msrani

Hi there,
So here's the 12 day lay out of our trip to Belgium and France in November. Please look over and add if we are missing something that shouldn't be missed.

Day 1(Thursday)-Land in Brussels, take train to Brugge
Day 2(Fri)- Hang out in Brugge, bike ride, see windmills, eat chocolate, see lace making, drink beer
Day 3 (Sat)- Leave Brugge, take train to Paris. Plan is to see Eiffel Tower, not necessarily climb it (worried about crowds). Maybe go to Moulin Rouge.
Day 4 (Sun)- Go to museum Musee d'Orsay specifically(as I hear admission is free on Sunday), hang out at Montmarte, eat out
Day 5 (Monday)- Planning on doing a daytrip to Normandy to see St. Michel castle. (No idea how we're gonna get there)
Day 6(Tuesday)- See Versailles (don't have a clue how I can plan this yet)
Day 7 (Wed)-Leaving Paris and taking train to Burgundy. See a vineyard of some sort. Find a place to stay there overnight.
Day 8 (Thurs)-staying in this region or near Toulouse?
Day 9 (Fri)- Get to Nice, see Monte Carlo.
Day 10 (Sat)- .......no clue........
Day 11 (Sun)-have to take train back to brussels. Planning on staying night.
Day 12 (Mon)-Leaving for home

I don't want to see every museum Paris has to offer. We are really interested in experiencing things off the beaten path. The parts I need help on are after Paris. Any tips of where to go and what to see would be wonderful from you guys. I'm a little worried because it is going to be November and the weather might be against us.

Anyways, thanks ahead of time, your past comments have been invaluable.

Msrani

msrani

I meant go up Eiffel not actually climb it

ira

Dear MS,

This is a very exhausting itinerary. Please keep in mind that each time you change hotels, you lose at least 1/2 day.

Also, as Churchill once said, "This pudding has no theme".

Your Days 1-3 are fine.

You will be in Paris for 4 days, of which only one of them is in Paris.

You have Days 7-11 in which you will be on trains about 1/2 the time.

This is not a good way to spend a day in Brugge.

If you don't have your plane tickets yet, I suggest that you fly into Brussels and out of Paris.

In any event, I suggest adding a day to Brussels at the end of the trip and spending the rest of the time in Paris.

That will give you 5 days in Belgium and 7 in Paris. You could decide to take a daytrip to Versailles, when you are there.

Have a nice visit.

blackduff

msrani
You don't seem to visit the Louvre. This is almost the same thing as missing the eiffel tour. You don't have to see everything (it's almost impossible to see everything)but you should give it a try.

The Musee D'Orsay is part of the Louvre, so you're seeing part of the collection but the Louvre is the heart of Paris.

I would give a miss to Mount St. Michel or possibly Versaille, instead visiting to the Louvre.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louvre

Check some of the things you'll miss if you don't visit the Louvre.

Again, the Louvre is the heart of Paris.

Blackduff

nytraveler

I don;t know where to begin.

First - you seem to be spending about 3/4 of your time either sitting on trains or sleeping. You have listed traveling from one place to another - which with the checking in and out of hotels and train rides could easily take 6/7 hours - as well as seeing/doing things in the same day. Unless you are getting all 6am trains, you will be arriving in many places at dusk.

Second- have you confused Brugge with Amsterdam? (Bicycles and windmills sound like the latter rather than the former.) And are you planning to actually see anything IN Brugge?

Agree that you should spend your days in Paris actually in Paris. Mt. St Michel is not a castle - it is a (sometime) island with a former religious foundation at it's top - and getting there and back to Paris in one day is extremely difficult. Versailles is much easier - since it's a 30-minute train ride from central Paris - and makes sense if you spend the other days IN Paris.

Are you planing on renting a car in Burgundy? (Most of the vinyards are in the counryside. Also - there's not much to see in November.)

Day 9 you say "get to Nice - perhaps 5/6 hours - do anything there? Then see Monte Carlo - arriving at 8pm?

I really think you need to sit down and prepare a day by day itinerary using actual train times and allowing time to get to/fro hotel/train stations, checking in and out etc. Then figure out how many hours you need to see/do something (Mt St Michel is at least 4 hours to climb up and down and see anything - besides the many hours to get there). And don't forget how early it gets dark in Novemver.

I think you'll find you really need to simplify this plan significantly.

(For train times - not fares - all over europe bahn.de - check the english box - is a good resource.)

crazychick

f you do a search on Moulin Rouge on this site you will see many views about this place. You may want to re think about if it is worth going, it depends on your reasons for wanting to go there.

nytraveler
There are windmills in Brugge.
It aslo seems a pity that you land in Brussels but don't spend any time there.
As others have said your day trip to Normandy is not really realistic.
Also someone's suggestion of flying in to one place and flying out of another would mean less traveling .

Tulips

There may be windmills in Brugge, but it's not what it's known for.
I would skip Mont St Michel, skip Nice/Monaco. For Burgundy perhaps spend a day in Beaune?

nytraveler

I don;t know if there is a windmill in Brugge or not - have been there twice and not seen one - but it is certainly possible. But it is not what one goes to Brugge for - why avoid a perfect midieval town to bike around the countryside looking for a windmill?

MyriamC

The windmill in Brugge is on the ringway around the city. It's not that far from the centre, about a 15 min. walk. We rode on our bikes in Brugge and from Brugge to Damme and back. Riding a bike in the centre of Brugge isn't very comfortable because of all the cobblestoned streets.

john127

There are a couple of windwills on the edge of Bruges in easy walking distance, just to clarify.

As others have stated, your schedule looks a little crazy. Too much travel time and everything's going to be a blur. I understand you want "off the beaten path" but there are weeks worth of that kind of stuff in Paris alone!

I would stick to Belgium, Paris and one other destination in France, tops.

nessundorma

The area of Brugge where the windmills are located (near the river) was actually my favorite part of Brugge.

rkkwan

Only way to do Mont-St-Michel in a day is by joining a tour. Some the whole way by coach (15-hour total), others start from the Rennes train station, where you would take the TGV from Paris to get to.

I don't think one has to do the Lourve. If you're not interested in its collection, then don't go. But trying to go to Orsay on a free day to save a few euros is crazy. Do you want to see art or see crowds?

Anyways, I am also with most of the posters. This is a crazy itinerary that's not well thought out. I suggest totally rethink about it.

msrani

Thank you all for the responses. We've decided to simplify the itenirary quite a bit. The plan is still to go to Brugge and Paris but we've cut back on the Paris daytrips and are instead visiting the south of France for the end part of the trip before heading back to Brussels for our flight out. Thanks again!

SAnParis

I'd simplify even further, spend a couple of days in Brugge, the remainder of the time in Paris (w/a daytrip or two if you really feel the need) & head back to Brussels the morning before, so you can wander Brussels for a day. If you've not been to Paris before, you will find more than enough to do there.