Accommodation in Germany & Amsterdam advice

[Clive005]

Hi Myself, wife and 12 year old son are flying to Germany in September for 6 weeks
we land in Frankfurt so will probably spend a couple of days there then my plan is to travel by rail (advice on this would also be appreciated) Switzerland ( maybe) Amsterdam- Hamberg - Berlin- Munich most of the time being spent in Hamburg and Berlin. will also be looking at a couple of other places as we research
possibly a plane to Iceland for several days.
any advice would be much appreciated on Hotel, air B&B suggestions, or any advice as this is our first time there.
I guess on average would be looking at $200 per night or less for accommodation budget

Thanks
Clive

 

[odysseus]

Just some quick notes:
Frankfurt, Munich, that's an achievable budget. Berlin is cheap for accommodation so you should be under there. However, you'll need to bump it up for Amsterdam. Although all depends on where you want to stay, you haven't given any detail on preferences.

Iceland is pricey so will probably be over budget there too. As is Switzerland... This is all based on hotels though.

Also Euro train transport is released on specific dates. I think September will have already been released in which case you'd better book ASAP if you want the cheaper seats. All pricing is released on a given date and as it sells out, prices rise; it's not like flights here where they have periodic sales.

 

[Clive005]

Thanks OD, Amsterdam, Switzerland and Iceland will only spend several days there so would be prepared to pay more, and probably spending a week or so at Hamberg Berlin, would like to be as close to the CBD as possible.

 

[Denali]

We're going to Iceland and Amsterdam in April. So far I have a Airbnb for Iceland and struggling with Amsterdam at $500 per night.

 

[love_the_life]

I think there is a board with accommodation advice. Under Travel Resources. This question might be better there.

 

[jase05]

We took advantage of the Accor sales last year in the bigger cities and picked more boutique properties in the towns and small villages. Germany was very well priced, Austria was good outside of Vienna and whilst Switzerland was pricier it didn’t seem as bad as previous visits. Personally I find Frankfurt fairly dull but it’s a good base to fly into. We normally grab a rental car and shoot straight up to the Rhine region around St Goar and Boppard which is a favourite of ours. We prefer to drive in most of Europe but have plenty of rail experience in Switzerland if you need ideas or tips

 

[RB]

We're going to Iceland and Amsterdam in April. So far I have a Airbnb for Iceland and struggling with Amsterdam at $500 per night.

Strongly suggest you look at Priceline

 

[Geegeela]

The Ibis Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is an affordable hotel with comfortable rooms, on-site restaurants & 24-hour bar.

There is a free transit bus every 20 mins from the hotel to the terminal where the train is a quick trip to Amsterdam Centraal.

 

[pgsdiver]

We just spent Christmas in Frankfurt and found it a relatively cheap place to stay compared to the rest of western Europe. We stayed in the Victoria Hotel near the main station (Hauptbahnhof) after coming by train from Copenhagen (great journey where the train goes on a ferry - lots of fun for the kids).
We liked: The well-stocked (and hot!) buffet breakfast and generally well appointed rooms. The central location and the fact it had a lift.
We didn't like: Proximity to the redlight district (one block away and some dubious places just across the road from the hotel).
To be honest though, we didn't have a problem there except for two loud explosions on Christmas night, which I suspect were fireworks being thrown into skip bins. If you can get over the slightly confronting presence of beggars it is a really nice hotel and very centrally located.
On the way down to Munich you could do worse that stopping in Ulm - did this last March and it is a really lovely town.
Finally, if you have time and are that way inclined, the Auto and Teknik Museums at Sinsheim and Speyer (SE and S of Frankfurt respectively) are worth a stop. Google them.
We stayed in Ohringen in an AirBNB (PM me for details if you are interested) that gave us access to Sinsheim, and Rothenburg Ob Der Tauber (a medieval walled town).
I also recommend a car for getting out of Frankfurt - it's mostly a museum city and I'd agree can be a bit dull.
Enjoy your trip.

 

[Clive005]

Thanks pgdiver, and everyone some great ideas..the medieval wall town sounds like just the thing. And I like the idea of the train and fairy ride . Please keep the ideas and recommendations coming

 

[Glider_]

We used this company for a self-drive tour through Germany:
to-europe.com - travel to Europe your way | Pre arranged tours through Europe
They were really good to deal with and we had them join two tours together + have one tour run back-to-front to make it all work. No hassle.
We did a Brothers Grimm fairytale route from Hamburg to Frankfurt staying in castles and visiting towns from fairytales, then a technology tour from Frankfurt to Munich visiting lots of car and science museums (another +1 vote for Sinheim!!!). Really enjoyed it. Then we hired motorbikes and did our own thing through the Italian/Swiss/Austrian/German alps. Good times.

Costs for that company were reasonable compared to other guided tours like the bus ones. At face value it seems very expensive but consider all the inclusions first. We could have done it cheaper without them, but their value was in organising everything for us when we were totally unfamiliar with the country. They even made us a decent guide-book specific to our route detailing the things we should see and do along the way with some history and significance of the places we stayed. They made everything work seamlessly, and we just drove along in the hire car enjoying it by ourselves without stressing about any logistics.

 

[daft009]

sinsheim as recommended above around Heidelberg is great for the techheads.
Also in Hamburg, miniature wonderland model railways is awesome
Wolfsburg has the VW factory & museum if inclined.
I did 2x day trips on the train from Berlin, one day for Hamburg (should go there again & spend more time) and another for Wolfsburg

EDIT: I'd prefer to stay in Heidelberg and day trip into Frankfurt, as not much to do there IMO. Heidelberg/Sinsheim/Speyer etc are relatively close by.

 

[Daver6]

Munich will be very expensive and busy during Oktoberfest I'd imagine (second half of September). So either book in advance or work around those dates.

 

[pgsdiver]

And I like the idea of the train and fairy ride .

I had hoped I had said ferry.................and it is a pretty memorable experience (enhanced for me, by my eldest son getting sea-sick and having to accompany him to the outside deck in -2 degree weather. Brrrrrr! Apparently it's true - you can freeze them off.)

 

[MEL_Traveller]

This chain is excellent: Motel One | Make a reservation at affordable design hotels in Berlin, Munich, Vienna or Manchester rooms are Euro79 a night, can go up slightly in peak times and closer to the day of arrival. But they are popular.

Locations across Germany, Amsterdam and Europe (including Zurich I think now). Good sized rooms, modern and contemporary furniture. Great beds. Good bathrooms. And reaasonably priced. The only thing is they don't have tea and coffee facilities in the room. Oh - and don't be tempted to book breakfast - it looked as bad as the reviews on tripadvisor said! The chain is about 10 steps up from an Ibis! One tip - if you join their program (free) you get free water and one breakfast voucher (if it's free I'd grab a coffee). I booked first and then joined, but couldn't get the benefits as you have to apply the vouchers at the time of booking, not after.

Other than that the accor sales as mentioned above can offer some really good deals. I got the Novotel Amsterdam for AUD150 a night last year.

 

[Mattg]

For Amsterdam, you will pay a small premium to stay in the city centre. IMHO it's not worth it - find a hotel that's close to a train station with direct connection to Amsterdam Centraal instead. Better yet, stay somewhere like Utrecht which is a super lovely town and only ~25 minutes from Amsterdam by direct train, or 30 minutes from Schiphol Airport (and trains run every ~10-15 minutes).

 

[MEL_Traveller]

For Amsterdam, you will pay a small premium to stay in the city centre. IMHO it's not worth it - find a hotel that's close to a train station with direct connection to Amsterdam Centraal instead. Better yet, stay somewhere like Utrecht which is a super lovely town and only ~25 minutes from Amsterdam by direct train, or 30 minutes from Schiphol Airport (and trains run every ~10-15 minutes).

And indeed motel one is exactly that in Amsterdam South - 1 minute walk to the train, tram and metro stop with 12 minutes to the city by the new metro and 12 minutes to the airport. And rooms still at E79 a night. (And a huge discount supermarket 20 metres away with everything from fresh salads to fresh bread and things like iced-coffee if you need one to take back to the room to wake up in the morning).

 

[pgsdiver]

The mention of the VW factory reminded me of Stuttgart. The porsche museum is excellent and they also do drive days. Mercedes also have a museum in town. Worth a visit if you are a petrol head.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

For anyone going to the UK (mostly for London) - the equivalent is the Hub by Premier Inn (which have green branding rather than the purple for their parent company, Premier Inn). Rooms as low as £39 for central London including St James Park, Kings Cross, Tower Bridge. Ultra modern and sleek (again, think Ibis room but with carpets, great bathroom, 50' flatscreens). And a great bar downstairs. Tea and coffe also not provided in room but are free, 24/7 in the bar.

hub by Premier Inn

The rooms are compact - you would preferably need a 'large' room for a couple as the standard would be doable, but a tight squeeze.

The advantage of the Hub hotels is that they also have full flex rates for just £10 a night more, allowing you to cancel right up until day of arrival (or maybe it's the day before, can't remember). But gives great flexibility.

 

[Franky]

We just had a week in Nuremberg for a week over the New Year break and stayed in a Hotel BNB. We booked it thru QF Hotels, which was close enough to other quotes to benefit from some extra points. It was called Adina Apartment Hotel, and I believe the company is Australian owned. They have a number of similar hotels in different cities in Germany, as well as from memory Amsterdam and a number of the Nordic cities, though not France for some reason. We paid $1027 for the week. It was in the centre of the old city, 12 minute walk from the rail station, and close to a number of Mini Marts. An additional benefit with it was that the apartment was serviced each day as is a regular hotel room, but also had the full suite of cooking and laundry facilities to allow you to do your own thing. The hotel had a bar and dining room on site, and plenty of restaurants in close walking distance. They have some sort of loyalty programme as well. We had only one bedroom, but there were other options which would suit a family of three. In the past we have also used a variety of Ibis hotels, which have all been acceptable, they have about three levels of pricing, and you get what you pay for as the price you pay increases.