Benelux itinerary question
 

My husband and I are traveling in this area late Aug, early Sept. We like to travel slow and get to know the small villages along the way. I have read all (well many) of the wonderful trip reports on the three countries.

Here is my itinerary so far:
Days 1 - 3 Amsterdam
Days 4 - 8 Delft (this is the business part of the trip)
Days 9 - 11 Luxembourg City
Days 12 -14 Luxembourg (staying Vianden 2 nights)
Day 15 return home

My question is on day 9 should we drive all the way to Luxembourg or is there places we should not miss and so spend a night on the way? From other posts it seems that 3 days in Lux Ctiy may be too much since we are also staying in Vianden. I know the distances are not long and since we like to take this at a slow pace a stop on the way with sights to see would be good for us. Not Brussels since we have been there.

We are planning stops to learn about the Battle of the Bulge, and we like beautiful scenery routes.

Thanks for all the past posts and in advance for any insights.
Barb

I agree that three days in Luxembourg City may be overdoing it. My TR for Benelux is not on Fodors and might be helpful - I stayed in Maastricht between Luxembourg City and Delft (going in the other direction), and in a wonderful small hotel in the country (www.hotel-bisdorff.lu). See wilhelmswords.com/faq/index.html - Loving Luxembourg and The Really Low Low Country.

Just curious...what business takes you to Delft? Lovely town. I would agree with leisurely exploring of Dutch-Flemish villages. Which causes me to question the Lux city stay. Especially taking in any WWII sites. Much depends what you are interested in, i.e., Amsterdam museums or Belgian beer! See my Springtime in Holland and Belgium report.
Ozarksbill [email protected]

You may want to take a look at this excellent trip report by artstuff for some ideas.
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...luxembourg.cfm

Thank you all for the responses. Yes yk I have read artsuff's wonderful report and that is what made me realize there is a lot to see.

Thanks thursdaysd for that links to your reports as well. I was wondering about Maastricht. Lonely Planet says no Netherlands itinerary is complete without going there! So maybe just a day stop? We may want to go a bit farther into Belgium for overnight so we can enjoy the beer!?

Ozarksbill: my husband does a lot of international business and there just happens to be a meeting there. maybe at the university? As you can see I do not follow the business part but will enjoy the area around Delft. he has traveled to Amsterdam and Belgium many times but not Lux at all so that is why the trip includes going there. Belgian beer is of course his favorite drink in the world. Thanks for your great report - it has given me places to start.

Any insights on the weather in early Sept? That is a hard time of year to judge on the east coast so maybe there as well. Can be about anything!

We were in Belgium last Sept (mid-Sept), and it was BEAUTIFUL weather. My husband is from the cold, so he was comfortable wearing short-sleeve with jeans, and light jacket for evenings.

I am from the hot region, so I wear long-sleeves plus jacket during the day, or light cashmere sweater.

Hi Barb - if you enjoy scenic routes, you should definitely consider including Maastricht/southern Limburg in your itinerary. The landscape changes from the typical Dutch flat countryside to rolling, green hills. There's a good variety of things to do/see in Maastricht and while you could spend plenty of time there, you can cover the highlights in a day trip.

From there, continue your drive into Belgium and Lux through the Ardennes for lovely forests.