First trip to Europe from US
 

Hi,

A friend of mine who has traveled alot suggested I post our proposed itinerary for our trip to Europe and see if you have any tips or suggestions. It will be me,my husband and two teenage boys, 13 and 17. We are visiting Bruges, Paris and Amsterdam. We are both teachers and can only travel in the summer. We are going at the beginning of June.

Day 1 Arrive in Amsterdam at 11:00 am. Take train to Bruges from Airport. Stay in a hotel/BnB in Bruges.
Day 2 Bruges
Day 3 Bruges (our friend loves Bruges. If we're done seeing most of the sights in Bruges, we might venture out a little bit. Can we get to the water from Bruges on bikes? ( I am terrible with geography. My boys are much better than me!)
Day 4 Take train to Paris in the afternoon. Stay in an Air BnB in Paris.
Day 5 Paris
Day 6 Paris
Day 7 Paris
Day 8 Train to Amsterdam in the afternoon
Day 9 Amsterdam
Day 10 Flight around 1:00

I'm not sure if three days is too long in Paris. The boys want to see the Louvre which could take all day right? And the Eiffel Tower of course, yes the touristy stuff. They also mentioned going to Versailles. Would that be an all day trip to Versailes. How would you get to Versailles from Paris?
Would the Louvre be an all day thing too? Are they worth the entire day? That would leave us with only one full day in Paris. Is that enough time?

Any suggestions for things we might enjoy seeing or doing in Paris as a family, could be things off the beaten path, relatively cheap or free? Looking for suggestions for Amsterdam too. Bruges seems pretty small and quaint. And yes some touristy things like chocolate, french fries and Belgian waffles.

Thanks for you input and suggestions for this newbie traveler. I know it's a lot of info!

Bruges is not quaint - it's a major tourist draw. You can easily get to the seashore from there. There is no reason to be afraid of geography - it takes about 10 minutes to learn to read a map and understand scale.

The Louvre can easily be an all-day venture, but only if you decide it is. Versailles will most certainly take up most of a day.

Three days too long in Paris?? You must be kidding. Three months wouldn't be enough for many of us.

You don't have any time for "off the beaten path" stuff. You don't even have time for the "on the beaten path" stuff.

It sounds as though you need to sit down with a guidebook or two and do some homework.

Welcome to Fodors!

A few considerations. You are proposing a round trip air itinerary. You will save a travel day by doing open jaw where you fly into one city and leave from another. It rarely costs much more than a round trip for either city and saves a travel day and 4 train tickets getting to your final airport city.
You are not considering the time overhead involved in changing cities. There is actual travel time plus time needed to get to and from train stations at each end, allowing slack time so as not to miss the train, and packing/unpacking time. These time overheads cut a half day from each city involved, at least.
AirBnb's in Paris are mostly illegal. Unless the place has in its ad an official registration number, it is not legal.
Your 10 days include at least one day when any given attraction is closed. Check days of the week when you will be places.
And June is pretty close to now so reservations may be difficult for some things.

That said, the people here will love to help you plan. Take a look at guidebooks or even just the online city guides such as those that are on this site so you can get an idea of what you want to see in each place. If you are already locked into air and hotel purchases, we'll help you make the most of what you have scheduled. Tell us details, we won't bite (well, a few of us do, but their teeth are dull).

If you can't book an open jaw flight, into Amsterdam and out of Paris for instance I would certainly drop a day from Bruges and add it to Amsterdam. I'd do that even with an open jaw. Bruges is fine for a day but Paris and Amsterdam offer much more.
One full day in Amsterdam is not enough, and the last day will be spent getting to the airport. If you plan on visiting the Van gogh Museum or the Anne Frankhuis you must buy your tickets online NOW. you may already be too late for Anne Frank.
Airbnb in Amsterdam is also problematic.

Good advice about open jaw flights above. They're usually cheaper then round trip if you add in the cost of the return trip -- not to speak of the wasted vacation time.

You also need to allow for jet lag. I usually add a day or so at my first destination and make sure it's a place with lots to see.

If you buy your train tickets early, you can save lots of money.

Good luck!

So with the open jaw flights, we could do that for our return trip from Paris to Amsterdam instead of the three or four hour train ride?

With jet lag, I haven't had a ton of time to do alot of research. Our friend suggested going to bed early and geting up really early a few days before the trip to get us used to the time change. This was kind of a last minute decision. Would Amsterdam be good to go to for two days? I know Bruges in touristy, but seems like it has things to do as well. Trying to decide if we should do Amsterdam first or last in the trip.

I assume that you live in the U.S. Open jaw would be U.S. to Amsterdam, Paris to the U.S.; which means that according to your original itinerary you will not be seeing Amsterdam at all. Count on two hours in a museum before the museum shuffle gets you. Add a day to Paris and visit the Orsay museum in addition to what you will see in the Louvre. Versailles will be a break from the city, but not from the crowds. Take a boat ride on the Seine.

Belgian chocolate? Paris is loaded with chocolaterie; it doesn't taste any better in Bruges than Paris
French fries? Seriously? You don't live near a McDonald's? How good can a French Fry be?
Belgian waffles? 4,000 miles for a waffle?

You can eat lunch fairly economically in Paris eating food from street vendors....croque monsieur! mmmmm. Or, just drop in a bakery (patisserie), which usually sell other edibles....quiche, for example, and sandwiches

I know it's your 1st time, I know you're teachers, but I strongly urge and suggest you plan on splurging ($50/person) for a GREAT dinner in Paris, so that you know what good food CAN be. Otherwise, if you scrimp, save, and dine on waffles and french fries and pizza, you'll never realize what people really mean when they talk about gourmet dining. Just as you teach to change kids' lives, take a lesson from us more-seasoned travelers, so that you are exposed to this other world. In other words, don't blow this opportunity.

Book your Thalys trains (www.thalys.com; easy to book your own discount tickets to Paris far in advance and from Amsterdam to Bruges too (though compare with prices of IC trains over that route too. For lots on booking trains check www.seat61.com - BETS-European Rail Experts.

Louvre with two teens probably not much more than a few hours - The Orsay Museum just across the Seine with more modern art may intrigue them just as well vs the old art in the Louvre. Bruges is quaint outside the main square area where tourists gather but a few blocks away along the ancient quays it is still quaint.

Belgian frenched fries are the best anywhere and nothing like McDonalds - served in paper cones they are think slabs covered with a myriad of toppings such as curry sauce or mayo or onions and dozens more -plenty of these frites stands all over Bruges.

If you go open jaw fly into Amsterdam spend time there then go to Bruges then to Paris and home from Paris. Add the day you save by not travelling back to Amsterdam to paris, and take a day from Bruges and add to Amsterdam.
If you can't fly open jaw, because you have already booked your flight then take a day off Bruges and add it to Amsterdam otherwise there is no point in flying into and out of Amsterdam, as you wont have enough time to see or do very much. Even two days is tight.
Where in the US are you flying from?

Even with "preparation," you or someone in your family will likely still feel the effects of jet lag and will affect your first full day of sightseeing. That's what we're trying to warn you about.

An other poster just answered the open jaw question. Have you already booked your flights? I am getting the sense this is a yes. If not, do not plan to go back to Amsterdam but fly out of Paris directly back to the US.

"Can you get to the water"

Hard to know how to answer this. Brugge is not only on a river it is on a network of canals that start medievel and go up to Industrial all the way to Amsterdam and indeed to Zeebrugge (Sea Brugge) which is on the sea. The whole area is one fantastic water/land play ground and bike hire is very easy so you can get out and about to see some really lovely old villages near Brugge without going very close to any minor roads. All the land is basically flat so cycling for the kids can be very easy.

Jet lag, firstly get outside in the light, walk in the woods, smellthe flowers, take a frisbee out for a bit, do not hang around inside museums, do stay up as late as possible and try to wake at a normal time the following day, certainly move your meals to the new "time" straight away and drink a lot of water (the stuff out of the taps, not from the plastic bottles, which is filthy stuff).

It's about a 8-9mi back from the coast Here's a map of a longer ride ~40mi I did a few years ago on an upright city bike I rented. I cut inland back to Bruges by Blankenberge. Perfectly flat the whole way. I would have preferred a true road bike for long a ride but it worked out fine in the end. The bike shop that had road bikes was closed on Sunday so I rented from a generic bike rental place. (I don't recall the name but there are several at least). They can give you more info about routes & more importantly advise on apps to track the route with so you can use your phone GPS.

There is a very well marked network of bike trails that crisscross all over Belgium. I use mapmyride.com, and mapped out this ride myself. Lots of people were out and about on a sunny late October day walking or biking, but not many people at the beach.


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You have a lot of research to do before you make an itinerary. You'll need to read about the places you are considering visiting and decide what things in those places most interest you and your family. For instance, you are planning a lot of time in Bruges, a small town with relatively few attractions when contrasted with Paris. And decide whether you are interested in Amsterdam. Your posted itinerary give you a day in Amsterdam. Remember that it takes staying two nights in a place in order to give you one full day. If Amsterdam is just your way of getting to Bruges. you might want to reconsider that. While I think it is worth visiting Bruges, we were "done with it" in half a day. Some people love the place, others do not. You'll have to read as much as you can to decide how much time you might need there. The whole family should get involved with reading about places and deciding what things are most important to them.

In Paris, you mention the Louvre, what do you and your family hope to see there? The Louvre has an amazing breadth of art, but for instance, it does not have Impressionist works. (I doubt that your family will want to spend the whole day at the Louvre.) To see those you'll need to visit D'Orsay. And you'll need to decide whether you want to spend one whole day (of your three) outside the city at Versailles. Three days in Paris isn't even enough to scratch the surface.

Can you extend your trip? The air tickets from the US to Europe and return are likely the most expensive part of the trip, so it makes sense to maximize your time in Europe.

>>> A friend of mine who has traveled alot suggested I post our proposed itinerary <<<
Good idea.

>>> our friend loves Bruges <<<
If this is the only reason, this is a BAD reason until you have articulated why Bruges calls for that many days in your mind. You have allocated only one more day in Paris.

>>> Bruges seems pretty small and quaint. And yes some touristy things like chocolate, french fries and Belgian waffles. <<<
It is smaller than Paris or Amsterdam, but not quaint during the day. Mass of tourists crammed into a small city core. I enjoyed pre breakfast early morning walk along the empty canal streets and late evening walks, but not during the day. After one full day, I had enough and spent time in Ghent instead. Touristy, but not THAT touristy as Bruges.

If you can do open-jaw flights, look at MULTIPLE options. Besides price, look closely at layover, arrival and return flight logistics.

In my case, I infinitely prefer flying into Paris and return from Amsterdam. Paris arrival is mid-day for me, takes longer to get into city. My room is usually ready on arrival. I would have an early light dinner, go to sleep and be synched to the Paris time next morning. Amsterdam, on the other hand is an early morning arrival. Combine this with usually shorter trip through the AMS airport and into town, I would arrive at my hotel way too early. I end up spending a long zombie day. Yes, I know to keep moving and not doing any sedentary activity like cruising, but as soon as I sit down, the lack of sleep immediately shows up. The return flight is also better from AMS. For Paris, it is super early departure from the city while it is an easy late morning return from AMS.

However, you need to step through your itinerary to see what works better for you.

Then align that with venue schedule. If you want to visit Museums, Palaces, etc, you have to juggle closing days if over Monday or Tuesday. This also impacts if you want to use consecutive museum pass in Paris. You are supposed to manage which consecutive days a useful to use the pass. Similarly, when I stay many days in Paris, I also look at if I can use a Navigo Découverte weekly city transit pass. When I use this on airport RER train into city and do a roundtrip to Versailles, the remainder of the Paris transit rides become freebies. However, to make this work, the Paris stay must land on the correct part of the week.

Accommodation prices fluctuate depending on the day of the week. If there is a big convention going on, even in Amsterdam, the availability plummets and the prices skyrocket. I do a lot of what ifs to make sure accommodations are available at acceptable prices before booking flights.

Bruges accommodation prices shoot up over the weekends. I try hard to visit there during the weekday.

For Paris, you need to know how to check the legitimacy of rentals.

Day 1 Fly into Amsterdam from US
Day 2 Amsterdam
Day 3 Amsterdam
Day 4 day stop in Ghent or Bruges
Day 5 Train to Paris
Day 6 Paris
Day 7 Paris
Day 8 day trip to Versailles
Day 9 Paris
Day 10 Flight out of Paris to US

The next time you check in, try to give us some ideas of your interests and those of the kids. We will try to give you ideas that fit. You may be limited to the number of posts you can do per day due to this site's anti-spam settings for new members. Don't give up!

For instance, my favorite Paris museums are the Rodin (sculpture and a sculpture garden), Picasso, Quai Branly (African and Oceania Artifacts - a stunning museum), and the Cluny Museum of the Middle Ages (includes the Unicorn Tapestries).

As for restaurants and meals, don't eat anything trying to duplicate foods you like from home. Try a rijsttafel in Amsterdam. Explore new tastes. In Paris, try a different pastry every day (you won't run out in such a short trip).

I had some amazing Italian and pretty decent Greek food in Amsterdam.

The street food in Paris can be incredible... one of the best "hot dogs" of my life (a sausage on a bagette with melted gruyere style cheese). A truly spectacular chicken salad sandwich from a bakery window, eaten on a park bench. Of course crepes...

If taking Thalys train from Brussels to Paris from Bruges be sure to buy with it the ABS (All-Belgian-Stations) fare so you can hop any train from Bruges within 24 hours of your Thalys train to Paris - explained here: https://www.thalys.com/be/en/deals-f...ions-abs-offer

This way you could thrown bags in station locker at Brussels and look around town for a few hours or stay a whole day and then just hop on your Thalys train to Paris.

If you take Thalys from Amsterdam to Antwerp with the ABS fare again you have up to 24 hours in Antwerp before you board your IC train to Bruges- again throw bags in locker and look around this gem of a town with the train station itself - called the Railway Cathedral or some such moniker - is inside and out amazing.

Here is an interesting look at Antwerp train station (where you have to change coming from Amsterdam to get to Bruges) - it's a You Tube video that has near 34,000,000 hits - always gives me a thrill to see it - a Flash Mob that without prior arrangement slowly takes over the station's main concourse -

I thought Bruges was quaint, but we went in the off season when it wasn't totally packed with tourists. Not sure that I would find it that appealing during the summer crush

But on a first trip to Europe, for teachers who have kids who want to visit the Louvre, I would suggest that you skip Brugges and focus on Amsterdam and Paris, two cities with MAJOR art. While there are many people who can be "finished" with the Louvre in two hours, on our first trip to Paris with our then 10-year-old, we planned on an entire day there (broken by leaving the museum mid-day to have lunch at a creperie). If you had more time in Amsterdam, you could go to both the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum.

If you do go to Brugges, and depending on the type of movies that your kids watch, "In Brugges" is an amazing (though violent and foul-mouthed) movie, in which Brugges is not only the setting, but a big part of the movie. When we visited Brugges with our kid who's now an adult and a film student, we spent a couple of hours visiting sites from the movie. And if you like that sort of thing, watch Amelie before you go to Paris, and visit locations from that (non-violent) movie.

Another thing you need to get to work on right now is lodging; you saw the comment above re AirBnB. Many hotels in all of those locations have rooms for 2 people, not 4, so you will need to budget accordingly.

On Versailles, the last two times we went, it was incredibly crowded and actually rather horrid, especially since it used up about 3/4 day for the trip. I only went the second time because one kid wanted to go because the Treaty of Versailles was signed there (she's into politics), I shouldn't have agreed to that. If you do go, buy yourselves a picnic lunch of cheese and meats and bread and eat somewhere in the gardens.

Jet lag can be kind of individual thing. We try to stay up, outdoors and moving as much as possible on the arrival day, to help the body clock reset. Sometimes my spouse will take a short nap, if we arrive earlier in the day, but I never do.