Need info for tours and guides for Zurich, Amsterdam, Nuremberg, Munich

[Riviera bound]

We are interested in lining up tours for six people before and after our cruise. We will be on Avalon Felicity Romantic Rhine April 1, 2012. We will have several days in the Zurich and surrounding area, 2 days in Amsterdam, 4 days in Nuremberg area, and 2 days in Munich. So far we think we want to see the Alps in Switzerland, Keukenhof gardens and Anne Frank house in Amsterdam, and Dauchau concentration camp north of Munich. We are open for other suggestions and web sites for tours and tour guides.

Clare

[LHT28]

Amsterdam you can DIY with a bit of research

Check the Europe ports of call forum for info on Amsterdam

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=233

[rhinered]

We did the Romantic Rhine on the Felicity this past September - and loved it!! Started in Amsterdam, and we arrived 3 days early to enjoy that fantastic city and cllimatize..... VanGogh Museum was a favourite for us. We walked a lot and bought 24 hour Tram/Bus passes that gave us endless opportunity to explore the city. At the end of cruise, we got off at Basel Switzerland and stayed there 2 days. The hotels there typically include free transportation cards, so again we were able to see a lot. We then took train to Germany and rented a car, seeing a good part of that country along with some of Austria. The Alps, both in Germany and Austria, were simply spectacular. If you have any questions, hope to help you - but sure you will have a wonderful trip!

[ingo_e]

Nuremberg and northern bavaria offer a wide range of things to do:

 

Nuremberg itself: http://www.museums.nuremberg.de/index.html

To mention a few nice spots around Nuremberg (40-60miles)

Bamberg (UNESCO WHC List), Rothenburg ob der Tauber are beautiful medieval cities. Same for Regensburg. In the Regensburg Area is Weltenburg Abbey and the Danube Gorge.

[TravelingLadyOhio]

Clare:

We took this cruise with Avalon in July and you will love it.

The Anne Frank House was one of the highlights for me. We booked our tickets online about 2 months prior to leaving. They are timed for every 1/2 hour, so you will have to plan accordingly. If you don't get them ahead of time, you will face lines that are hours long. (I reviewed this cruise on Aug 11 - if you go back, you will see what we all had to say about it.)

In Amsterdam, we stayed an extra day to tour on our own. We booked a 1/2 day tour with Grayline and went to Volendam and Markem - saw some more of Holland that way.

Enjoy your cruise.

TravelingLadyOhio

[steamboats]

Clare,

 

There are lots of tour guides in Munich. Here´s sort of an incomplete list

 

http://www.muenchen.de/int/en/sights/tours.html

 

This is the official website of the tourism office of Munich

 

http://www.muenchen.de/int/en/

 

This is also a tour operator

 

http://www.muenchen.de/int/en/

 

And we do have several companies offering Hop On Hop Off bus tours. They usually start at the Central Train Station. I prefer Gray Line as they do have a live narrated tour in German and English.

 

http://www.stadtrundfahrten-muenchen.de/eng/index.html

 

They also offer bus trips to Neuschwanstein and more.

 

This is the website of the concentration camp in Dachau

 

http://www.kz-gedenkstaette-dachau.de/index-e.html

 

They also offer a guided tour in English at 11 am daily.

 

steamboats

[Riviera bound]

Amsterdam you can DIY with a bit of research

Check the Europe ports of call forum for info on Amsterdam

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=233

 

Thanks. There is a lot of information there and I need to spend some time on that forum. So far I haven't found any tour guide recommendations but I will keep looking. I think we will do most of it on our own in Amsterdam, but may take a tour to Keukenhof Gardens and would like some recommendations about length of tour that is best.

Clare

[bean42]

Hi

We did some research and did our own thing

But some advice for Amsterdam

1.Book online for Anne Frank's House as soon as you know your dates as at that time of the year it is difficult to get tickets as it is soooo busy. Plus, you have your own entrance and skip the LONG line waiting to get get tickets

 

2. You can buy a ticket for Keukenhof Gardens on their website. It includes the bus transport from Amsterdam Airport and your entrance into the gardens. There are plenty of trains from Amsterdam Central train station, the once at the airport - head for the bus ranks and you will be able to get the connection there. Go very early, as it also gets very busy at that time of the year PLUS the gardens and Pavillions are so beautiful you will want to be there all day. We found the 1/2 day trip offered by the river cruise company was not enough and so glad we spent a day there on our own

 

3. Don't miss the Flower Auction - also a very early start but it was SO worth it - a highlight of our trip. Also easy to get to - a bus from outside Central station. This has to be seen to be believed and it is all over by 9:00am so you need to catch the 6:45 bus if you would like details please drop me an e mail

alphamac@dbnmail.co.za

 

4. Trip to Markem can also been done on your own by bus, which is located at the central station

 

I would be happy to offer more details if you wish

 

Zurich can be done on your own - but would recommend a day trip - which you can book locally or online to Mt Pilatus. That would get you into the mountains

Rgds

Jean

[Riviera bound]

Clare,

 

There are lots of tour guides in Munich. Here´s sort of an incomplete list

 

http://www.muenchen.de/int/en/sights/tours.html

 

This is the official website of the tourism office of Munich

 

http://www.muenchen.de/int/en/

 

This is also a tour operator

 

http://www.muenchen.de/int/en/

 

And we do have several companies offering Hop On Hop Off bus tours. They usually start at the Central Train Station. I prefer Gray Line as they do have a live narrated tour in German and English.

 

http://www.stadtrundfahrten-muenchen.de/eng/index.html

 

They also offer bus trips to Neuschwanstein and more.

 

This is the website of the concentration camp in Dachau

 

http://www.kz-gedenkstaette-dachau.de/index-e.html

 

They also offer a guided tour in English at 11 am daily.

 

steamboats

 

This is some wonderful information for me to study. Thank you so much for this list.

Clare

[Riviera bound]

Thanks Jean for this wonderful information. I have copied your e-mail. When I have further questions I will contact you. I have some studying to do. Clare

[Riviera bound]

Nuremberg and northern bavaria offer a wide range of things to do:

 

Nuremberg itself: http://www.museums.nuremberg.de/index.html

To mention a few nice spots around Nuremberg (40-60miles)

Bamberg (UNESCO WHC List), Rothenburg ob der Tauber are beautiful medieval cities. Same for Regensburg. In the Regensburg Area is Weltenburg Abbey and the Danube Gorge.

 

Thanks so muh for these great ideas for the Nuremberg area. I see Bamberg is pretty much on our way to Fambach and could be a great possibility for us.

Clare

[Paulinda]

FYI I believe the Dachau camp is closed on Mondays. You can probably do a self guided tour through the memorial. You can take the S-Bahn from Munich to Dachau and then take bus 726 to the memorial.

 

It's sort of a depressing place to visit so be aware of that.

[Riviera bound]

FYI I believe the Dachau camp is closed on Mondays. You can probably do a self guided tour through the memorial. You can take the S-Bahn from Munich to Dachau and then take bus 726 to the memorial.

 

It's sort of a depressing place to visit so be aware of that.

 

Thanks, Paulinda, on the information about the Monday closing. We know it will be sobering, but it is a part of our history we should probably see.

Clare

[Ine]

Amsterdam is very walkable and has very good public transport.

Populair are canalcruises (also those at night with wine and cheese!), Rijksmuseum(Rembrandt) and van Goghmuseum.

Of course Anne Frankhuis - make reservations online to skip the lines. There is a special entrance for people holding reservations.

Sit on one of the many terrraces on Rembrandtsplein, have a great rijsttafel at night in Indrapura -also Rembrandtsplein - make reservations.

Keukenhof can be done either on a tour http://www.lindbergh.nl/ or easy to do by public transport

http://www.keukenhof.nl/

Beginning of April is rather early to see tulips, so hopefully you visit Amsterdam at the end of this cruise.

Also interesting is Zaanse Schans, also easy to do by bus or train.

http://zaanseschans.nl/

Other cruise-member have used this guy for private tours outside the city:

http://www.dagtoertaxi.nl/services.html