p/amsterdam-travel-ticket

May be worthwhile to consider if you are going to spend a lot of time in Amsterdam. Although renting a bike is ofcourse better. :)
I found Amsterdam pretty un impressive compared to other cities in terms of architecture. Museums are good though. Maybe you could visit Brussels as well as it is in between Paris and Amsterdam.

[Irishtache]

JJNL - thanks for the great tips. I have copied and pasted into my Amsterdam guide for possible(very likely) future visit. Thanks.

[boy_bye]

The major museums in Paris (The Louvre, the Orsay, etc.) offer free admission the first Sunday of each month.  This drastically increases the number of people there, but it is a great opportunity to save.   Other museums like the Carnavalet museum are always free, and the Carnavalet in particular is a good one to visit.

Yes! It's very near the Place des Vosges, too, which was a lovely place to hang out and eat a baguette and read. The Musee Carnavalet has an entire Art Nouveau jewelry store inside, designed by Mucha! It's incredibly beautiful!

[JJNL]

https://www.ns.nl/producten/en/uitleg-overige-producten/p/amsterdam-travel-ticket

May be worthwhile to consider if you are going to spend a lot of time in Amsterdam. Although renting a bike is ofcourse better. :)
I found Amsterdam pretty un impressive compared to other cities in terms of architecture. Museums are good though. Maybe you could visit Brussels as well as it is in between Paris and Amsterdam.

I agree that Amsterdam doesn't have a lot of awe-inspiring architecture on a grand scale, like Paris or Rome. For that kind of thing to happen, you need a strong central government and / or state religion in your history. We spent our early years as the rural backwater of other people's empires, and when Amsterdam got really wealthy and started to expand, we were a federal republic and the Catholic church had lost its power. Protestants in mainland Europe have never really gone for the whole cathedral thing - they've never had an organisation like the Catholic church. So the architecture downtown was all planned and built by the wealthy tradesmen who were in charge here. That kind of set-up doesn't normally produce things like huge palaces or churches. Because why decide to build a huge church if nobody's forcing you to and you can also invest in your own nice home on a canal, with a warehouse next door? Paris largely looks the way it does because Baron Haussman got a free hand to tear half of it down and build his ideal version of a city. Nobody has ever had that kind of central power in Amsterdam, or that kind of financial backing from a central state, hence the much smaller scale and low-key set-up of our architecture.

[freeazabird]

Thanks again everyone for all the feedback!

[2Cent]

https://www.ns.nl/producten/en/uitleg-overige-producten/p/amsterdam-travel-ticket

May be worthwhile to consider if you are going to spend a lot of time in Amsterdam. Although renting a bike is ofcourse better. :)
I found Amsterdam pretty un impressive compared to other cities in terms of architecture. Museums are good though. Maybe you could visit Brussels as well as it is in between Paris and Amsterdam.

I agree that Amsterdam doesn't have a lot of awe-inspiring architecture on a grand scale, like Paris or Rome. For that kind of thing to happen, you need a strong central government and / or state religion in your history. We spent our early years as the rural backwater of other people's empires, and when Amsterdam got really wealthy and started to expand, we were a federal republic and the Catholic church had lost its power. Protestants in mainland Europe have never really gone for the whole cathedral thing - they've never had an organisation like the Catholic church. So the architecture downtown was all planned and built by the wealthy tradesmen who were in charge here. That kind of set-up doesn't normally produce things like huge palaces or churches. Because why decide to build a huge church if nobody's forcing you to and you can also invest in your own nice home on a canal, with a warehouse next door? Paris largely looks the way it does because Baron Haussman got a free hand to tear half of it down and build his ideal version of a city. Nobody has ever had that kind of central power in Amsterdam, or that kind of financial backing from a central state, hence the much smaller scale and low-key set-up of our architecture.

True, and it's not even the seat of government, so nothing on that end either. The train station is about as good as it gets.

Oh, in Paris it is really nice to take a bus tour hop on hop off arrangement. The cheapest one is http://www.foxity.com/
It will take you directly to a whole bunch of sights without hassle and gives some nice information. You can get off, see the place and continue with the next bus.

[patrickza]

I just got back from a two week honeymoon in France, one in Paris and one in Nice. We used airbnb for accommodation, reasonably priced, always with free internet and a decent kitchen. Food in cafes and restaurants was expensive, but even if you don't feel like cooking, go buy some salami, hummus style foods at the supermarket and have an amazing picnic in one of the many huge parks!

For entertainment we went on long walks along the Seine, explored all the main attractions, and of course the beach etc in Nice. I'm not much of an art fan, so we didn't do too many Museums. One of the tours we went on was a bicycle tour of Paris which I found great. Being on a bike you cover a lot more area than you would on foot. Some of the bikes they had available had a kiddie seat, so you could take your child along.

The metro runs like clockwork, until 1am, and there seem to be stops everywhere, so you're never more than a 5 minute walk from one of them.

[rubybeth]

https://www.ns.nl/producten/en/uitleg-overige-producten/p/amsterdam-travel-ticket

May be worthwhile to consider if you are going to spend a lot of time in Amsterdam. Although renting a bike is ofcourse better. :)
I found Amsterdam pretty un impressive compared to other cities in terms of architecture. Museums are good though. Maybe you could visit Brussels as well as it is in between Paris and Amsterdam.

I agree that Amsterdam doesn't have a lot of awe-inspiring architecture on a grand scale, like Paris or Rome. For that kind of thing to happen, you need a strong central government and / or state religion in your history. We spent our early years as the rural backwater of other people's empires, and when Amsterdam got really wealthy and started to expand, we were a federal republic and the Catholic church had lost its power. Protestants in mainland Europe have never really gone for the whole cathedral thing - they've never had an organisation like the Catholic church. So the architecture downtown was all planned and built by the wealthy tradesmen who were in charge here. That kind of set-up doesn't normally produce things like huge palaces or churches. Because why decide to build a huge church if nobody's forcing you to and you can also invest in your own nice home on a canal, with a warehouse next door? Paris largely looks the way it does because Baron Haussman got a free hand to tear half of it down and build his ideal version of a city. Nobody has ever had that kind of central power in Amsterdam, or that kind of financial backing from a central state, hence the much smaller scale and low-key set-up of our architecture.

I disagree. Compared to where I live in the US (Midwest), Amsterdam's architecture is amazing and I love it. More canals than Venice, too, which surprises a lot of folks here when I tell them that. I honestly got kind of bored with the architecture in Paris, because every street looks so similar with those apartment buildings with fake balconies. But after one day in Amsterdam on our trip in 2014, we had to go back ASAP so did in the spring of 2015 for 11 days. The houses packed so close together in the canal belt area, the Rijksmuseum, Stedelijk, the EYE, and the public library near the harbor, and other beautiful museums all over the place (and Van Gogh Museum just opened their new entrance), plus the canals themselves are pretty much an engineering wonder... And the mansions surrounding the Vondelpark area--wow!! Haven't been to Italy yet, but I suppose I'd probably enjoy seeing some ruins at some point. But I'm honestly more impressed that there are houses still standing in Amsterdam on piles from the 1600s (especially coming from country that wasn't even really a country until much later than that, and no buildings in my town are older than the late 1800s).