canadiancouple

We’re a couple from Canada in our early 30s. This will be our first trip to Europe. We both love food & drink, he is obsessed with beer (and cars). Love to see interesting sights, buildings and landscapes but not much for museums. On quite a tight budget for transportation & accommodations so we can splurge a bit on food & drink (chose to stay in some big cities so we can book hotels at a discount on Priceline).

We’ll be flying into and out of Frankfurt in mid-May with 7 days to see Germany and Belgium. We are very interested in spending time in Bruges but open to other suggestions. We think renting a car will be the most economical and efficient choice for this route rather than trains but please comment if you disagree. Please have a look at this itinerary and give your thoughts/recommendations:

Day 1 – Arrive Frankfurt at noon, explore and overnight in Frankfurt
Day 2 – Rent car in Frankfurt, drive to Cologne along the Rhine via Mainz, Koblenz (suggestions on places to stop are welcome) overnight in Cologne
Day 3 – Drive Cologne to Bruges via Liege & Antwerp stopping to visit these towns 3 nights in Bruges
Day 4 – Bruges, rent bikes, side trip to Oostende?
Day 5 – Bruges, Side trip to trappist brewery (possibly Westveleteren)
Day 6 – Drive Bruges to Brussels via Ghent, overnight in Brussels
Day 7 – Drive Brussels to Frankfurt via Luxembourg, Trier, Berg Eltz, overnight in Frankfurt
Day 8 – Flight home from Frankfurt departs 2pm

This seems like a good balance of travel and relaxation for us (with most of the relaxation coming in Bruges). As I mentioned, any suggestions are welcome, particularly beer or auto-related attractions we should see. Thanks!

Aramis

From Frankfurt to Cologne, take the Rhine and check out any of Bingen, Oberwesel, St. Goar and Boppard.

From Cologne to Brugge, I think you would be better served stopping in Aachen and visiting the DOM, and Maastricht before going straight to Brugge. It is almost a 3.5 hour drive without stops anyway!

3 nights in Brugge = good
Take a look at riding to Damme (charming), along a canal, rather than going to Oostende (seaside "port" mainly)

Brussels to Frankfurt airport with your desired stops will take about 6 hours, before any sightseeing. You can really only pick one place to stop of those listed. Cut out Luxembourg and Trier and you can shave an hour off the driving and do Burg Eltz for a trip break - about 3 hrs to Eltz then another 1.5 to Frankfurt airport.

All in all a pretty good sampler stopping in the best location - Brugge - but two legs on your driving days look far too busy to stop and see all the places you want to. Just cause you pass them doesn't mean you can see em - unless you want to start at 8:00 a.m. and arrive at your next hotel after 6:00 p.m.

Aramis

Oh yeah, all the beer is good although the Belgians like to add fruit flavours - yuck.

FROM TRIPADVISOR; (#4 is most like a Pub - smoky and dingy!)

1. Bacchus Cornelius
http://www.bacchuscornelius.com
The best bottle shop in Brugge. Lots of lambic, Flemish sours, and assorted things I saw nowhere else in Brussels, Ghent, or Brugge. Helpful service. Note there is no sign on the outside of the shop, so look for the beer and glassware in the window. A very nice, classy atmosphere. There is a good, inexpensive Italian restaurant a few doors down .

Academiestraat 17
Brugge, Belgium 8000

2. Bierbrasserie Cambrinus
http://www.cambrinus.eu/english.htm
This is the best restaurant for beer in Brugge. The selection is far larger than any other bar. Expensive food. This restaurant has the feel of a New York bistro. Sit at the bar for the best service and for beer. The large binder serving as a beer menu is organized by beer name rather than brewery, so making your selection may take time.

Phillip Stockstraat 19
Brugge, Belgium 8000 Brugge

3. Dickie's Beer & Grillhouse
Not the largest selection, but high-quality food and first-rate service. The bartender/manager is an expert on beer and happy to chat when not busy. Try the beers from Alvinne, they are excellent and very rare.

A 16 Vrijdagmarkt
Brugge, Belgium 8000

4. t Brugs Beertje
http://www.brugsbeertje.be/index2.htm
This bar has a very large selection of bottles and a few taps. A place with locals but welcoming to visitors, relaxed atmosphere and lots of quality beer.

5. Staminee de Garre
Located in an old house near the Burg. Small but high quality selection, and a snack of Belgian cheese is included with your drink. This bar is full of charm and a good romantic location.

De Garre 1
Brugge, Belgium 8000

6. Bier Tempel
Located only a few feet off the Markt in the opposite direction of the Belfort, this bottle shop has hundreds of glasses and the second best bottle selection in the city.
Philip Stockstraat 7
Brugge, Belgium 8000

7. Brasserie Erasmus
http://www.hotelerasmus.com
A restaurant and beer bar in the Erasmus hotel. Very good food, and a small but quality beer list often featuring beers from De Dolle.

and have a beauty trip, eh!.
Ya hosers!

yk

You can take a look of our Belgium trip report section (from last Sept) where we visited Bruges Ghent and Brussels. My husband likes beer so we stopped at a bar or two each day.
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...omment-2585608

We also rented bikes, but Aramis suggested, we biked along the canal to Damme. It is such a beautiful ride that it remains one of the highlights of my trips (and I've taken over 20 European trips in the last 6 years).

Don't know how set you are regarding your germany section, because you may want to change your itinerary a bit after you read this fantastic trip report by Robyn/Artstuff (heavy emphasis on German beer)
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...rip-report.cfm

canadiancouple

Thanks so much Aramis for the route suggestion out of Cologne. Is Liege worthwhile for a stop on the way in or out of Belgium?

We don't mind a couple of full driving days but we might take your advice and skip Luxembourg and Trier.

Thanks also for the excellent detail on Bruges bottle shops & bars. I like the lambics so I will be happy to try the fruit beers while my husband is in heaven with all the others. Silly question - is it possible/legal to purchase a couple of bottles for a picnic in the park? Any estimates of costs for beer in the bottle shop or bars? This is our area to splurge but I still want to get some idea of what to budget for food & beer. My "hoser" husband can drink more than a few - even high %abv Belgians.

And thenks yk for the links to trip reports. I've read yours before and it was quite helpful in our planning. Biking to Damme is definitely on our list.

So glad I posted and thanks again for the helpful quick replies!

canadiancouple

I should say at this point we're trying to decide between this Germany/Belgium itinerary or flying into Amsterdam and using trains instead of car rental - 2 nights in Amsterdam, 3 in Bruges, 1 in Brussels and one last night in Amsterdam before flying home. The flight costs more but I think these train connections would be cheaper than the German car rental & fuel so it might balance out.

Aramis

Have you really checked into the car rental costs? Germany is the cheapest place to rent a car on the continent. If you get a diesel, the gas/mileage is not going to frighten you either.

What are you costs you are considering for the flight difference?

Your alternate route choice would be great, too, and easier to do without a car - fewer stops though (you seem to like a lot of those) meaning shorter distances with better connections.

You are going to try the Belgian frites (try the curry mayonnaise) and waffles, too, right?

Oh gosh, I'm drooling again.

Whatever you choose - Give 'er!

canadiancouple

The difference in flights is $300 less to Frankfurt than Amsterdam (that's total for both of us). We haven't done a lot of research on car rentals (suggestions on sources for that would be great!) We'd prefer an automatic car, size isn't too important.
I'm having some trouble figuring out pricing on the b-rail.be site but it seems like rail between Amsterdam-Bruges-Brussels-Amsterdam with a few possible side trips + flight to Amsterdam would work out within $100 of the the Frankfurt flight with car rental & fuel.

Also, I guess we should consider that food & drink costs will be lower in Germany. So hard to decide! I wish we could do it all but we only have a week.

lavandula

The Belgian train network is extensive and good value so it possibly would be cheaper by rail, but I like your itinerary - lots of people just see Brugge and Brussels and that's it, so you will probably see so much more by driving. To reduce your fuel costs: many Germans who live close to the Luxemburg border buy their fuel in Luxemburg. If you are still going in that direction, if you can hold off buying fuel until you cross the border you would be doing yourself a big favour.
I have been to Liège but I didn't think it was so spectacular, although Michelin gives it 2 stars, so it is probably worth some of your time - I think I just didn't spend enough time exploring it. Antwerp is definitely a buzzy little city with great places to eat and shop. Go for it!

Lavandula

Robespierre

I think you can put your first day to better use than seeing Frankfurt, a mostly uninspired commercial center.

From FRA (Regionalbahnhof) take a local train to Mainz.

Buy a Land-Ticket for Rheinland-Pfalz from a Deutsche Bahn machine for 27&euro;, or from the <I>Reisezentrum</i> for 29&euro;. This day pass will allow up to five people unlimited travel all over that federal state for one day, up to and including K&ouml;ln. Ride down the Rhine all day, stopping off here and there (perhaps taking a short k-d.com cruise downstream) until you reach Bonn, where your Land-Ticket is valid on all surface transport. Have a pork cutlet at B&ouml;nnsch, and try their eponymous brew. Push on to K&ouml;ln, check into one of the many guest houses along the river in Old Town, and get a good night's sleep.

Upon the morrow, rise and breakfast, then go down to the Tourist Information office by the Dom and buy a one-day WelcomeCard for discounts and unlimited U-Bahn, S-Bahn, and bus travel. Things to see and do include the Chocolate Museum, Cathedral, Roman-German Museum, Sielbahn, and Drachenfelsbahn in nearby K&ouml;nigswinter. The best food I've had in K&ouml;ln was at the Gilden Brauhaus, where a fine K&ouml;lsch is offered. (The best, to my palate, is Gaffel.)

The next day, a Land-Ticket for Nordrhein-Westfalen (33/35&euro will take you all over the region - right to the Belgian border. Two of my favorite places are the Schwebebahn in Wuppertal and the neolithic museum at Neanderthal. If you choose to visit these sights, leave your luggage at D&uuml;sseldorf and pick it up at the end of the day on the way to Belgium via Aachen.

canadiancouple

Thanks Robespierre that train itinerary is helpful. So could we get from Frankfurt to Cologne with just the Land-Ticket for Rheinland-Pfalz? If so, that would really help the budget and actually makes Frankfurt-Cologne-Bruges-Brussels the cheapest option.

Robespierre

I am <I>fairly certain</i> that the R-P LandTicket is valid for Frankfurt. At least, that is the impression I get from perusing the network map at http://www.bahn.de/p/view/mdb/pv/pla...st_01_2007.pdf

I do know for a fact that K&ouml;ln (in Nordrhein-Westfalen) <U>is</u> included, and the designation for Frankfurt (in Hesse) on the map is similar. Every Land-Ticket includes a few cities just outside the state border, and these two both appear to be.

Maybe one of our German friends (or Larry) can weigh in on this with something a little more definitive.