sarahandmike

My wife and I are in the beginning stages of planning our first European vacation. We will be traveling in late April/early May of 2014. We plan on flying into Amsterdam and out of Paris. Our itinerary is roughly 4 nights in Amsterdam, 4/5 in Belgium, and 4/5 in Paris. We would greatly appreciate your help and guidance as we plan our first European trip. First off, a little bit about ourselves.

We're in our late 20's, been married for a couple years, and want to take a nice trip or two before settling down to have kids. The problem we're running into is most of the suggestions on here involve museums, art galleries, etc. We would definitely like to see some of these in each area, but we're not big history/art buffs (don't judge). We've been to several areas in the US, but really just want to experience a different culture. We really love natural beauty, walks/bike rides, concerts, food, wine, etc. Our ideal day would include stumbling across some local cafe's for food/drinks, maybe an afternoon bike ride through the city and/or countryside, capped off with catching a local music show. I don't mean to ramble, just would rather not get suggestions for museum after museum to visit

So with this in mind, does Amsterdam/Belgium/Paris sound like a good trip? If so, where would you suggest spending the majority of our time? Based off the limited research we've done, Amsterdam is probably the city we most look forward to visiting, followed by Antwerp and Brugges. Paris is probably last on our list, but being so close, we feel like we should go for atleast a while. What other cities along this route would you suggest? Should we skip Paris altogether and spend more time in the Netherlands/Belgium or possibly go to Western Germany, or would we regret missing Paris?

I know I'm asking a lot of questions, but we feel a little overwhelmed. I trust y'all will provide us with some great advice. Look forward to hearing back from you!

sarahandmike

Andrew

I'm not crazy about museums either. You're not the only one!

I personally did not care for Amsterdam. I gave it a second shot a few years later and still didn't. I found it dirty, busy, and not particularly inviting. But some people do love Amsterdam. The thing you'll find is that people here have vastly different tastes. Someone may post next that she loves Amsterdam and hates Paris. How do you know who to listen to? Until you've traveled to Europe a few times yourself, you may have trouble figuring that out.

And yes - I love Paris. I'd call it my favorite city in Europe, though my recent visit in May wasn't my best. But it's such a beautiful city, architecturally speaking. You don't need to spend a week there, but I'd say a couple of nights would be fine for a first trip.

Paris is freaking huge. There are tons of things to see and do that have nothing to do with museums. There are amazing parks and gardens and dramatic monuments. Even the cemeteries are beautiful. Have you browsed a travel book on France, Belgium, and the Netherlands? (I'm a Rick Steves fan. Not everyone is.)

I'm just finishing my trip report from May that included Belgium. I loved Bruges (even though it's very touristy especially on the weekends), liked Ghent and Leuven very much. Admired the beauty of the Grand Place at night in Brussels but didn't feel the need to spend much time there. Didn't care for Antwerp at all. But again - your tastes may differ from mine. Read a variety of opinions.

menachem

Instead of Antwerp, why not give Gent a try: student city, great bars, lovely city, Brugge on your doorstep...

Amsterdam: maybe choose Utrecht. You can do day trips to Amsterdam easily (20 minutes by train). Utrecht is that rare thing in the Netherlands, a city that's not predominantly 17th century: it's got the older roots (Medieval), is also a student city, but far less touristy than Amsterdam. You'll notice that in Amsterdam a whole area of the city caters to tourists flying in solely to try the "coffeeshops".

And maybe steal a day from both your Dutch destination and your Belgian one and add it to Paris.

bilboburgler

Well in two weeks you could ride bikes from one to the other and you could do it via Rheims where the Champagne comes from. Surfing on the web would find all the Dutch and Belgium main bike paths.
http://www.nederlandfietsland.nl/en
http://www.fietsroute.org/indexuk.php
if you aim for Givet then there are good canal routes to Rheims and hence to Paris

Now I guess you might turn up your nose at this, but at your age and fitness why not give it a try.

If you are going to do it by car or train then try to include

Trier (Germany but just over the border), Rheims, Epernay, Strasbourg and Colmar.

ira

Hi sam,

4 nights in Amsterdam
2 nights in Bruges
a week in Paris.

Enjoy your planning

uhoh_busted

I like Ira's timeline. We paired Amsterdam and Paris mid-May in 2010 and had a blast. It was our 4th or 5th trip to Paris, but 1st to Amsterdam, and sSpring was just warming up. Would have loved to have known someone with a small boat to enjoy the canals in Amsterdam even more. We did a tour on a big tourist boat, and you kind of have to do it because you see everything from a different viewpoint. Getting around on the streetcars is fun. My two favorite "sights" were the Anne Frank House (make a reservation before you go!) and Rembrandt's house. It was amazing and more interesting than a mere art museum. Someone was doing a demonstration of etching in the studio, and that was surprisingly (to me) interesting. I think Amsterdam is a good choice for you. You'll enjoy the outdoor cafes, and people watching.

I haven't visited Belgium, although we noticed as we trained it from Paris to Amsterdam that it would have been an easy place to visit on the way. (LOVED the train, BTW).

Paris is a terrific place to walk, the metro is easy to use, and you shouldn't have a hard time finding things to see and do. The Rodin Museum is one of the most romantic museums I've ever been to, and might surprise you. There is a company called Paris Walks that I highly recommend. They do fairly inexpensive tours of different parts of the city, and are always entertaining. DO get a good map of Paris, or set up your phone or iPod or iPhone with Cities2GO which can also help you navigate efficiently. Definately take the Seine Riverboat tour (get a coupon from TimeOut). It is a beautiful city. Check Fodors Destination Guides for restaurants, check out peoples' trip reports here. We have never had a hard time finding restaurants in Paris that were great and didn't break our budget. Seems cheaper to eat there than in NYC or DC, for sure.

spaarne

<i>
2wks from Amsterdam to Paris
Posted by: sarahandmike on Sep 1, 13 at 9:45pm
My wife and I are in the beginning stages of planning our first European vacation. We will be traveling in late April/early May of 2014. We plan on flying into Amsterdam and out of Paris.</i>

First off, that is the best time of the year to be in those parts.

I would skip Belgium and just do Amsterdam and Paris, with day trips. For day trips from Amsterdam, Keukenhof http://tinyurl.com/5nwqzp would be at the top of my list. Be in Amsterdam for Queen's Day http://tinyurl.com/55px5p, now called King's Day and celebrated on April 27 in 2014, for the party of your life.

The best guide books are the Michelin Green Guide for Paris and the Michelin Green for the Netherlands.

For your <i>natural beauty, walks/bike rides,</i> you can rent a bike in Haarlem and pedal west through the dunes to Zandvoort aan Zee, and then all the way south to The Hague if you wish. I've gone as far as Noordwijk. Start at a little known restaurant on the west side of Haarlem called Krantje Lek on Duinlustweg and follow the Visserpad bike path through the duins. You can find this on the Bing map of Haarlem if you zoom in all the way. You can come back north along any road. Each highway has a parallel bike path with it's own traffic lights.

You don't like art museums but you will be near two of the greatest, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the Louvre in Paris. There are many other types of museums also. One of my favorites is the Cruquius in Haarlem.

For traveling I recommend taking trains instead of driving. For an illustrated introduction to the trains of Europe see http://tinyurl.com/eym5b.

You mention Germany as a possible stop. If you can be in D&uuml;sseldorf on a Saturday you'll get to join the locals for plenty of beer and roasted pork in the Altstadt. My favorite bar there is the Dr. Jazz, with live music.

hetismij2

Is Amsterdam a must stay place? If you don't want museums etc then why not look outside the box and choose a different part of the Netherlands. Somewhere you can bike around comfortably.

If Amsterdam is a must then maybe www.holysloot.nl boats will appeal to you for a trip out into some countryside. I haven't used them myself, but fully intend to give them a try next year.

If you are prepared to rent a car for a couple of days I can make more suggestions. Even if you don't want a car why not look at what there is away from Amsterdam and see if somewhere other town/city appeals.
You can follow bike routes easily enough as touring route junctions are numbered and have maps by them to help you get to the next part of your route. Other routes have road signs.

mamcalice

Having been to all of the cities you propose in your original post, I would list them in reverse order. Paris is a lovely city, walkable and with so many things to see and do. After 8 trips, it is still the place I want to revisit. You will get lots of different suggestions here but the best way to start your planning is with guidebooks. We are not Rick Steves fans at all but if you can get ahold of his TV shows for the places you are considering, they are very helpful.