Must see's in Amsterdam, Paris or London

[LSlycord]

Ok friends. Assuming that we can travel, on May 1 the Slycords will start their European vacation in Amsterdam. We do 3 days in Amsterdam, 3 days in Paris and 3 days in London. The days will go by quickly. I have traveled to all of these places before but not for a long time.

If you have recently been to any of these places, what are must see's? Let's pretend that Covid is under control then. We have a family friend in Amsterdam so we will get some tips from him. He is stationed there. Brian's family on both his mother and father's sides are Dutch so he is excited about that. We will definitely tour Anne Frank's house and we are going to the Keukenhof for the tulips.

But what else? First time for the kids to Europe.

 

[FloridaGranny]

Hi Linda, I've been to all three of those cities and I'm sure you know about all the famous landmarks and museums that are "must sees" in each place. A friend who lives in the Netherlands gave me a couple of off-beat things to do, which my husband and I loved. One was to buy a Stroopwafel from a street vendor. They are nothing like the store-bought ones and a real treat. Another was to go to a arts/crafts market (there are different ones each day) or the Albert Cuyp flea market, which is famous. If you don't get your fill of marvelous flowers at Keukenhof, there's the Amsterdam Flower market, which floats. I'm not sure what Covid has done to these things, however. Keep your fingers crossed that all is well. Oh yes, we also loved Zaanse-Schans for windmills. It's a little less touristy than Kinderdijk (which we also visited) and utterly charming.
One off-beat London suggestion is, depending on the age and interest of your kids, there are a couple of Harry Potter tours. They fill up quickly so you'd probably need to reserve a spot before you travel to London. I made sure we went to Abbey Road, too, and had my husband snap a photo of me crossing on the crosswalk. (I'm a Beatles fan, of course.)
I'm sure others here will come along with dozens of other suggestions and I hope all the travel will work out for you and your family.

 

[LSlycord]

Hi Linda, I've been to all three of those cities and I'm sure you know about all the famous landmarks and museums that are "must sees" in each place. A friend who lives in the Netherlands gave me a couple of off-beat things to do, which my husband and I loved. One was to buy a Stroopwafel from a street vendor. They are nothing like the store-bought ones and a real treat. Another was to go to a arts/crafts market (there are different ones each day) or the Albert Cuyp flea market, which is famous. If you don't get your fill of marvelous flowers at Keukenhof, there's the Amsterdam Flower market, which floats. I'm not sure what Covid has done to these things, however. Keep your fingers crossed that all is well. Oh yes, we also loved Zaanse-Schans for windmills. It's a little less touristy than Kinderdijk (which we also visited) and utterly charming.
One off-beat London suggestion is, depending on the age and interest of your kids, there are a couple of Harry Potter tours. They fill up quickly so you'd probably need to reserve a spot before you travel to London. I made sure we went to Abbey Road, too, and had my husband snap a photo of me crossing on the crosswalk. (I'm a Beatles fan, of course.)
I'm sure others here will come along with dozens of other suggestions and I hope all the travel will work out for you and your family.

Thanks Diane. I love the idea of Abbey Road! And how did I forget about the windmills? Kids are 19 and 18.

Definitely not enough time to see everything that I want...using this as more of a sampler and hoping that the kids will want to go back at least once more with us...but kind of depends on school going forward. Slipping this one into a small window of time right after the semester is over. Thanks

 

[tanteva]

One thing I would have to go and see if I went to London again is the gherkin. I absolutely love that building, and I would like to see it in real life. I'm not that into architecture really, but that house is the best!

The Gherkin – Wikipedia

sv.wikipedia.org

 

[LSlycord]

One thing I would have to go and see if I went to London again is the gherkin. I absolutely love that building, and I would like to see it in real life. I'm not that into architecture really, but that house is the best!

The Gherkin – Wikipedia

sv.wikipedia.org

I've never heard of the gherkin. That's a very interesting piece of architecture.

 

[Tamsin]

With only 3 days and probably some jet lag I'd spend a slow day wandering Amsterdam Old Town. You could also visit a market and check out the florist shops. I'd then make a beeline for the Rijks but that's me. All you need to know about Paris is it has boulangeries and patisseries . There are also fromageries. LOL Grab some and have a picnic by the Eiffel Tower. You might like to take a cruise on the Seine past Notre Dame. In London you could do a hop-on and hop-off tour in a double decker bus if that's your style. Visit a pub for lunch. London is a pub hub. Take a walk around Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens. I'd definitely pick a lovely evening to check out the sunset over London from The Chard.
I'd double check what's open and what's not and what the test and quarantine requirements are closer to the time. Enjoy your trip.

 

[Susan - s3js]

In London you could also do a walking tour - they do one of historic pubs and another of London's famous prisons that includes the Tower and the Clinque. they also do one of the Great Fire that Samuel Pepys witnessed and wrote about in his diary. The Crown Jewels and the Armory at the Tower are well worth the trip. Take one look at Henry VIII's armor and you'll know just how high were his illusions of grandeur! I lived in England for 5 years, almost 2 of it in London and would go back any time!

You really must have fish and chips. The Seashell https://www.seashellrestaurant.co.uk/ was one of my favorites, but it's hard to find a shop that sells bad fish and chips.

 

[janedee]

In Amsterdam, I'd take a trip to Zaandam to see the windmills, the Van Gogh Museum and the Flower Market. The hop on/hop off canal boat ticket is well worth it too.

In London, the last time we went, we wanted to do a few off beat things so we visited the Churchill War Rooms and did a tour of the inside of Tower Bridge. Then we went to St. Paul's Cathedral and climbed to the top - the view was spectacular. Westminster Abbey is also well worth a visit, along with Trafalgar Square and the British Museum (although you could probably spending days just there).

I haven't been to Paris in many years but enjoyed a wonderful week there many years ago. Wander the Champs Elysee, take a river cruise, visit Versailles, the Musee d'Orsay (Impressionist paintings), Notre Dame (not sure if its open to the public again). I'd love to go back there again.

 

[hoodsmom]

It kinda depends on what you're interested in. In London we try not to miss a concert at St. Martin in the Fields and of course you could spend forever in the British Museum. I agree with Westmister Abbey and the Churchill War Rooms. We go to Paris (was almost yearly b4 the pandemic) mostly for the food. If you are a first-timer, don't miss Sainte-Chapelle and a walk through Montmartre (you can see the exterior of Sacre Coeur while you're there). Chartres is an easy day trip from Paris and we often go there (and if you do, investigate the availability of Malcom Miller, who gives stained glass window tours if there is enough demand and his schedule permits). Other things that might not be on a first-timers list but are worth seeing: St. Denis (if you are into cathedrals - it's relatively far away from the city center), Sacre Coeur (attend vespers if you can), the Cluny Museum. And what they're doing to reconstruct Notre Dame is quite interesting.