Quick Getaway: Frankfurt to Amsterdam in 3-nights
Enroute to meet one of our Travel With Kids tour groups, we found ourselves with a few days to spare. We were flying into Frankfurt and out of Dublin….so what to do with the four days in between? Well, the answer was a whole lot!
We flew Phoenix to Frankfurt on Condor Airlines…a direct flight at a great price (even for their Premium Economy option…check out our review here). Since we were landing in the afternoon, we decided to head straight out of town and save exploring Frankfurt for another day. A train caught directly at the airport in Frankfurt landed us in the town of Bingen on the Rhine River in just over an hour and with plenty of daylight to spare.
Jeremy and Seamus next to train station in Bingen, Germany
So, we checked into our hotel, Hotel Krone, a simple hotel with amazing views of the traditional German village and the river, and a great location. The river walk in Bingen hosts lots of cafes, a huge play area that even Jeremy and teenage Seamus found enthralling, shops, and a ferry ticket office. We bought tickets for the next day to head north on the ferry to Koblenz doing a mini Rhine River cruise along the way. And then settled down in one of the outdoor cafes along the river to watch life go by and indulge in some German cuisine (although Seamus opted for Italian!)
Seamus at dinner in Bingen, Germany
A good night’s sleep and we were off again. We boarded the 9:30am KD Rhine River Cruises, a hop-on, hop-off boat that cruises daily from Mainz to Koblenz and from Koblenz to Cologne. We found a spot on deck and watched as the river twisted its way through tall green mountains dotted with castles and fortresses,
Castle near Bacharach, Germany
rolling green hills covered in vineyards, and past quaint traditional German villages…our favorite was St. Goar.
Jeremy. Carrie. and Seamus cruising the Rhine River
On board, we tried local favorites like pretzels, sausages, and of course some Rhine Valley wines.
Just after 1:00pm, we arrived in Koblenz…in time to catch a train to Amsterdam where we arrived a few hours later…still with plenty of daylight (it will still light out after 10pm this far north in summer!) After checking into Hotel Jupiter Centre, which was in a charming village part of town where locals rode their bikes (who doesn’t in Amsterdam!?) down the cobbled streets, but still in the canal zone and near main tourist attractions.
After settling in, we walked down the cobbled streets ourselves, over the bridges, along canals, to Foodhallen. Located in a refurbished tram terminal, Foodhallen is a cooperative of dozens of restaurants serving everything from sushi to Indian curries to pizzas and everything in between. Small stalls line the side of the brick building offering something to suit everyone’s tastes while large tables with cool lighting make for a cozy atmosphere to enjoy it!
Day 1 in Amsterdam, we decided to choose one of the ways locals explore the city….by boat. We rented a boat from Boaty Rentals. After stocking up on some amazing Dutch cheeses, crackers, and wine, Seamus controlled the map and helped us navigate around the city by boat.
Captain Jeremy and Navigator Seamus on the canals of Amsterdam
We passed lots of local life….people riding bikes (of course!), children playing in parks, locals commuting via canal, people sunning themselves on the banks…and saw amazing art installations as we passed by museums, saw some wild animals from the canal side of the zoo, passed locals living in houseboats along the canals, fed ducks, and much more! It made for a fine day of exploring.
Seamus riding a bike along the canal near our hotel in Amsterdam
Day 2 had us choosing another tried and true transport method in Amsterdam: the bicycle. They say there are more bikes than people in Amsterdam and I now believe that must be true. There were bikes everywhere!
Bikes outnumber the people in Amsterdam!
There are also museums everywhere in Amsterdam…and to suit every taste…museums on photography, anatomy, houseboats, even torture! We chose to visit the Anne Frank House and Rikjsmuseum where Holland’s art was on display with classics from celebrated artists like Rembrandt and Van Gogh to lego buildings and exhibits on Dutch exploration and history.
We finished our day with a walk through the massive Vondelpark where we found a hidden bar tucked away in an old atomic bomb bunker. With graffiti decor (actual graffiti, not just for show) and local beat poets performing highlighting Amsterdam’s more modern, underground art scene.
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