I agree with kja, great that you're listening!

I'm not sure that you can fit in Canterbury on the same day as the train to Paris.

I have heard good things about Haarlem, as a day trip from Amsterdam, although I didn't go. I did enjoy the open air museum at Enkhuizen.

Consider Chartres for one of your French day trips. The cathedral was wonderful, which I expected, but I had not expected to enjoy the town itself so much.

If you're going to Switzerland you definitely want to be in the Interlaken area, preferably up one of the mountains, e.g. Murren.

kja - That's a possibility. I was definitely interested in Ghent, and from what I've read, Brugges would be the general consensus for 2nd best. Maybe I'll do a day in each, and maybe have some time on one of those travel days around Belgium to stop by Brussels or something. That frees up a day to put somewhere else... Maybe hold it as a wildcard day for if I really liked somewhere else.

thursdaysd - Good to know bout Canterbury, thank you. Maybe I'll use that extra day from Belgium and add it there. I've also heard very good things about Haarlem, I'm excited about that one.

And thank you for the Chartres and Murren suggestions. Based on the beautiful images I'm seeing, those are exactly what I'm looking for!