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[dk117]

Outbound flight.  Probably not the best advice, but two pints before the flight will put you to sleep, then as urnmor said, it's critical that you stay up as long as possible day one.  9:00 PM local time is a good goal.  Paper copies of everything.  Trust that you won't need them, sleep well knowing you have them.  Power adapter for Amsterdam (amazon has several).  Visit a grocery store.  It's a great way to mitigate food costs and provides a local experience.  Start walking (training) now.  We average about 12 miles a day when in Europe, it's the best way to see central, historical cities.  Try not to overpack (I always am guilty), laundry your last day in London could prove prudent and halve your packing needs. 


London
Queens Walk
Borough Market
Tower of London
St Paul's
Westminster Abbey
Buckingham Palace

Amsterdam
I love that you're doing the Heineken tour, it's a good one
Anne Frank Museum
I recommend a bike tour as well.

Edit:  not for everyone, but I'd also suggest figuring out your international cellular plan now vs when you're on the ground in London.  AT&T has a plan that I use, $10 a day and you can use your phone as if you were at home.  Wireless, text, email, internet.  Check with your provider before departing.   I found the $10 a day a drop in the bucket vs the entire trip cost, and it was invaluable having google maps help with navigation. 

[yorkdude]

I dont have any tips or tricks for your trip but I did go to Omaha once.
Just kidding you, your trip sounds outstanding and my wife has begged me many times to just go.
We probably should, while I am not as enthusiastic about it I am sure that I would enjoy it.
Stay safe, have fun and then please share photos so I can live vicariously through you.

[NorCal Smoker]

Bar-B-Lew,
I have been to Europe many times, mostly on business as my company was based in the Netherlands, and my particular part of the business in Amsterdam.  Mind you, I am on the west coast and the flight is much longer and the time zone difference much greater.  You have received many great tips!  Based on my numerous flights, this is what I would prioritize:

1. DO NOT go to sleep when you get there.  You will be exhausted, but power through.  If you go to sleep it will take much longer to acclimate.
2. Try to wake up 2-3 hours early the day of the flight to start to transition your schedule.  For the two days before is even better.  May be more difficult for you because your flight is so late. Mine were always around 2 pm.
3.  Try to get an hour or two of sleep, but was never easy for me, even in Business Class with seat that make into a bed (company perk!).  This is the reason for number 2.
4. Drinking alcohol to sleep is ok, but if you do, drink twice as much water as you would otherwise.  Dehydration makes jet lag worse.  Alcohol and the air on airplanes are not a good combination for long flights unless you drink a lot of water.
5. Bring a sleep aid like Tylenol PM, but not for the plane trip.  Take it the first couple of nights to help you sleep.  As tired as you will feel if you stay up your day of arrival, sleep will still NOT come easy.
6. Ear plugs and eye shades are essential.  You never know who you will sit near and many watch movies the entire flight and make much more noise than you think.
7. Power Adapter is a must.  Not sure why I put it as #7, but I was more focused on jet lag.
8. Have a picture of your passport on your phone, and paper copies in suitcase as well

Have a great trip!  Never been to London, but Amsterdam is wonderful/intersting!  I was fortunate enough to spend many weeks there.

[Bar-B-Lew]

Thanks for the tips.

yorkdude, this is my first trip outside of North America.  My wife has been several times but she is mainly interested in castles, churches, mountains, waterfalls, etc. which is why I never went with her.  I am more interested in music and art which is what the itinerary we built is focused on seeing.  She is fine with that too which will make for a good trip.

[02ebz06]

I'd prefer to go with your wife. Haha
Architecture of the Castles and Churches fascinate me.

[yorkdude]

I'd prefer to go with your wife. Haha
Architecture of the Castles and Churches fascinate me.

I would do 50-50, it truly sounds like a great trip but I must ask…..Lew arent you more a “rocker-bluesy guy”. Wondering (if that is correct) do they share your musical tastes?

[Bar-B-Lew]

I'd prefer to go with your wife. Haha
Architecture of the Castles and Churches fascinate me.

I would do 50-50, it truly sounds like a great trip but I must ask…..Lew arent you more a “rocker-bluesy guy”. Wondering (if that is correct) do they share your musical tastes?

I am primarily into punk rock, but listen to blues, some jazz (thanks covid era), and classic rock.  My wife tolerates my musical tastes and enjoys some of them.  She has been to some punk rock shows with me but they were more mainstream bands like the Dropkick Murphys.

[jdmessner]

I am glad you asked about this. I don't have any tips, but will be following and taking notes. My wife and I are headed overseas in October for the first time and these suggestions will all come in handy. Please post pictures from the trip and share your insight. Sounds like it should be a lot of fun. Safe travels!

[urnmor]

I am glad you asked about this. I don't have any tips, but will be following and taking notes. My wife and I are headed overseas in October for the first time and these suggestions will all come in handy. Please post pictures from the trip and share your insight. Sounds like it should be a lot of fun. Safe travels!

Will you be on a cruise or doing a land tour

[jdmessner]

We will be on a cruise. We are flying from NYC to Athens, where we will board the ship. We will be making stops in Isreal, Egypt, Turkey, and back to Greece. It should be a fun adventure!

[urnmor]

We will be on a cruise. We are flying from NYC to Athens, where we will board the ship. We will be making stops in Isreal, Egypt, Turkey, and back to Greece. It should be a fun adventure!

That sounds like a fantastic cruise.  We have not been to either Israel or Egypt, however will be going to Istanbul for a week and then on a cruise from Istanbul to Rome and back to Istanbul.  The cruise will also take us to Greece however we have been there before.  Istanbul has always been on my bucket lists I am really looking forward to it especially since owe are going with our neighbors who are from Turkey.

[Bar-B-Lew]

JD, my wife highly recommends the Global Entry program.  It gets you through customs quicker and it includes the TSA Pre-Check when flying domestically.  Also, has quicker customs when driving or walking across the border.  It costs $100.  Our United Credit Cards reimbursed us in full for it immediately after the charge came through so it was free for us.

I applied for mine in April.  Got the email within a week that I was pre-qualified pending standard interview.  Took almost two months before I could get an appointment at the Philly airport.  Then, what was supposed to be one week approval took about 6 weeks, multiple phone calls and voice mails, and emails to the federal agency.  Fortunately, I got lucky and when I called at 9am this morning to the Philly office fully expecting I would have to leave a voice message again, someone actually answered!  He put me on hold and came back about 10 minutes later and said I was approved.  Cutting it a little close considering I leave in two days.  It is good until my passport expires which is in about 5 years.  So, I now have quicker path through customs and security lines domestically for five years.

Check into it if you plan to travel outside the USA more often and/or have air travel within the USA regularly.

[Bar-B-Lew]

I ended up not being able to fall asleep on the way to London. Our flight left Newark about 8pm and we landed about 8am.  I ended up staying awake for about 32 hours as we did a bunch of site seeing the first day.  We didn't have any early plans for the next day so we were able to sleep about 12 hours and wake up at either 8am or 9am.  I felt fine the rest of the trip with no jet lag. Depending on the day we woke up between 6am-9am and went to bed between 9pm-10pm.  We averaged about 8 miles walking per day in London and about 5 miles walking per day in Amsterdam.

Last night we got home about 11pm which was about 5am Amsterdam time.  We woke up at about 6am Amsterdam time so we were awake about 23 hours.  I got about 7 hours sleep last night and woke up about 7am this morning which is about my normal wake up time.  Will see if I have any jet lag this week.  I am hoping that I do not because I went to bed and woke up at my normal times.

I was able to use my global entry to go through USA Customs in Toronto.  All I had to do was walk up to a machine that scanned my face and within 30 seconds I was on my way.  Had to go to front of the Customs line to have someone ask us one question and we were on our way.  There were easily 100+ people in the other lines to get through customs.  Great time saver.

Had a great time, saw a ton of punk rock music history and went to at least 7 art museums.  Bought a lot of vinyl records, postcards, fridge magnets, etc.  Drank a lot of different beers from different countries.  For the most part the food was pretty good - we mainly had Italian, steaks, and hamburgers.  Ended up with close to 4000 pictures which are all now backed up on Google Photos.  And I was happy to see that I actually lost 0.5 lbs on the trip.  I will probably lose a bunch more water weight (I am guessing 3-5#) once I get back onto my regular prescription schedule the rest of the week.

[urnmor]

So glad your wife and you had a great time

[yorkdude]

Sounds like you had a great trip.