Hey everyone, I am very excited for me 10 day trip to Europe in January. My boyfriend and I will be meeting my sister in Barcelona, where she will be studying. My boyfriend has never been to Europe, so I am dying to show him my favorite city, Paris. This will be my fourth time to Paris, so I am thinking about getting a rental for the week, and I have found one that will be a great deal. I also really wanted to see Belgium on this trip, and my boyfriend is open to anything. I have been to Bruges, but I want to see Brussels and Antwerp. I was wondering whether it would be feasible to day trip to Brussels or Antwerp from Paris. Even if we stayed one night in Belgium, I think it would be cheaper than getting a hotel in Paris for 3 nights and one in Belgium for 2, and then flying from Brussels to Madrid. Or would Amsterdam be a better look at Northern Europe? What do you guys think? We like great nightlife, so we are bookending our week in Paris with weekends in Spain's urban nightlife capitals, Barcelona and Madrid. Here is my possible itinerary. What do you guys think about daytripping to Belgium?

THUR JAN 12: Leave CHS to ATL to BCN
FRI JAN 13 Barcelona
SAT 14 Barcelona
SUN 15 Barcelona, late flight to Paris
MON 16 Paris
TUES 17 Paris
WED 18 Paris (day-trip to Belgium, possible overnight) *Or checking out and staying in Belgium (or Amsterdam?) for Wednesday and Thursday
THURS 19 Paris?
FRI 20 AM flight to Madrid
SAT 21 Madrid
Sun 22 Madrid
Mon 23 Flight home from Madrid to Charleston, via Atlanta

What do you guys think?

since you asked us to reply on this thread:

I don't think your plan to day trip from Paris is a good one. If you do, you will have to consider the round trip cost on the fast trains, which isn't cheap, and there is a little bit (not that much) of immigration and security that eats up time.

I think before you decide on your other hotel/overnight city, you might want to check a site like kayak.com or whichbudget.com (which isn't quite as nice to use at it used to be; others here may have a better suggestion) for best flights to Madrid.

What I mean is that Amsterdam or Paris may have better flights to Madrid, so that could help you put your cities in the best order.

You don't need to rent your Paris apartment for an entire week, and bite a night or two to say in Belgium or Amsterdam. You may be able to find a shorter rental, or you may find that adding in round trip train fare will make a hotel in Paris more feasible than you originally thought.

I hope this makes sense. I am as sick as a dog, and trying to get this out. Ask me to clarify, if it is all too messy. Sorry.

No worries! Thank you so much for your thoughtful reply. The weekends in Spain are firm, as I have never been to Spain, and I want to work that into out trip. I have been to Amsterdam and Bruges, so I was actually hoping to focus on Belgium, BUT I thought Amsterdam might be better for my boyfriend as it will be his first trip, and I thought Barcelona, Paris, Amsterdam, and Madrid, might be a better overview, but I am partial to Belgium, and I am really into avant-garde fashion, and therefore I am dying to go to Antwerp. The rental in Paris was only $515 for the week! We would only stay 5 nights, but I thought it might be cheaper just to stay a night in Beligum (so it would just be one round-trip on the Thalys to Paris) and we wouldn't have to pack up, we could just take a day bag, check out Brussels, and maybe stay in Antwerp, and then head back to Paris. I thought it would be fun to rent a place, and since it's only $515 (not euros!), I thought that would be cheaper and more authentic than trying to find a 150 euro a night hotel for 3 nights, PLUS a place in Belgium for 2 nights.

I just wanted to see whether this was a good idea? Could I see a slice of Belgium in 24 hours away from my rental in Paris?

This is actually quite a departure for me, as I am normally the stay 2 nights (or even 1 sometimes) and MOVE ON, so on my old method, I would have seen like 5 or 6 cities haha.

Thanks!

I was thinking about a day trip to Brussels from Paris next year, so keeping an eye on this.

what is the immigration/security thing?

You could easily do a day trip to Brussels from Paris, if you wanted to. On the Thalys, it's ~1h22. You can get some good fares if you book in advance. It does get expensive if you book at the last minute. I'm not sure what the OP meant by immigration/security. I suspect he/she may have been thinking of the Eurostar, not the Thalys. For the Thalys, you just go to the platform and show your ticket to the conductor and get on board. There is no security/immigration. On the Eurostar, you do go through a metal detector and your bag is screened; you also clear immigration since the UK is not part of the Schengen area. It might be a little ambitious to try to see Brussels and Antwerp or to get to Amsterdam since you'll add more transit time. You'll have plenty to do even without too many side trips. Enjoy your trip.

@Coll, thanks for your advice, I think we are going to focus on Brussels, and then maybe Antwerp, perhaps spending the night in Antwerp, and then heading back to Paris on Thursday, this would again be cheaper and easier, to rent our flat for the week, and just take an overnight bag to Antwerp, spend one night out, and then head back to Paris.

Thanks again for all your advice! I am excited about renting in Paris and using it as a home base for day trips.

Don't worry about immigration and security when entering/leaving Belgium. There is NONE since you are traveling within Shengen countries.

If you book NOW, you can get cheap tickets on the Thalys, straight to Brussels (25 euro one-way) or to Antwerp (29 euro one-way). Note however that these cheap tickets (called Smoove) are not non-flexible ones.

Antwerp has some good nightlife, however mostly on weekends. Thursday night is student night.

Oops ... meant to say that the cheap tix are non-flexible (not refundable, not exchangeable)!

Would like to add that the Paris-Antwerp journey on Thalys (fast train) takes oly 2 hours and 4 mins.