amcintosh

I had previously posted about my husband and I going to Europe for our 30th birthday next year. We will be traveling the end of May, early June. We will be in Europe for 15 nights. We have two cities set: London for 6 nights and Paris for 5 nights. That leaves us 4 nights for another destination. My husband would like to do a beer tour or experience Belgium. I would like to go to Edinburgh.

Would four nights work for Belgium? He was thinking of Brussells and I would like to go to Bruges while we are in Belgium.

Would four nights work for Edinburgh and Scotland? Would you stay in Edinburgh and do a day trip?

My husband and I enjoy beer and good food. We are both people who like to be outside (walk, hike, people watch, etc). I think after Paris and London we don't want museums. Any information regarding both places would be very helpful and appreciated.

Also, do you have a few must haves for Paris and London that are off of the mainstream path. We recently went to New York and our favorite day was having lunch at Katz and then working our way back to the hotel finding shops, bars and just taking everything in so if there is a neighborhood or somewhere we shouldnt miss please let me know.

Thank You!

Southam

Four days in Edinburgh would give you a good look at Edinburgh but there is far more to Scotland than that. Four nights in Brussels sounds about right, including an easy day trip to Bruges. However muddled their national politics, the Belgians love to eat. They invented the French fry, their national dish is mussels, and they perfected Belgian chocolate. Plus the country is the world's capitol of beer, from the biggest conglomerate (InBev Budweiser) to tiny breweries that depend on yeast from the air to work its magic (lambic beer). All in all, the population should be dead by age 55.
Brussels itself swelters under international political structures but it has plenty of places to eat and drink, sometimes in fin-du-siecle atmosphere. And having been overrun in both the First and Second world wars, and by Napoleon too, the country has plenty of history to explore.

adrienne

Belgium makes more sense with your London Paris itinerary. Scotland is too large to do it justice in 4 days and it in the opposite direction from Paris.

Take the Eurostar to Brussels and change to a train for Brugge; stay a couple of nights. Take a train to Brussels and stay 2 nights. Take the train to Paris. Before you go to Belgium do some reading about the country and decide if you really want to be based in Brussels or in Antwerp or Gent.

There are so many wonderful neighborhoods in Paris that I can't name just one. One of my favorite things to do on a Sunday is the rue Mouffetard market and end up at the bottom around noon where there are accordian players and people sing and dance. It's lovely. You could then have lunch and do something else in the afternoon.

http://modigliani.shutterfly.com/paris2007/118
http://modigliani.shutterfly.com/paris2007/114

Ile-St-Louis is another lovely place to walk as is the Marais, Latin Quarter, St-Germain-des-Pres.

I'd recommending a walking tour for a 2 hour walk with information on particular areas. You can hang around after the walk and explore more on your own. A city is so much more interesting if you know something about its history. I've done about a dozen Paris Walks and they're all good.

http://www.paris-walks.com/

Kerouac is a poster on this board who has some unusual walks in Paris - do an advanced search on his name to come up with some of his threads.

BigRuss

<<Belgium makes more sense with your London Paris itinerary. Scotland is too large to do it justice in 4 days and it in the opposite direction from Paris. >>

Disagree.

Fly into Edinburgh, travel to London, travel then to Paris, return to US from Paris.

Don't have to "do justice" to Scotland - see Edinburgh and day trip to Stirling for its castle or Perth. Plus, if you like natural beauty (said you "[w]e are both people who like to be outside"), late May and June are peak times for various avian species that flock to Scotland and there are plenty of good hikes near Edinburgh. Many 1/2 day options available.

And the whisky in Scotland is better than the beer in Belgium.

amcintosh

Thanks everyone for the quick responses! I wanted to make sure that four nights would be sufficient for either location. Has anyone been to both or either and provide what they enjoyed/disliked about Belgium and Edinburgh. Just trying to get a feel for our nights there.

adrienne

What are you going to do in Edinburgh if you don't want to go into museums (I consider the castle and palace to be museums). Why do you want to go there? Why do you want to go to Belgium (other than the beer). I think if you can answer these questions your decision will be made.

I like both countries (been to both) but I would prefer Belgium for the trip you describe. I've already stated that 4 days is not enough for Scotland although it's enough for Edinburgh and a day trip. You're going to miss the spectacular beauty of Scotland.

elberko

Have been to Scotland and Belgium, and agree with adrienne's assessment.

~Liz

thursdaysd

Four days may be too short for Scotland (although not for Edinburgh), but it is far too long for Brussels. They have beer in Scotland too....

Anna_Galea

I agree it should be Belgium instead of Scotland. Edinburgh is beautiful, and it would be enogh to go for a 4 day visit, but Belgium is much closer to your other two destinations, so it does make sense to stop in Belgium. You won't regret it when you try their beer, a day trip to Bruges is a must,and also maybe Ghent or Anthwerp. Plenty of stores in Brussels to do some shopping, plus a visit to the EU monument is lovely, where you can ascend up the escalators, the view is magnificent. Don't forget to tast the waffles, sooo very very good, I remember I had one with cream and chocolate - divine. Last but not least, their chocolate is to die for.

BigRuss

Not understanding how it "makes sense to stop in Belgium" and backtrack instead of going to Edinburgh, then to London, then to Paris, then back to the US from Paris.

Seriously, you'd go to see the EU Monument (self-congratulatory nonsense) instead of Edinburgh Castle, the Royal Mile and the Palace of Holyrood House? Get real.

Have been to Scotland and Belgium. Want to return to Scotland as often as possible. Same sentiment viz. Belgium is sorely lacking. Plenty of Belgian waffles, chocolate and beer available in the US.

The problem with Adrienne's formulation is that most people do NOT consider castles and palaces to be museums. I'm guessing the OP does not think that way.

adrienne

I guess I'm not most people. Rooms of furniture, artwork, historical displays, and docents all equal museum to me. The sewers in Paris is also a museum. Museums are not only paintings hung on walls.

I did suggest Brugge, Gent, and Antwerp.

OP - I just noticed your handle. Why aren't you thinking of going to Glasgow?

John

SOUTHAM It's Belgian Fries, NOT french fry!!!

janisj

There <i>are</i> a couple of museums inside Edinburgh and Stirling castles . . . But they, and Holyrood Palace, definitely ain't 'museums'.

4 days in Scotland would give you time to explore the city for maybe 3 days and one day trip to someplace like Stirling or St Andrews or even a small group bus trip into the Highlands.

Not saying Scotland is the only good option, but claiming it is less convenient or farther is goofy (IMO and no offense intended). W/ various modes of transport depending on the city pairs London/Paris/Brussels/Edinburgh are all short commutes from each other.

Mimar

I've been to both and I vote for Belgium. Because I agree, to see Scotland you need to get out of the cities. Edinburgh is great but I'd save it for another trip when you have more time and a car.

If you accede to your husband's wish to see/drink in Belgium, you can get him to promise a longer trip to Scotland in the near future

amcintosh

Thanks you to everyone for your input!

If we go to Edinburgh it would be before London. We are meeting my brother and his wife in London and Paris. They can not stay the extra days so we are going to add the extra four nights before London or after Paris. Honestly, if we were to go to Edinburgh/Scotland first I would take away a night from London. The sixth night was figured in to help with jet lag so I would move that to the first stop. (Edinburgh 5 nights, London 5 nights, Paris 5 nights)

When I was referencing museums what I meant was the Louve, etc. IMO, I don't consider a castle a museum. That is what I meant by that comment.

I am slightly overwhelmed. It seems like I would be bored in Belgium for the amount of time there. I would rather see more of Scotland and use Edinburgh as a base. The problem with seeing Scotland at a later date would be that we have several other big trips planned and it would be a while before we could if ever get to see it.

adrienne-I had thought about it. It is a married name so I am not sure of the history of the family but would be interesting to investigate.

Anna_Galea

amcintosh - the last paragraph before the last says it all - you do prefer to go to Scotland, the options do not seem so open any more.

Both make a lovely holiday, I have been to Scotland during part of our honeymoon quite a few years ago lol, and four years ago we again hired a car and went to Amsterdam, Paris, Brussels, Brugge, Antwerp and Spa in Belgium (to see the grand prix - we based ourselves in nearby Bastogne - there is a nice museum of the second world war there), I do not think you can compare them, but they are both lovely.

And yes, we had enjoyed Edinburgh castle and so many other castles when driving around. Countryside scenary is beautiful in Scotland, personally I preferred to the west and north. We had stayed for 12 days in Scotland, hired a car and drove in the highlands to the very north. And co-incidently, we had also visited Sheffield and Blackpool, London and Paris!! We had crossed to Paris by hovercraft, that was in the ninetees!!

But as I already said, one can certainly tell that you are inclined towards Scotland - then go for it!!!





Do as your heart desires or you will regret it.