We did that trip this past summer with our two kids. We used the train except in Brugge with picked up a car to go to Normandy (which was a late addition to our trip). Since we had airline tickets to fly from Amsterdam to Scotland we then drove to Amsterdam and dropped off our car-the drive was not enjoyable because of traffic.

In Brussels we stayed at the Le Meridien-we got a great deal on the website www.gtahotels.com We paid about $150 a night and it included breakfast. It was in a fabulous location near the grand plaza and across from the train station that took you to Brugge.

We loved Brugge, but I believe you might need more than 2 nights there. We did 2 nights and it wasn't enough. We stayed at a hotel which was very nice but the staff was rude. We rented bikes at a shop and rode out of town past the canals and windmills to Damn (I might be wrong on town's spelling).

In Amsterdam we stayed at the Boogards B&B and loved it. It was about $100 a night and the host Peter was great and very helpful. It was around the corner from the VAn Gogh Museum. Peter knew of a bike tour, but I can't remember it right now.

We looked into a stay on a canal boat but they wanted more than 2 nights.

If you can't get a good deal on airtickets to Brussels, then look into flying into Cologne, Germany. Continental had a special which saved us $1600 and it was only a 2 hour high speed train ride-well worth the savings.

We have booked a B&B The Collector http://www.the-collector.nl/ for our stay in Amsterdam this April. It's rated #6 on trip advisor for B&B's.

Thank you to all for the great information, we are just about to book our flights for Sept.8th weedend for 2 weeks. We are thinking about flying into Brussels & leaving from Amsterdam, or the other way around.. any ideas? We thought this would save a little back tracking, we are coming from the West Coast (Canada) so we thought Brussels maybe a good stop for a day or so & then move on from there. The train sounds like the way to go, I don't mind driving a little but the driver does tend to miss a bit. Any suggestions or comments are appreciated.