GillyGray

Hi there!
My husband and I are planning a trip to Holland and Belgium for about 10 days in September. We will be flying into and out of Dusseldorf, Germany and plan on traveling around by train. Definitely plan on Amsterdam (suggested hotels or areas of city to stay?), and Bruges. Is Brussels worth staying in for 2 days? We like a mix of city and small town/country on our trips and my husband is really into beer! Do not want to travel and pack everyday, like to relax, but we do want to see a lot while we are there. How about Antwerp or Luxembourg? Any thoughts on Dusseldorf? Should we explore it longer or just stay the night of arrival/departure? Any suggested itineraries or tips are appreciated, especially the trains. Thank you!

Vttraveler

I think Brussels is well worth a 2 day visit, but it can be expensive at certain times during the week so try to work around that. I wrote a fairly long TR in 2010 with ideas about things to do there including short day trips. There is also a link at the end to another thread with beer suggestions
for your husband.

isabel

Here is my trip report from last summer for Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...etherlands.cfm

I did five days Netherlands (based in Haarlem, there are pros and cons to that versus baseing in Amsterdam, but they are so close it really doesn't matter). Day trips to Leiden, Delft,Gouda.

I did three in Belgium, based in Antwerp with day trips to Brugge and Ghent. Ghent is the most central, but again, they are all pretty close, the trains are very frequent, fast and reliable. I also did Brussels on a previous trip and while the Grand Place is really very grand, the rest of the city is not as interesting as the other three.

I spent a couple days in Dusseldorf a few years ago and it was pretty blah. Why are you flying into there if your main intent is Belgium/Netherlands?

lavandula

I do think there is enough to see in Brussels for 2 days. Try to make it part of your itinerary to see some Art Nouveau such as the Horta Museum or the Museum of Musical Instruments, because this is the dominant style in the suburbs and is really the hidden jewel. If your husband is into beer, Belgium is the place. He might like to try http://deliriumcafe.be , which has 2000 beers, or À la Mort Subite, which is a very traditional cafe which has its own beer: http://www.alamortsubite.com . If you don't like packing and unpacking, make Brussels your base and do day trip from there to Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp. All are close, all are worth seeing. Antwerp is great for visiting cafes, restaurants and shopping.

On the way through from Düsseldorf (which I can't comment on), particularly if you end up catching the Thalys to Brussels, Cologne Cathedral is really worth seeing (it's right at the station), and Aachen is also nice and would make a good stop.

Lavandula

RobIm

We did Amsterdam, Brussels and Bruges on a trip a couple years ago. You might like to see my report and what we did. The beer in Belgium is all it's advertised to be. Each brand is served in its own glass. Don't miss raspberry, strawberry and other fruity beers.

www.rimerson.com

aussie_10

We spent 4 nights in Belgium last September, Part of a larger trip to Northern France.

We discussed a night in Brussels but in the end just spent a whole day there. Was not overly impressed with Brussels but 1 day was enough for us.

We loved Brugge. Great for beers and as a previous poster said they serve each brand of beer in a different beer glass. We did the brewery tour in the oldest existing brewery in Belgium, which was excellent. We enjoyed a boat trip on the canals on a beautiful sunny day followed by some nice beers and people watching at an outdoor cafe.

On another day we did a bike tour to Damme, which was lovely cycling by canals and learning of the local history. Also did a climb up the Belfry for great views and visited for an evening concert. As you can see we loved Brugge, such a nice feel and vibe.

We also travelled on to Ieper for a visit to the Menin Gate and a tour of the WW! battlefields, so moving. You can do this as a 1 day tour from Brugge also.

lateinlifetraveler

Loved reading all these tips about the area since we will also be there in September. I appreciate all tips and suggestions

GillyGray

Thanks for all the tips. Brugge seems very high on the list. To Isabel: We are thinking of flying into Dusseldorf because it is about $350 cheaper per ticket, so we figured we'd just add it to the itinerary.

BigRuss

N.B.: the country is Netherlands, Holland is just a part of it.