Help with Pre-Cruise Planning For Cruise Staring in Kiel, Germany

[taylortime05]

We just booked our first cruise with MSC on the MSC EURIBIA for 4/27/24- 5/4/24.  The itinerary is below.   We’ll be flying from Michigan, US to Germany.   We’d like to fly in 3-5 days early to explore cities near Kiel.   Do you have any suggestions on where we could fly to and then make our way to Kiel for our cruise?

 

I appreciate your feed back.    

 

 

 

[cmph]

I'm by no means an expert, so others who are will surely chime in - but I'd personally go with Hamburg. It's an easy train ride to Kiel. We have a port stop in Kiel on our cruise this summer, and many (most probably) people go to Hamburg or Lubeck for the day instead of staying in Kiel.

[taylortime05]

1 hour ago, cmph said:

I'm by no means an expert, so others who are will surely chime in - but I'd personally go with Hamburg. It's an easy train ride to Kiel. We have a port stop in Kiel on our cruise this summer, and many (most probably) people go to Hamburg or Lubeck for the day instead of staying in Kiel.

Thank you!   If we fly in 3-5 days early I thought we might have time to visit somewhere else before going to Hamburg and then Kiel.  But I’m not familiar with this area so I’m not sure what else is near by.  I need to do more research but I was hoping someone might be able to provide some suggestions.  

[hallasm]

Very relevant question but with the information given it is a bit difficult to make suggestions. Personally, I would fly to Berlin and from there go to Hamburg or Kiel. You can fly back from Hamburg.
Interesting cities nearby are Lübeck or Flensburg. Depends on whether you rent a car or take public transport.

[taylortime05]

7 hours ago, hallasm said:

Very relevant question but with the information given it is a bit difficult to make suggestions. Personally, I would fly to Berlin and from there go to Hamburg or Kiel. You can fly back from Hamburg.
Interesting cities nearby are Lübeck or Flensburg. Depends on whether you rent a car or take public transport.

Thank you!  I probably should have done more research prior to posting.  I was thinking about flying into Amsterdam and staying for 3 nights and then going to Hamburg and staying 1 night and them taking train to Kiel for the cruise.   I need to see the best way to get from Amsterdam to Hamburg.   Does this sound like a good plan?   I was able to find a great deal on a one way flight from US to Amsterdam in business class using points.  

[hallasm]

Yes, the information about Amsterdam is quite essential. Amsterdam is definitely worth a visit.
Train from Amsterdam to Hamburg is definitely a possibility - 5 to 6 hours with one to two changes.

[Meander Ingwa]

I think Amsterdam is a  very user  friendly city with a lot of charm.  The train to Kiel is about 6.5 hours.  Trains in Europe are frequent and efficient and more worry free than driving.

 

My choice would be Amsterdam simply for  its  logistics from the airport and getting around town or even out into the country side.  There is much to see and do particularly if your are an art museum lover.  If you are a bike user, the system of bike paths out into the very flat countryside would make for a lovely change of pace.  If you are thinking A'dam, and have a mind to visit Anne Frank House, you need to book well in advance for that visit