London, Paris and Benelux
 

This is my first posting though I am an avid reader. I am planning a trip to London, Paris, Belgium and the Netherlands for me and my 17 year old son. Would you please review my itineary and make any suggestions you have. I most concerned on the order in which we should visit the cities in Belgium and Netherlands as we don't want to back track. Here goes:

London - 7 nites which includes one day bus tour to Windsor/Stonehenge/Bath. Plan on doing the hop on hop off bus for two days. May stay at Travel Inn County Hall because they are inexpensive and take CC.

Paris by way of Eurostar. 5-6 nites. Hotel St. Jacques. Hop on hop off for two days and then 3 day metro pass. Have been to Paris twice already but son was to young to remember much so he wants to go back. May go to Versailles depending on time. (Is the L'Orangerie open? Both times it has been closed)

Brussels for one nite, stay at Welcome Hotel.

Ghent for quick tour of Mystic Lamb and then back on train to Bruges.

Bruges - 3 nites. May stay at Gheeraert B&B. We will go on Quasimoto triple treat tour one day.

Haarlem - 2 nites. May stay at Hotel Amadeus. Would like to go to Zandvort for half a beach day (teenager fun).

Amsterdam - 5 nites. May stay at Hotel Brouwer. Want to take side trip to Zaanse Schans by train, Marken & Volendam by bus and Delft by train. Or should we sign up for a tour. Tours involve no thinking and you get to go to several locations in one day, but do you get enough time at each location?

Fly home from Amsterdam. Phew! Well what do you think? Thanks in advance for any all advise. BB

Your plan has a nice pace to enjoy each place comfortably. However 5 days in Amsterdam is perhaps too long even with sidetrips. For me, it's a bit too dirty,noisy & busy to be enjoyable (Been there a few times for family visits).

Hotel Brouwer however seems to have a nice location. The best part of Amsterdam is strolling along the canals. If you enjoy a more bohemian atmosphere you will enjoy wandering in the Jordaan area. You can also spend a whole day to fully appreciate one or both of the major museums (I haven't been to either since I'm not museum person).

Holland is so small that it wouldn't matter which place you visit first. Zandvoort will be a nice sidetrip. Another place would be Scheveningen if you stay in Den Haag, which is close to Delft as well. My biggest disappointment in Holland was Marken & Vollendam, I would describe them as pathetic tourist traps. Most Dutch locals wouldn't even consider going there. I would recommend spending an extra day(overnight?) in Ghent,Belgium instead. I think your Belgian route/order makes sense.

I've seen a cousin's video of the Gheeraert apartment in Bruges, great location, a few stairs to climb up & down daily. The interior looks rather basic but nice & clean.

I think the trip sounds good. I have no suggested changes. Unfortunately, the Orangerie is not open. Apparently they uncovered ancient ruins in the excavation which held up the construction considerably. Last I heard the Orangerie won't open until 2006.

What a great trip for you and your teenage son.

The only thing that I would do different is stay in Delft instead of Haarlem, because Haarlem is only 15 minutes from Amsterdam, whereas Delft is a little further south and would give you a better opportunity to fully explore the Delft/den Hague/Scheveningen (and possibly Rotterdam) area. Sheveningen is a loveley sea-side town with a nice beach and a promenade (boardwalk). If you stayed in Delft, you could explore den Hague and Schevinigen by tram (using the strippenkaart). Your son might enjoy the M.C. Escher Museum in den Hague - they have a virtual reality tour on the third floor which was awesome.

I think 5 days in Amsterdam is fine, especially if you do day trips. If you stayed in Delft then Haarlem and Zandvoort would make a nice day trip from Amsterdam. Be sure to visit the Teylers Museum in Haarlem, one of our favorite "little" museums. Or maybe your son might enjoy a daytrip to Arnhem via train for a visit to de Hoge Veluwe, which is a huge nature park with a Rijksmuseum and sculpture garden in the middle. Admission includes free bike rental so you can cycle all over the park with a little dose of culture in between. I have to agree with DAX about Marken and Vollendam, although, we've never been there...mostly because it looked like a hokey tourist trap.

We did an 8-hour Grand Tour of Holland bus tour on our first trip to the Netherlands. You're right, they're a no-brainer. However, most of the sights were seen in a blur from the bus windows. After driving through the country side and learning about polders (which was really interesting) we stopped at Aalsmeer for the flower auction, which was fascinating, colorful and smelled soooo good. Then on to Rotterdam, where we drove through the city and peered at the architecture (Kijk Kubus) and the harbor through the bus windows. Then we stopped in Delft for a tour of the Delft pottery factory then a quick walk around the center of town with lunch on the Markt. Next was den Hague, where we wisked past all the beautiful parlimentary buildings and stopped for a visit at the Panorama Mesdag. Finally a quick glance at the North Sea and Scheveningin and back to Amsterdam. So unless the flower auction, the Delft pottery factory and the Panorama Mesdag are MUST SEE's, I would recommend using the clean and efficient Dutch rail system and do your own touring.

My only other suggestion would be the Amsterdam Pass while you're there. Hope you have a wonderful journey. When are you planning on taking your trip? Peace. :)>-

Robyn

Hi Babs,

Lovely trip, however I think you are spending one too many nights in Bruges.

It's a very small town.

Thanks so much for the replys. I'm going to do some homework and read up about Zandvoort, Scheveningen and Den Haag. I think we may skip Marken & Volendam and stay in Delft a day or two. Is Ghent worth spending more than a few hours at. I don't want too many days where we have to pack up and travel each day, would much prefer two nites in a hotel. If we stayed overnight at Ghent maybe we would not have to stay overnight in Brussels, just a thought. We plan on getting museum passes/transportation passes each place we go, including Amsterdam.
Apparently some you have to buy before you leave home and others are available in Europe....so confusing. Well, I have plently of time to work out details because unfortunately we aren't going until next June, as soon as school gets out. Regards BB

Hi Babs, My family stayed at the Gheerhaert B & B last March. We really enjoyed it! The room was very spacious and clean. The beds were comfortable and the breakfasts were very plentiful and relaxed.
The fresh sqeezed orange juice was a real treat!

The location is Bruge was very good, also.We were in Bruge for 2 nights and we wished we could have stayed 1 more night. It is small but is very beautiful. It is nice to be able to take your time to soak it in.

We enjoyed the Hobbit restaurant. The ribs were very good. Have Fun! Laurie

BabsB -

By staying overnight in Brussels, you will get to experience the Grand Place in the evening, when it is all lit up. It's quite beautiful.

Then I would head straight to Brugge for 3 overnights and do a day trip to Ghent from there. Brugge to Ghent St. Pieters is only a 20 minute train ride for about 10 Euro round trip. Ghent is lovely to stroll around for a couple of hours. In addition to St. Nicholas' Church and St. Bavo's Church, you can take the elevator up the Belfort for a great view of the city. When you stand on St. Michael's Bridge, you can view the 3 towers of the churches and the belfort. And I understand (although we weren't there in the evening) that the canal houses along the Graslei and the Korenlei are lit up in the evening which is just breathtaking.

If you're thinking about staying in Delft, may I recommend the Herberg de Emauspoort, which we quite enjoyed during our stay last year. Their website is located at:

www.emauspoort.nl

It's a small hotel (12 rooms) with a bakery on site, located in the centrum area of Delft, directly behind the Nieuwe Kerk. They also have free bike rentals available. A double in 2003 was going for E82.50. :)>-

Robyn

If you're a Belgian beer fan, look into one of several Trappist monasteries in Belgium. Lovely this time of year!
Ghent was a WONDERFUL surprise on a recent trip to Lux City and Tongeren. I plan to visit again very soon... beautiful downtown and lively art scene.

From Delft you can make plenty of easy side trips on your own using public transportation - Rotterdam, The Hague, Leiden, Gouda, Kinderdijk... or just take a long bike ride. You can even bike to the beach, but I'd suggest Kijkduin or Monster (no kidding) as a beach area rather than Scheveningen, which can be incredibly crowded and touristy, plus it's a topless haven...on the other hand, maybe it's just the place to go!!!

I think it's a good suggestion to stay in Bruges and take a day trip from Ghent. Also the castle in Ghent is for sure worth a visit, and your son will probably be pretty interested in the medieval torture museum they have there. If you're into mothern art, the S.M.A.K. museum is also worth a visit. If it's a nice day, you can rent bikes and make a trip along the river Lys to Sint-Maartens-Latem and Deurle, 2 lovely villages which had a known painters community.