We recently became intrigued by the possibility of traveling to Stockholm. I called Delta to see if we could get free tickets for the beginning of June. After 1.5 hours on the phone, the agent managed to get us there and back. The routes were a bit tricky, though. Outbound we went Tampa, Atlanta, Dusseldorf, Paris, and Stockholm. The return was Stockholm, Paris, JFK, overnight in NYC, and Tampa. I had them hold the itinerary while I thought about it. One of our travel theories is "Anything that is more trouble than it's worth, is." This was certainly fitting into that category. But, now I had a trip in mind and I hated to give that up.

After a little research I realized Dusseldorf was only about 2 hours from the Kroller-Muller Museum, my favorite art museum anywhere (so far!). So, we now have tickets to and from Dusseldorf and the schedule is great! Now I need some advice on where to go after Arnhem, where we will revisit the open air museum. We will get a car and have 2 weeks. My tentative plan is a circle south in the Netherlands to Maastricht, into Belgium and Liege. Then we would go to Strasburg, France and back to Dusseldorf via the Black Forest and Rhine River. My husband is pushing for a trip to an automobile factory, but I don't know if that is practical. I would certainly appreciate any suggestions and information on this area. We like to stay in B&Bs but really want en suite bathrooms these days. We really enjoy history, industrial archeology, and seeing new places.

Another specific question is for a suggestion of where to stay our first night. The plane doesn't arrive until nearly noon. We prefer not to drive more than an hour after the overnight flight and want to stay somewhere we can get out and walk and walk. We would like to have lots to see but don't want to think too hard.

Thanks in advance for your help, Janet Riverview, FL