money4mice

Does this make sense? Spend 5-6 days in Amsterdam, Take the train to Bruges for 4 days, then take the train to Paris and stay for 4 days and fly home to the US from Paris? Are we rushing things? This itinerary is for our family of 4 in July. Thanks for your input.

wren

I would spend 3 days in A'dam, 2 days in Bruges, and the rest of your time in the Paris area...in fact, that is just what I have done in the past! You can always do sidetrips from Paris if you want to. What about a 2 day trip to Normandy in addition to your Paris trip?

beanweb24

I think it sounds fabulous. I have made 3 separate 1 week trips to Brugge and love it. July will be busy during the day, but glorious at night. You have some great daytrip options from Brugge as well...Ghent and Antwerp are very close.

Even though you didn't ask about lodging, I would recommend renting a flat in Brugge versus a hotel. It will likely be cheaper and you will have more room. I love the flats at Drie Koningen. They allow 4 night stays if you arrive on a Monday and depart on Friday. The flat "Onze Lieve Vrouw" is 3 bedrooms (we have rented Carmers and loved it). My favorite part about Drie Koningen are the fresh pastries you can order in the lobby for delivery by bicycle the following morning. Yum.

http://www.kanthuisje.com/d3kon/e/e_appolv.htm

nessundorma

How old are your kids? I think of Amsterdam and Brugge as great for little kids, but I would think older kids would be more eager to get to Paris. If you've got older kids, I would trim back Brugge, and maybe whittle Amsterdam down to 4 or 5, depending on how well your family tends to deal with jet lag.

money4mice

The kids will be 13 and 11 and are great travelers. I did reserve the family suite at Absoluut Verhulst for a few days. Do we take a train from Brussels to Paris? Hopefully we can find one way flights that are resonable from East Coast to amsterdam and home from Paris. Any onther suggestions please let me know.

vivi

I did the exact same itinerary in 2006. I spent 2 days in Bruges, 4 in Amsterdam, and 8 in Paris. For me, it was perfect. You may think abiut trimming one day each from Amsterdam and Bruges so you can add more days to your Paris visit

GeoffHamer

From Amsterdam to Brugge, it's easiest to take one of the hourly intercity trains to Antwerpen-Berchem then change for Brugge; seat reservations are not possible, so you just buy a ticket and get on the next train.
From Brugge to Paris, there are a couple of Thalys high-speed trains a day, and otherwise, you get one of the half-hourly trains to Brussels, then a Thalys (also every half hour) to Paris. Seats on Thalys trains must be reserved, and there are cheaper fares if you can be flexible and book in advance.

MaureenB

Our family of four spent five nights in Amsterdam in June 2005. We loved that city. There's plenty to do for that amount of time. And it felt like a very safe city for the kids to walk around during the day on their own. (You can find my trip report by clicking on my name above.)

We took the train from Paris to Amsterdam, and it was easy and pleasant. (We had flown into London and home from Amsterdam.)

I think I'd put more days in Paris, and less in Bruges myself. We only had four nights in Paris, and it wasn't enough!
>-

Nina66

We've done the same thing, spending a bit more time in each place, because we were on a one month trip, but your time frame will work out just fine. I too would cut a day off of Bruges and spend it in Paris, but that one day extra will not make or break your trip, especially if you apartment in Bruge gives a better rate for a four day stay.

A word of warning - when you take the train from Brussels to Bruges, don't go in the late afternoon as we did. It is commute hour and many people commute to work from Bruges to Brussels, as it is a relatively short train trip - I forget, but it is around an hour to an hour and a half. All of the seats were taken, although we did luck out and found two together. Other tourists with their luggage, were without seats for the entire time.

Bruges is fabulous - be sure to take the canal tour. Although it sounds as if you have already done your homework.

Enjoy,

Nina

Christina

I don't think you are rushing it, it sounds like a good trip to me, except I would only spend two days in Brugge and more in Paris. This is just preference, though, so if you love Belgium or whatever reason you have for doing that (do you plan to spend all four days just right in the center of Brugge itself, touring things in the town?), fine. I just wouldn't do that unless you've spent time in Paris before (and I've been to all the places you name).

YOu shouldn't search for two one-way flights because you need a RT flight, one way would be if you didn't fly back. If you search for two one-way flights you'll pay through the roof, and that isn't what you should do. There is no reason you can't book a RT flight insto Amsterdam and out of Paris -- actually I did that exact same thing last summer on KLM/AF.

money4mice

Thanks for all the suggestions! We will only spend 2 days in Bruges. Depending on flights we will either fly in and out of Amsterdam, but I'd rather fly into Amsterdam and out from Paris. Christina, Do you remember what you paid last yearr for your flight on KLM? Rates right now are way too high, over $1000. We have an apartment reserved in Amsterdam for 6 nights which we will amend as our plans solidify. Husband and I have been to Paris before so it is not a necessity this trip if timing or price does not work out.

Andeesue

We did the same itinerary last summer, 6 nights in Amsterdam, 3 in Brugge (with one night in Brussels) before 6 in Paris. I would also shave one day off your Brugge stay and add it to Paris. We also stayed at the Absoluut Verhulst in, I suppose, the family suite (the loft room- 2 rooms, one full bath, living room area). We adored Benno and Frieda, the proprietors. They couldn't be more helpful or charming. Trains were so easy as mentioned before. We did reserve the Thalys to Paris ahead of time. Found a great sale on RailEurope a few months before the trip. Keep checking!