My husband and I have nailed down our itinerary for our trip in August. I thought I would basically run it up the flag pole and see what you all think and see what sorts of recommendations you have. We scaled things back since we originally came up with this plan and have decided to stick to Belgium and the Netherlands rather than go to Germany as well. We had also considered spending a few days in the Ardennes, but since we are not planning to rent a car this trip, decided to stick more to the cities.

We've got 2 weeks and our motivation for the trip is to see some sights, hang out, drink beer, eat food, have fun. Both of us are in our mid-30s.

Here is the plan:

Day 1 and 2: Travel days, arrive in Brussels in the evening of Day 2.

Days 3 - 5: In Brussels. One day we will do a day trip, maybe to Ghent, but open to suggestions.

Days 6 - 8: In Bruges. One day we are planning to take a bike tour, perhaps with Quasimundo. One day a trip to a coastal town, yet to be determined.

Days 9 - 14: Amsterdam, with a stop enroute from Bruges, perhaps Antwerp. We plan to take a couple trips outside Amsterdam during our stay, definitely want to see Den Hag. There is an Echer museum we read about, which is a must visit. Other trips - Delft, Haarlem, Utrecht are on the list of possibilities. A bike tour with Mike's Bikes is on the list of things we want to do, as well as see the Anne Frank house, the Van Gogh museum. Since we will be in Amsterdam for almost a week, we are considering renting a small apartment there.

Day 15: Back to Brussels for 1 night.

Day 16: Mid-day flight home.

Don't pass up Antwerp. We spent 3 days there a few weeks ago and loved it.

Another tip, buy and print your tickets for the Ann Frank House. The lines to buy tickets were VERY long!I was certainly glad we had done that.

Here's the site for tickets

http://www.annefrank.org/content.asp?PID=754&LID=2

Is it too late to look for a "multi-city" flight into BRU and home out of AMS? Saves a day of backtracking.

Can you build a stop in Ghent/Gent/Gand into your schedule? You won't be sorry!

Don't miss out on easter Belgium and the close areas of Germany. We spent several very nice days in Spa - seeing Liege, Aachen and then heading south through a lot of the WW II battlefields - and adorable small towns and cute museums.

Ref the DalaiLlama’s comments; I would suggest you do not bother with flying into one country hiring a car and flying out of another as the drop off fees for doing this with any hire company are very high and sometimes it is impossible. Keep with your plans of returning back to Brussels the journey time between the 2 is a few hours.

Good point about drop-off charges across borders. But: OP said nothing about a car, wisely so - in the densely served Benelux region where trains and buses are aplenty, a car is not needed, especially not when you end up in Amsterdam where the city center (which is where you want to be!) is not car-friendly at all.

Use this for trains:
http://plannerint.b-rail.be/bin/quer...n?L=profi&

Thanks for the recommendations.

We will definitely print tickets to the Anne Frank house ahead of time.

avalon - what was it about Antwerp that you liked so well? We are considering stopping there for a few hours enroute to Amsterdam. What were your favorite things to see and do?

Our plane tickets are already set - using frequent flyer miles, so they were actually set a few months ago. We considered open jaw, but it didn't work out with the restrictions of using miles.

Regarding Ghent - we are planning on taking a day trip there from Brussels or stoping on the way from Brussels to Bruges - so any recommendations for things to do while there are greatly appreciated.

nytraveler - We have been looking at the possibility of building some time in eastern Beligium into our trip - from what I have read, it looks like a really neat place to visit. Just trying to retain a nice balance of seeing plenty while still having time to relax and enjoy. Do you have any suggestions for places that would make a good day trip by train from Brussels?

Thanks again

november_moon... I prefer smaller cities/towns, so I would give less time to Brussels and more time to Brugge. Plus, you'll be back in Brussels at the end of the trip.

Plus, I would cut a day from the Belgium side and a day from the Amsterdam side, and use them to add a stay in the beautiful little town of Delft. den Hague is just a short tram ride from Delft. And yes... while in den Hague, definately take the time to visit the Escher Museum.

Night 1 - travel
Nights 2, 3 - Brussels
Nights 4,5,6 - Brugge, with side trip to Ghent.
Nights 7,8,9, - Delft. Stop in Antwerp enroute. Side trip to den Hague.
Nights 10,11,12,13,14 - Amsterdam
Night 15 - Brussels

My husband and I, and a friend of ours, toured through the BeNeLux region in 2004, before I started visiting the Fodor's Lounge, so I never posted a trip report. However, I did write one, which I recently stumbled upon when I was cleaning out some old files. I keep thinking that I should post it - that someone could probably use the information, but I never got around to doing it. So, maybe you will be my inspiration to finally get it done.

Robyn >-

I would also suggest that you consider a day trip to Ypres from Brugges. It was well worth the time and gave me a up close understanding of what my grandfather faced on the western front.

Second Artstuff's recommendation to cut time from Brussels and add it to Bruges and do day trips from there, or add more time to The Netherlands. Little towns like Delft are so charming.

I loved Ghent. It is gritty, but very interesting with lots of cafes (good for hanging out and they love Americans) and great photo ops. I spent only a day in Ghent and want to go back.

Since you will be there in August, it might be fun to have a day at the beach. While Ostende is pretty much like other beach towns, it is so close to Bruges (10 - 15 minutes by train), you might enjoy hanging out with the locals. The beach is huge (think miles) and they keep it clean and replenished. Just don't buy prepared seafood at stands on the beach - unless you really are sure of what you are getting. Eat at an actual restaurant or take a picnic lunch with you.

You can rent bikes at several places in Bruges and don't need to pay to go on a tour unless you really want to. We biked everywhere. At one place, you get bike rental and entrance fees to several museums as a package. If you are going to the museums anyway, it is a good deal. Taxis are cheap and buses are convenient.

Besides the beer, try the ice-cream in Bruges. I do not like ice-cream much and hate chocolate, though my DH said it was the best chocolate ice-cream he ever had, but they make a white chocolate that has to be ice-cream for the Gods.

Again - thanks for the recommendations. We have been trying to find the right balance for us between changing hotels so that we stay in more places and staying in fewer places but doing day trips.

We had originally thought of spending less time in Brussels itself, but felt like we would be short changing the city with only a couple nights there. We also want to make sure that the plan for the first day in Brussels is not overly ambitious since we will be travelling from California and may have some issues with jet lag the first day.

Plus, my husband is an avid photographer and I have to read every word on every plaque in museums, so between those two things, it takes us longer to sightsee than most folks - LOL.

We would definitely like to spend a day along the coast - and had been thinking of taking a day trip from Bruges. We were also thinking of taking a day trip from Amsterdam to a coastal location - it looks like Den Hag has a nice beach area. I was thinking that we might see the Echer museum in the morning and spend the afternoon hanging out by the sea. Any thoughts on Belgian versus Netherland coastal areas? Other recommendations for coastal towns to visit other than Den Hag and Oostend?

For bike tours, we know we can just rent bikes, but we really enjoy bike and walking tours. We love hearing the stories that the guides tell and having some opportunities to socialize with other folks on the tour - we aren't as lucky on coach tours, but on bike tours we usually meet some really interesting people. We will probably rent bikes to tour on our own on this trip too.

I will definitely try the ice cream in Bruges - we eat ice cream regularly on vacation anyway. A couple years ago we were in Nuremberg in the summertime and one of our favorite things was that at about 9pm, it seemed like the whole town came out for ice cream and a stroll through old town

You kept mentioning the Escher Museum in Den Haag. I hope you also plan to visit the Mauritshuis and perhaps even the GemeenteMuseum while you're in Den Haag. GemeenteMuseum has the largest collection of Mondrian, and Mauritshuis of course has the beautiful Vermeers.

We haven't really planned out the rest of our day in Den Hag, so we may visit one or two other museums as well. It really depends on what else there is to see and do in town that catches our interest. I mention Escher because we love his work - we are a couple of engineers, and engineers and Escher go together like peas and carrots

Regarding art in general, while we have some interest, it isn't generally a driving force for building our itineraries. I had not heard of Mondrian until today. I am familiar with Vermeer, but only because I recently read The Girl in Hyacinth Blue and The Girl with the Pearl Earring - LOL.

Girl with the Pearl Earring painting is in the Mauritshuis, so is Vermeer's View of Delft, which, IMHO, is the most beautiful painting in the world.

As an engineer, you should be able to appreciate Mondrian's works.

While in Amsterdam, I am assuming you'll also plan to see the rijksmuseum. We found that arriving at either Van Gogh or Rijks shortly before they opened was optimal. we also loved seeing "our Lord in the attic" church...definitely worth the short visit needed. My husband also takes thousands (literally) of photos when we travel...I know the drill and frustation that sometimes comes with it but the memories last forever!

Escher lived in Baarn, the next town to mine, from 1941 until moving to a nursinghome in Laren in 1970. The Escher foundation, which hold the copyright on his work is still based there. His museum was to have been there too, but Den Haag came up with the money sooner It would have been good to have had it in his home town I think.
Mondriaan was born in Amersfoort which is also just down the road from me. His birthplace is now a museum for constructive and concrete art.

november_moon - Another attraction in Den Haag that I have read about, is the Peace Palace.
http://www.vredespaleis.nl/showpage.asp?pag_id=1

There was a Fodorite who posted a report a few months ago on his visit to the Peace Palace, which sounded very worthwhile to see. I believe you have to book in advance (see link above).

While in Brugge, you said you were planning a day trip to the coast, so I advise you to take the train to Oostend. It is nice to stroll there along the docks where you will enjoy seafood stands, walking along the beach to the casino and then to the royal covered galleries; it is very nice. While in Brugge, you can also ride your bike to Damme, a very nice little town by the canals.
For ideas about itineraries, you can check this page http://www.frenchescapade.com/trips-belgium.html or the blog www.travelto franceandmore.com which is full of articles about Belgian culture.
Have a nice trip