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Rhine/Mosel/Brussels/Bruges/AMS - How long in each?

Rhine/Mosel/Brussels/Bruges/AMS - How long in each?

Old Mar 10th, 2010, 08:25 AM
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Rhine/Mosel/Brussels/Bruges/AMS - How long in each?

My wife and I are in the early stages of planning for our next trip in late August early September and are looking for some opinions/recommendations on how to allocate our time among the places we would like to visit. Just for a bit of background, we are a married couple in our mid-30s. Our travel style is a bit on the aggressive side as we tend to try to see as much as possible within a limited amount of time. This has always worked well for us in the past, but I think most of the places we have been do lend themselves to that type of travel. Our interests include in no particular order, history, art, beer, wine food and nightlife. The fly days are pretty well locked in, but the # of days and order are fairly flexible. We have not yet decided where we will base in the Rhine & Mosel area, but are welcome to any suggestions regarding that as well. .

Here is our tentative itinerary:

29-Aug - Sunday - Fly to Frankfurt
30-Aug - Monday - Rhine/Mosel
31-Aug - Tuesday - Rhine/Mosel
1-Sep - Wednesday - Rhine/Mosel
2-Sep - Thursday - Rhine/Mosel
3-Sep - Friday - Rhine/Mosel
4-Sep - Saturday - Amsterdam
5-Sep - Sunday - Amsterdam
6-Sep - Monday - Amsterdam
7-Sep - Tuesday - Bruges
8-Sep - Wednesday - Brussels
9-Sep - Thursday - Brussels
10-Sep - Friday - Fly out of Brussels


One of our main concerns is losing too much time in train travel, particularly from the Rhine area to Amsterdam and from Amsterdam to Bruges where we only have one day. We prefer to be in Amsterdam over a weekend if possible, but it’s not a deal-breaker. Should we cut a day on the Rhine/Mosel for an additional day in Bruges? Is 4 days enough to get an adequate taste of both the Middle Rhine and Mosel? Where is the best place to spend a Monday? If we concentrate on the Middle Rhine and Mosel, this makes for a train ride of over 4 hrs to Amsterdam. It is worth it to spend some time north of Koblenz, perhaps in Cologne to minimize time lost on trains? Are we just spreading ourselves too thin?

Any suggestions or opinions would be most helpful.
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Old Mar 10th, 2010, 01:42 PM
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ttt
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Old Mar 10th, 2010, 03:51 PM
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I'll take a stab at this and hope some more experienced Fodorites chime in.

It's a bit busy but I think you can do it if you are hardier than me (BTW, almost everyone is )

We zoomed through Bruges on a day trip from Brussels and wish we would've spebnt a couple days there. We had flown into Frankfurt, spent time in Maastricht and then went on to 3 nights in Brussels. Train travel was very comfortable between these cities and not too long.

On a separate trip we saw the Mosel area. The Mosel was sleepy and a nice break. We stayed in Beilstein which is very tiny so a car would be nice.

FYI - my trip was 8 nights spent this way:

flew into AMS - 2 nights

train to Beilstein 2 nights

train to Rothenburg 2 nights

train to Munich 2 nights, flying out of Munich next day.

For me, it was waaaay too much moving around - husband loved it.

Hope I have helped a little.
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Old Mar 10th, 2010, 04:46 PM
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We loved staying in Cochem on the Mosel. From here we could easily do daytrips to various towns along the Mosel and the Rhine. My concern, though, is that you mentioned nightlife. Most of the towns along the Mosel wouldn't necessarily have what I would consider to be nightlife. If that is a concern for you, you may want to consider larger towns. Trier was livelier than most other towns we visited along the Mosel, but it's too far away from the Rhine and therefore might not make a great base.
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Old Mar 11th, 2010, 01:31 AM
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2 full days for Brussel are sufficient and also one day for Brugge. You may add Gent for a half-day daytrip.

3 days for Amsterdam should also be sufficient.

You have plenty of time for the Rhein-Mosel area. This means, you should change bases. Spend one or two days at the Rhein (Eberbach/Oestrich-Winkel, Rüdesheim, Marksburg in Braubach, Loreley, Oberwesel) and then change to a base on the Mosel. In any case, visit Trier (rich Roman heritage). I would also recommend Aachen (cathedral from 800 A.D.) and Cologne.
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Old Mar 11th, 2010, 01:31 AM
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I forgot Monschau - probably Germany's most picturesque old town.
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