I'm at the tentative stages of planning this trip. We are planning to depart Friday, August 13th and return Sunday, August 22nd so we'll have 8 full days including the first jet-lagged day. So far I've booked a hotel in Amsterdam for the first 4 nights but I'm trying to figure out the Belgium part of the trip. I've heard that Bruges is beautiful and I'm considering staying there for the remainder of the time and doing Brussels as a day trip. Does this make sense or would we really be shortchanging Brussels by doing this?

A day is plenty for Brussels. Aside from the Grand Place and its immediate environs, there's no reason to linger. Your time is far better spent in Bruges. If there's time, stop in Antwerp on the way to Bruges from Amsterdam.

I would say you are possibly short changing the Netherlands with this plan. There is so much more to see than just Amsterdam. But then I don't like Brugge all that much.
I assume you are flying home from Belgium?

Flights aren't set in stone yet since right now fares are running at $1600+. If it doesn't come down some the trip may not happen. But we'll likely fly into Amsterdam and depart from Brussels.

Amsterdam to Bruges by train 3.5 hours
Day in Bruges
Day trip to Brussels or Antwerp or Gent - the latter two IMO much more the dreamy old-world cities etched in your mind's eye when thinking of European towns.

And i agree with Hetismij - i would day trip from Amsterdam to one of many Dutch gems - like Haarlem - only 15 mins from Amsterdam by train - or Delft or Utrecht - lovely regional towns very different from Amsterdam

Or day trip from Amsterdam to Zaanse Schanse -the windmill group on Amsterdam's door step or famous Marken and Volendam, etc.

I would spend most of, if not all, your time in the Netherlands.

We did this trip last April. We were in Amsterdam for 5 days (6 nights I think) - we had time for side trips to Keukenhof and Delft and obviously plenty of time to explore what Amsterdam had to offer. We spent a day and a half (2 nights) in Bruges which was perfect. Then we went to Brussels and had about 3/4 of a day (one night) there - which was also fine to see the highlights and then flew home from there.

We know we will go back to the Netherlands again someday so didn't push it going out into the countryside more - we wanted to really get to know Amsterdam and have time with the flowers - you may have other priorities though.

Have fun!

We were thinking that we'd do one day trip from Amsterdam and those sound great. It will be hard to pick just one! We really want to see at least a little of Belgium too since my father-in-law's family came from there.

I wouldn't miss Antwerp for anything! Brussels , a day was fine even though we were there for 3! But I loved Antwerp

We've done a couple of long weekends in Amsterdam and enjoyed it very much. We've also done 2 long weekends in Bruges so if you combine the two, you're within your trip limits. Bruges is quite lovely and there are sites worth seeing; for me, the most moving thing was a day trip to Ipres and the Western Front. I pushed my husband to do it on one of his solo trips there and he said it was a highlight for him as well. If you can stay there until dusk and here the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate, you won't regret it. So, bottom line, I'd do 4 days AMS and 4 days in belgium. I was not overwhelmed with Marken and Volendam but we were also on a tour that is out of character for us, it was raining and we felt like cattle. Keukenhof is gorgeous but the tulips will be gone by the middle to end of May.

I love the food and drink Belgium, and it is unique art and architecture, and my favorite place to base is Antwerp. If you have personal connections in Belgium, you should certainly make time to explore them. Brugge is not my favorite town of the ones I've seen in Belgium -- Gent probably is, but I think Antwerp (which I also like immensely) has more overall variety of interest and terrific restaurants.

I often spend time in Amsterdam and very much enjoy it, but the food is really tiresome. (Beer is great!) I find Belgium to be more complex and interesting than what I've seen of Netherlands. So I wouldn't short change Belgium. It's got delightful architecture, art. a weird sense of humor and outstanding chocolate, beer, jenever, frites and wafffles -- and a lot of other good eats too.

I did the same trip last year in July with my Mom and we had a great time. If I had to do it again I would stay longer in Amsterdam. I preferred Amsterdam to both Brussels or Bruge. We stayed at the Marriott by the Grand Place in Brussels and did a day trip to Bruge. The other thing I would do different is the flights. I'm from Tampa and connected to Amsterdam through Newark. Also connected through Newark on the way back from Brussels. Our flight from Newark to Amsterdam was half full so there was plenty of room to spread out. The flight from Brussels to Newark was totally full. With NATO and the EU Parliment in Brussels I didn't take into consideration the number of people traveling to the New York area on any given day. If I had it to again I would do a roundtrip out of Amsterdam or consider another US city to connect out of.

Our flight from Newark to Amsterdam was half full so there was plenty of room to spread out.>

I would hazzard to judge that by one experience

I often fly out of Schiphol and most of the time the planes are packed - i just flew back Jan 6 - which should be an off-season but the plane was totally full. Depends on the airline perhaps but amsterdam flights i have been on are often full it seems.

We're going in late May 24-June 2 -- similar itinerary:

- Fly to Brussels...immediate train the Brugge
- 2 nights in Brugge
- 8:31 a.m. train to Amsterdam (via Antwerp - Thalys)
- 5 nights in Amsterdam (w/daytrip to Haarlem)
- 8:16 a.m. Thalys to Brussels (10:10 arrival) - rest of the day there
- 1 night in Brussels
- Fly home

Except for the hotels reservations and train tix which have already been bought (in order to get the good 37-38 Euro fare), we're still in the planning stage for our daily stuff.

We decided to fly into Brussels rather than Amsterdam, because we were using our mileage, and the flight availablity was better on the dates we wanted. I haven't checked lately, but I believe airfares to Brussels are often cheaper than to Amsterdam.

NOTE: You get a cheaper combined fare between Amsterdam and Brugge (or any other non-Thalys Belgian station) with the Thalys if you buy the "Any Belgium Station" ticket as your Thalys fare:

http://www.thalys.com/fr/en/frequent...elgian-station

Brugge-Amsterdam was 37 Euros
Amsterdam to Brussels was 38 Euros

The "Smoove" fares are even cheaper, but they are only offered on selected (unpopular times) trains...but you might find one that fits your schedule. These are on the regular Thalys site:

http://www.thalys.com/nl/en/?time=1267882360

SS

It depends upon what you like and want to do. We only booked a day and a half in Brussels and more in Amsterdam. I would have been happier with more time in Brussels and less in the city of Amsterdam. Although, the surrounding areas were much more interesting than Amsterdam itself to me.

So I wouldn't short change Belgium. It's got delightful architecture, art. a weird sense of humor and outstanding chocolate, beer, jenever, frites and wafffles -- and a lot of other good eats too.>

ah-men - and not to forget my favorite Belgian treat - Patates or Frites or French Fries - all tasty under any name and served in ubiquitous street stands with you choice of toppings - mayo- ketsup -curry sauce - peanut sauce, etc.

Frenched fries apparently were a Belgian innovation and they still do them the best IMO - rarely frozen like in Holland but usually fresh taters into the hot oil.

Be aware that August 15 is a public holiday in Belgium, but not in the Netherlands. It's on a Sunday this year, so shops would be closed anyway, but some places might be closed on the Monday as a result. They take a 'compensation' day, if a public holidays falls on a Sunday.

Definitely include Antwerp in your trip!

The other thing Brussels has, although the OP isn't interested in museums, is the new Magritte Museum. I loved it. And the fries- oh my!

For most people Brussels is just the Grand' Place, certainly one of Europe's most sublime city squares, and the Mannequin Pis - the pissing boy statue near the big place. But yes there is much more not apparent on a qick whirlwind look - major museums - a royal palace with formal gardens laid out in front of it - even i think a diminuitive changing of the guard there and loads of Art Nouveau edifices - more than any city save, perhaps, Antwerp- and special interest things like the Magritte Museum and the Herge (sp?) Museum with Tin Tin comics, etc- Waterloo and the battlefield memorial is a short train ride away. The Atonium - the relic of the 1958 (?) World's Fair is fun to go up in as well and the old fairgrounds are now a pleasant park.

Brussels is very underated although the Antonium, imo, is overated. My husband wanted to go and it was a Monday, so what the heck. We should have scheduled less time in Bruges and more in Brussels, except that we had a yearning desire to go to Knokke-Heist and it was easy to reach from Bruges.