I am considering dropping Paris off my trip( Paris is my favorite city in europe but I have been there 3 times) and adding two more nights to brussels (from 2 nights to four nights). I never got to see echternach when I was in Luxembourg city, and my wife is quite interested in world war stuff so bastogne would give us this plus a feel for the belgian ardennes. I have heard that monschau is beautiful and many say dinant is a must. Travelling In December, is the ardennes too cold for a driving trip. How much time to alot for such a trip? I thought maybe I could drive from Brussels to monschau, stay there the night, then drive to bastogne via echternach (the long way)stay there one night. then drive via dinant back to brussels.

My itinerary as it stand is london 3 nights paris 2 nights, brussels 3 nights (with one day for a day trip to dinant or somewhere in the belgian ardennes), brugge 3 nights (with one day trip to ypres) and a stopover in ghent, antwerp 1 nights and then amsterdam 3 nights
Or alternatively, I could just stay in brussels for four nights and do 2 day trips -1 to to bastogne via dinant and another to monschau. Is this too much travelling? I know christmas time is beautiful in the cities and it might be pretty "boring" in mid december in some of these small towns.

I've never been to Monschau at Christmas, but it's something I must do before I take my last breath. It's one of the most stunning little towns I've seen in Europe and worth an overnight stop rather than just a daytrip from Brussels, expecially when daylight hours are short. Here are a few pic's from the Monschau Cristmas Market:

http://www.monschau.de/touristik/ver...l=impressionen

Dinant did not make nearly the impression on me that Monschau did.

Monschau at Xmas is very pretty indeed. It's very small, though!
View your wife's interest in world war stuff, Dinant is definitely worth a visit (go up the Citadelle and take a guided tour).
Weather: hard to predict but December is often wet, with the possibility of snowfall in the Ardennes. Be sure to ask for winter tyres on your rental car (and snow chains in the trunk).

If you are interested in Bastogne in December, remember The Battle Of The Bulge began in December 1944. You know what the weather was like then. Anything is possible.

Curious

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