Hi there!

My family and I are planning on spending the holidays in Paris and Belgium this year.

Day 1 - Arrive in Paris at 10 AM; staying in the Marais/Bastille area; get pastries from either Ble Sucre or Boulangerie Bo; walk around out the markets and Christmas decor around Place des Vosges/Hotel de Ville
Day 2 - *tentative* visit Versailles? Been to Paris before but never been to Versailles. Do you think this is doable? Or should we just stay in the Marais/Bastille area and check out L'Atelier des Lumieres and Centre Pompidou?
Day 3 - train to Ghent; Ghent will be our base in Belgium, so thinking of taking trips to several cities in Belgium since they're about an hour train ride away; check out Gravensteen and Christmas markets
Day 4 - Antwerp
Day 5 - Brussels and maybe Leuven or should we just explore Brussels?
Day 6 - Bruges
Day 7 - train back to Paris; staying by Trocadero; thinking of checking out Galeries Lafayette/Champs Elysees
Day 8 - Louvre/Museum day
Day 9 - Nice dinner somewhere?
Day 10 - Walk around Montmartre
Day 11 - Fly back to NY

What do you guys think? I don't have a lot of activities thought out for the Belgian cities yet. Would definitely appreciate any suggestions/recommendations! Also, how is the weather in Paris and Ghent/Brussels/Antwerp/Bruges in December? I'm used to NYC weather—is it similar?

Thank you!

You will find that at the time of the year that you are travelling that a lot will be closed. Gravensteen is closed on 24 and 25 December, and the Christmas market in Ghent is open on 24 Dec from 12 - 5pm and 25 Dec from 2pm - 11pm. Trains will run to a Sundays/ public holidays timetable, and many businesses will be closed on those two days. Some things will also be closed on 26 Dec but I couldn't predict what. You should be OK again by 27 Dec. Try to book into a restaurant for meals on 24 and 25 Dec ahead of time (i.e. anytime from now). Your hotel restaurant may be a good bet for this. Weather will be icy-cold but I have never been to NYC so I find it hard to compare. You will want a warm jacket / parka and shoes with good soles. It does snow at that time of year; at other times of the year there is a lot of rain but in December it's snow. On your Brussels day you will probably have enough to see and do without Leuven, but nice to have a back-up in case you have seen enough there.

What are your interests, to be able to recommend some sights?

Lavandula

Oh, I see you are new - you will need 24 - 48 hours before you can post again. Looking forward to your next post!


Lavandula

The Christmas market, museums and shops will be open in Antwerp on the 26th.

Hi Lavandula! Thanks for the great insight and for bringing up the very important fact that the trains will be running on a public holidays timetable! I wouldn't have even known! I apologize in advance for the barrage of questions: What does that timetable mean for us? How soon will I be able to book our train tickets online? I will be traveling with my husband and 9-year-old son. Which tickets would benefit us the most? We would be taking the train roundtrip from Ghent to Antwerp, Ghent to Brussels and Ghent to Bruges. Any discount tickets?

As for interests: my husband loves beer, so that's a must on his list. Any kid friendly activities to keep our 9-year-old son interested. I love photography and chocolate!

Thanks again so much for your help!

Good to know! Any suggestions for what to do/see in Antwerp? Thank you!

Hi joanatravels and family, I just wrote a massive response and lost it all, will try and remember what I wrote.

Trains - holiday timetable just means fewer trains and watch that you see the right guide displayed when you are at the station or looking online. www.b-rail.be is the website to check. You might benefit from a 10-journey ticket which you can share, but you would have to cost that out to see if it's worthwhile, as it might not be cheaper. 2nd class is very cheap anyway. Don't bother buying the domestic fares early, you can buy them on the day. Your son can probably travel free domestically as he is under 12 but check the website to confirm. Internationally I don't think this is the case, as you might be travelling on the Thalys from Paris and I think this is a private company. (www.thalys.com, www.b-europe.be) Fares on most European trains normally come out 3 months ahead but you should have a look at Thalys just to check.

For your little guy in Brussels in winter:

*the space-age Atomium and Mini-Europe
*Musical Instruments Museum (also go to the rooftop café for a traditional lunch and great views). Grab an audio guide to see what the instruments all sound like.
*Autoworld and military history museum in Cinquantenaire park
*Porte de Hal (Hallepoort) for a remnant of the city gate that is now a medieval Brussels museum; real suits of armour on display
*Coudenberg if you are interested in the archaeology of an old palace
*the Tintin shop near Grand' Place (prepare your son by giving him Tintin books at home)
*maybe the comic strip museum, but be prepared that your son probably won't recognise the characters there. Our daughter likes drawing so took an interest. (When the weather is not cold there is also a comic strip walk you can take but possibly not when you are there, too jolly cold).
*waffles and traditional sweet things like speculoos at Maison Dandoy, Rue Charles Buls; go upstairs to the tearoom and feast, or take away a selection of the cookies!
*chocolate from Galeries St-Hubert, where there are shops where you can buy chocolates in the shape of rusty tools. There are also a lot of high-end chocolate shops around the Sablon area but the Galeries is covered and might be nicer for shopping in the winter.
*if you find cuberdons (neuzekes), these are sweets that are not exported because they spoil. They are worth looking out for, you won't get them anywhere else.
*and of course the usual sights like the Grand' Place and the Manneken Pis (who is cheeky, but really extremely small), and seem to be at the top of everyone's wish list.

And for your big guy: cafés serve alcohol in Belgium and are still relatively family-friendly. Beautiful atmospheric cafés going back to the 19th century are Le Cirio, Falstaff and À La Mort Subite (my favourite), where you can also get meals, maybe a good stop for lunch. In Ghent: 'T Dreupelkot for jenever gin.

Whew! I think I remembered it all. Let me know if that fits the bill or not!

Lavandula

No need to book trains within Belgium in advance; there is no discount. You can book a ticket online on the website Lavandula mentioned; it is valid for any train that day. Just print it out, or keep it on your phone. No seat reservations.
In Antwerp:
Red Star Line Museum
Rubens House
FOMU photography museum
MAS: museum about the port. You can get on the roof for free, it's an interesting building
Diamond museum DIVA
Chocolate Nation; new large 'chocolate experience'; I've not been to this.
There's also the Zoo, right next to the beautiful Antwerp railway station.

Plenty of good cafes on the Markt, next to the cathedral. The most beautiful square in Antwerp I think is the Hendrik Conscienceplein, with the gorgeous Carolus Borromeus church, which was in part designed by Rubens. There's a large Christmas Market on Groenplaats and along the river.

Thanks for all the wonderful tips! I forgot to ask: for Christmas markets, will they accept credit cards? Or should we prepare and bring cash?

Don't bring (much) cash from home (maybe 100 euro just in case of emergency), but get most of your cash from an automatic teller machine in Europe. A mix of cash and card is good. TBH I am not sure what to expect in terms of credit cards at markets, I would think you would be safer expecting to pay cash.

Lavandula

Why do you even want to visit Versailles? If you don't really have a reason, no way would I go in December, especially CHristmas eve, even if it is open (which I think it is). Because one of the reasons people go there is to see the gardens and outdoors areas, which of course will be basically dead in December.

But if you and/or your husband are die-hard Marie Antoinette fans or French history buffs who just must see the place she lived, Hall of Mirrors, etc, no matter what the grounds and weather are, it's not too difficult to get there by RER lightrail. I can't imagine a 9 year old would be interested in seeing those rooms or even caring about it, but you know your child.

I can't think of any chateau as being that exciting in December, but if I had to pick one, I'd think Vincennes would be more interesting to a kid and it's right on the metro line. Not to mention a lot cheaper.

Ah I was waiting for someone to comment on my Versailles question! I'm not too crazy about the idea either especially since we're traveling with our 9-year-old. Any suggestions on what to do around Paris instead? Thanks for your honest opinion!

You cannot miss the Christmas windows of Galeries Lafayette and Printemps. Which one is better each year is a matter for debate. For the last two years, I have preferred Printemps, but you never know. What is really weird is that it is the same "string artist" who does the windows for both of the stores.

Here is one of my favorites from the past.

I would do just about anything in or around Paris in December rather than visit Versailles. And I could think of about 100 things to do instead, some as mundane as sitting at a café and having a chocolat chaud. Did someone tell you you had to go?

My brother and his family went to Versailles a couple of months ago and recommended it. But maybe it's different in the summer time. I have listed down enjoying yummy pastries for our first day in Paris. You mentioned chocolat chaud could you recommend places for chocolat chaud? Would love to read other recommendations from your 100 things to do instead! Thank you so much!

So whimsical! I've listed Galeries Lafayette to see and adding Printemps! So excited to see this!

I forgot to ask: where is the best place to celebrate New Year's eve in Paris?

I suppose one advantage of visiting Versailles in the dead of winter would be the lack of crowds, but I imagine the gardens could be fairly forlorn, and I'm not even sure if they have the fountain shows in winter.

A lot of Parisians book fancy prix-fixe meals for NYE at their favorite restaurants. Some of these book up months in advance, and some can be very expensive. For less structured festivities, people (lots of them) tend to gather on the Champs de Mars; the big fireworks at the Arc de Triomphe begin at midnight, and people start gathering on the Champs Elysées hours beforehand; another informal gathering place for NYE is in Montmartre just below Sacré Coeur. You could probably book a dinner cruise (well in advance I suspect).

I guess the most famous chocolat chaud in Paris is at Angelina, but it's waaay too thick and sweet for me. I like the hot chocolate at Carette and Ladurée, but there are many places in Paris with good hot chocolate. Most salons de thé know how to make a good cup of it.

Paris isn't famous for its Christmas markets, but there are several, often nearby ice skating rinks. Even if you don't want to skate you can enjoy a warm glass of mulled wine and watch the skaters.