Brussels & Amsterdam
 

We have 4 full days set aside for Brussels/Amsterdam (Eurostar tickets for arrival in Brussels on a Thursday night/depart Brussels on a Tuesday morning) .. our intial thoughts (current accomodation plans) is to spend Friday/Saturday in Brussels, go to Amsterdam on Sunday morning, return Monday night (around 30 hours) for the Tuesday morning train back to London ... now we are having second thoughts on whether or not we have given ourselves enough time for Amsterdam.

Are we better off spending the whole time in Brussels (do a day trip to Antwerp &/or Brugge) and see Amsterdam on another trip .. or .. is 1 night/2 days in Amsterdam sufficient time to see the main sights?

What do you want to see in Amsterdam? If you want to visit museums, the Anne Frankhuis etc then you don't have enough time.

With 4 days I'd say stick to Belgium and do Amsterdam again on a another 4 day trip.

Brussels is just a few hours from Amsterdam by train and IMO there is NO comparison between these two places - Amsterdam by any measure one of the most gorgous cities in the world and Brussels IMO and that of many others one of the most disappointing un-romantic cities in Europe. Bruges is exceptional but Brussels can wait till you have more time - it may be the only time you can visit Amsterdam so IMO hop on it!

If you have not booked Eurostar tickets then investigate the day high-speed ferry from Harwich to Hook of Holland - with boat trains and thru ticketing from London all the way to Amsterdam with some great offers to boot.

I agree with Hetismig about leaving Amsterdam for another time when you can have adequate time to devote to both countries. My husband and I visited Brussels on our European honeymoon and we thought it was a neat city, did not disappoint, and was romantic. Places are what you make of it, especially when you dig beneath the surface and are able to find some real gems as we did there.


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My husband and I enjoyed Brussels too. I would not hesitate to spend the whole time there, esspecially with day trips to nearby towns. As an alternate, you could stay over 1 or 2 nights in Bruges, which is a really neat town. I would save Amsterdam for another trip.

Hetismig: We occasionally include museums in our 'must see' list of things to do when in a city ... not sure if we would include any museums in Amsterdam even if we were there for 4 days. Typically create a 'wish' or 'must see' list and see as many things on that list as time permits.

PalenQ: We have booked the Eurostar tickets .. prior to booking I did look into the Rail/Sail option from Amsterdam back to London. I found that with the savings that we got by booking Eurostar return tickets early and with the hotel deal I can get in Brussels, the costs were comparable. Also, at the time of the Eurostar booking (as is still the case), I was not sure if we would include Amsterdam and the Eurostar return tickets gave us the flexibility to do either.

Sounds as if I will be fine spending all of our time in Brussels or splitting time between the 2 cities.