We're planning a driving trip this fall through northern France, and one leg will include a trip leaving in the morning from the Normandy beach area (maybe stay in Deauville, Honfleur or Bayeax) to Brugge Belgium. Anyone have an idea of how long it will take? I'm estimating about 3 hours. If it's longer, I may reconsider the trip to Brugge and go directly to Brussels for the evening. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Jim, <BR>Distance between the Deauville area and Brugge is abt. 400 km so you won't be able to do this in 3 hours time, especially since there is no highway between Rouen and Arras (=176 km). On working days the trafic on the "route nationale" (main road) can be very dense with truckers which slows down all other trafic. If you can do this on a weekend, this would be better.

Jim, <BR>Myriam is quite correct; it's about 425km (260 miles) from Deauville to Brugges via Rtes A28, A16 and E40. Look to about a five hour drive. Even with the two additional hours over your estimate, I wouldn't sacrifice Brugges for Brussels. Brugges is one of the most unique small cities in western Europe and well worth a visit.

Jim, <BR>Having just returned from Belgium, I want to add my 2 cents and agree with Wes. There isn't much in Brussels that is worth going out of your way for. I would say go there if in the area, but allot only 1 day. Brugges is absolutely charming and is definitely worth the trip. Also, we took a quick trip from Brugges to Kniekke-Heist (sp) which is a beach town about 1/2 hour outside of Brugges. Quite lovely and a thrill to see the North Sea.

<BR>Jim, I agree with Wes and Lori. On our recent trip, we met others in Brugge who were staying in Brussels and day-tripped to Brugge.They were very disappointed in in Brussels. Their reaction persuaded us to skip Brussels and we too visited the coastal cities of Knokke and Oostende - a tremendous surprise for us. I hope you don't miss Brugge. It is a real memory-maker!