This was a post-cruise trip in May of 2015. The 14-day trans-Atlantic cruise on Celebrity Silhouette began in Ft. Lauderdale and had 8 straight sea days before reaching Lisbon. Subsequent ports were Le Havre and Zeebrugge, ending in Amsterdam.
We had booked our rooms in February and March. The total housing cost for the two of us was about $500, and the rental car, gas, and trains came under $400 for the two of us.
Day 1: After exiting the cruise terminal in Amsterdam, we turned right and walked 10-15 minutes to Central Station and caught the train to Rotterdam (37-59 minutes depending on the train, Euro 16.10pp, no reservation needed.). We caught a city tram outside the station in Rotterdam and reached our Airbnb studio($92/night) in 10 minutes. We spent the day exploring the city on foot and by tram.
Day 2: Train to Cologne. 3 hours & around Euro 18pp(reserved on the German railway site). Cab 10 minutes to our two- bedroom condo(Euro 99) found on Tripadvisor.com. My brother had arrived there before us. Walked around.
Day 3: Picked up the rental car from Sixt office near the Cathedral. Euro 220 for one week, including the fee for returning the car in Berlin. We reserved a small car, but they gave us a BMW because that’s all they had left.
Day 4: Drove 2.5 hours south to Heidelberg, explored the city, then drove on for another 4 hours to reach Epalinges, Switzerland, outside of Lausanne. Our 2-bedroom Airbnb house was $90/night with onsite parking.
day 5: Drove 45 minutes SW to CERN, west of Geneva. We reserved a free guided tour online 2 weeks in advance – ” to discover the mysteries of the Universe and the work of the world’s biggest physics laboratory.” Parking is available onsite.
Drove to Geneva for lunch and walked around. Drove around Lake Geneva(Lac Leman) stopping in Yvoire and several different cute French villages.
Day 6: Explored the city of Lausanne, had lunch & drove 2 hours NW to a mountain hamlet of Eggiwil where our Airbnb 2 bedroom farmhouse($80/night) was waiting for us.
Day 7: Drove 45 minutes down the hill to visit Bern. Parked the car in the train station garage & walked around.
Bay 8: Drove 75 minutes NE to Lucern, parked the car in a garage, and walked around.
After lunch, we drove 45 minutes NE to Zurich, parked in a garage near the main train station, and walked around.
Drove 50 minutes SE to Netstal, a tiny town where our Airbnb 2-bedroom suite($135) in an artistic house was located.
Day 8: Drove 45 minutes NE to Liechtenstein, took some pictures & had lunch. Drove 2.5 hours NE to Munich. We were supposed to spend the night here, but the Airbnb arrangement did not work out. Thus, we drove on to Bad Abbach, 70 minutes NE. The Airbnb 2-room suite within a very nice house was $96/night, and the hosts prepared a dinner for a nominal fee.
Day 9: Drove 20 minutes NE to Regensburg, parked the car in a city lot. Walked around and had the famous sausage at the 500-year-old sausage kitchen by the river. Drove back to Bad Abbach & explored the old town area. Had a dip in a hot springs pool.
Day 10: Drove 5 hours NE to reach Berlin. Stayed with friends.
Day 11: Flew out to Oslo.
Small Wide World 