Hello there,

I'm planning a trip in Europe for two weeks next April and I'm currently thinking about my itinerary.

I will arrive in Paris. I travel on a budget (about 2500$ CAD excluding plane ticket) and I want to minimize my travel days. I was planning on seeing 3 cities within 2 weeks (about 12 days if I include the day of my arrival).

​​​​​​I was thinking about Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam but then everyone around me is advising me to avoid Brussels because it's not worth it.

Do you have other suggestions for me ?

Thank you and have a great day !
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how about London, Paris and Amsterdam with a possible stop in Belgium - do day trips from each base. Trains are great - check www.seat61.com for tons of great advise on booking your own discounted train tickets online - for general info on trains and what to expect on them BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com. Day trips from all three places are mind boggling - like Reims and Champagne House/Cave tours from Paris or Normandy's D-Day beaches or Chartres for world-famous Gothic cathedral, etc.

London - day trip to Oxford or Cambridge - Salisbury and Stonehenge - Bath (one of nicest cities in England), etc.

Amsterdam to any of several nice regional towns.

I think you need to consider what you can afford before you think about how many (or which) places you should add to Paris.

Your budget will not allow for much (if any) moving around. You're only giving yourself CAD$208 (US$160) per day average to cover lodging, food, entry fees, city buses/subways, etc. Day trips can be a budget eater as you have to buy round-trip tickets each time. Investigate what lodging will cost in the destinations you mention and the cost of train fares to travel between points. Lodging costs could be affected if you'd be traveling in the days immediately before or after Easter (April 21).

Have you already purchased your airline tickets?

If not, you should compare the air fares were you to fly round-trip to one city versus into one city and out of another. The multi-city fare may be higher, but the fare difference may be less than the cost of returning to the original city. A multi-city ticket would also allow for better use of your limited time. You need to spend the last night in or very near the city you're flying out of.

This is something like fifth time in the last two years that this poster has started a thread with this same discussion. If this is a sincere inquiry, I would suggest the OP return to discussion in say last month's post where OP got many suggestions.

As far as other people saying a place is "not worth it"... why did Brussels interest you in the first place?

Whitehall - how do you know they did not take a trip last year?

I think Brussels gets a bad rap from many here because they compare it to Paris, Amsterdam, Rome, etc and by any means it is not whatever those places are - but it does have its pluses - like the Grand' Place - 'Europe's Living Room' and one of the most gorgeous town squares in Europe but I've always found it rather too modern otherwise - may want to do a drop-by en route Paris-Amsterdam for a night or a few hours (put bags in station locker) but though one could spend lots of days here (as I have) most are yes underwhelmed by it when they compare it to those other cities.

Many would recommend stopping for a night or more in Bruges, Gent or Antwerp which everyone finds delightful (though Bruges rather overtouristed).

"Whitehall - how do you know they did not take a trip last year?"

Perhaps because the OP was "dreaming" of going to Europe in the OP's Mya 28 thread. Or perhaps you should look at OP's similar thread on July 22. Both this year.

Or the title of this thread 'first-time' but anyway who cares as discussions like these are of use to many in OP's assumed boat.

Are the other threads about the same cities?

Anyway Oleonius - what do you think so far? Specific questions?

The OP's previous threads:

What itinerary should I pick for Europe ? [Note: Not posted in Europe forum.]

My planned 3 weeks itinerary - Comments please !

2500$ for a two week trip. Need advice !

1000$ for a week in Paris

My dream trip to Europe - is my budget enough ?

It sounds like the same trip.

Yes, discussions like these may be of value to others, but the repetition of the questions indicates (at least to me) that the OP is not reading (or accepting) the answers he is getting.

I'm out.

OP - You there - whazzup?

slippery customer

I'm a here. I'm reading all of your comments.

Regarding my previous posts, it's been like 2 or 3 years that I've been planning a trip but everytime, something kept me from going abroad (money, family matters, school, etc.)

But this year, the difference is that I'm done with school and I purchased my plane tickets already. Therefore, I'm now 100% sure to go on my trip wherehas the other years, I was just "interested" in going on a trip.
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I appreciate all of your comments.

Thank you and have a wonderful day !
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It's good to know you're there - be nice to take part in discussion and ask questions, etc. What do you think so far?

Hello,.

I think I can do 4 days easily in Paris but it's more with Brussels and Amsterdam that I fear of missing things to see and do. For Brussels, most people say it's one day or two at the most. And for Amsterdam, about 3 days from what I've seen on the internet.

​​​​​​Then, I was also thinking about Berlin, but it seems very far from Paris or even Amsterdam. Would replacing Brussels by Berlin be a good move ?

And finally, are there an app that you use to walk and move around a city that works well offline aside from Google Maps ?

I really appreciate your insights

Sure you could end up in Berlin in 2 weeks

Paris 4 nights
Belgium 2 nights
Amsterdam 4 nights - do a day trip to the Keukenhof and the Tulip Fields - research that - easily done by train and bus
Fly to Berlin for final 4 nights (or take about 5-6 hour train trip.

If London does not interest you, why not an overnight train from Paris to Vienna in Austria (It is a lovely city) or for that matter Venice or Zurich are great too. Switzerland is of course more expensive.
My blog www.diyfamilytravels.com has travel suggestions.

I'm glad you decided to participate and ask questions - you have loads of time and it's great to seek out plausible scenarios - now for my 2 euro cents worth for a first-time 2 week trip I'd forget Brussels - has its pluses but there are so so many IMO much better places for first-timer with limited time to spend it it- not interested in London?

Again travel between bases must be factored in - one day between each really - re-locating hotels or hostels takes a lot of time in addition to travel time. At most 4 bases or stops and that is too quick for many here but if young (?) and want to see highlights of places fine.

But. are you stuck on Paris-Brussels-Amsterdam?

Paris-overnight train to Venice - Florence and Rome could be great.

Infinite possibilities and I'd consider landing in London -nice to start off in English-speaking country perhaps - take bullet train at speeds of nearly 200 mph thru Channel Tunnel to Paris - Amsterdam and Berlin or Paris to Italy.

So now that we all know you are around and taking it all in keep asking and also IMO think about the Paris-Brussels-Amsterdam box.

I don't think anyone MUST visit Amsterdam. It's incredibly expensive and overcrowded these days, unlike many wonderful venues in Europe.

But who knows whether the OP has even boarded a plane yet.

I disagree completely with the general view of Brussels. I have spent weeks there. For art museums, architecture, and urban variety there is no place like it. A lot of the wealth of the rape of the Congo ended up here and that's reflected in the art collections. Maybe it's dirty, cluttered and uninteresting to some but it's exactly my kind of place. I'm not big on Twee destinations like Brugge much preferring places like Palermo, Marseilles, Naples. (you might like the movie In Bruges) Amsterdam even 10 years ago was too crowded to be pleasureful. Read up and make your choices.

Berlin is another of my favorite oft visited places but it's huge and takes at least a week in itself not counting the time getting to and fro from anywhere else. Leave it for a future trip when you can spend a decent amount of time.

I am also a big fan of Brussels and could care less about all-done-up towns like Bruges. But for a first-time visitor to Europe I'm not sure I'd push Brussels. Or anyplace like Palermo or Naples or Marseille, all of which are completely wonderful but wouldn't make my Europe 101 list. It takes some time to appreciate places like that IMO.

Agree that Berlin requires some serious time and better saved for a future foray.