My wife and I will be flying into Paris on July 9, 2013 and have two weeks before our return flight from Paris. We have been to Paris on 6 previous trips and seen most of France via rental car. For this trip I am thinking of using the train system to move about and since we have not been to Belgium or the Netherlands, Bruges and Amsterdam are obvious choices. How much time should I allocate to these destinations? We enjoy the history of a place, shopping and of course dining and having a little wine.

We do want to save the last three days to be in Paris. Can anyone suggest what other sights we should see? If we allocate three days to Bruges and three to Amsterdam we could add another town or two. Thoughts?

By the way, since we first ventured out on our own to Europe and rented a car, the forum folks at Fodors have been wonderful resources so thanks in advance.

Hi rlb,

If you want to spend your last 3 days in Paris, wouldn't it be better to fly into another city and out of Paris?

I would give Bruges 2 nights and Amsterdam 4 nights.

Why not fly into Copenhagen - for the rest of the time?

I will put in a good word for Brussels here since you are going to be in Belgium. It is definitely worth at least a few days. There are many other easy day trips in both Belgium and the Netherlands. I would pick those over Copenhagen.

My trip report from last fall describes some of the other places you might want to visit in Belgium. You have tagged this "France" so you may not get suggestions for Belgium and the Netherlands but you could check out threads about these countries.

I was also going to say Brussels. And did you see this recent report? http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...etherlands.cfm

We used skymiles to purchase our airline tickets and it was better to fly into and out of Paris for us.

Patty, I did see the report you suggested. It is well written and very helpful.

I will tag my post Belgium as suggested. I was torn whether to tag it France or Belgium to start with. Thanks for the replies

Two nights in Bruges should be enough. Brussels is well worth it. If you are in Bruges and like art you should visit Ghent to see the painting "Adoration of the Lamb", some call it "Mystic Lamb". One of the most influential paintings in history. The WWI and II sites in Belgium, especially Ypres (Iper) are also very interesting. We drove the Netherlands and Belgium. Distances are small and roads are very good. It makes it easier to stop off and see sights.

The rail system in Belgium is excellent - you won't have any troubles using it. I am another of the Brussels fans on the forum and recommend you devote 2 -3 days at least to Brussels. However: most people come thinking, 'medieval Flemish city' because of the Grand' Place - and most of it isn't medieval. Come prepared instead to seek out the numerous examples of Art Nouveau, or you won't 'get' Brussels. Visit the Horta House on the border of Ixelles and St-Gilles, and take one of the Art Nouveau walks (information from the tourist information in Brussels). Also do the cartoon mural walk - there are many examples of this all over the city, and it takes you into some different areas.

Lavandula

Just another thought - you might try seeing some of Wallonia / the Ardennes to balance out the Flemish towns you'll invariably want to see. Dinant is a good start, easily accessible by train, but recommend you do the Ardennes by car. Part of the charm is driving through the beautiful forests and rolling hills, as much as the little townships.

Lavandula

We are planning flying to Paris to stay one week, plus one week hiking in Burgundy, and one week in Bruges, flying home from Brussels. I am now worrying about getting from Bruges to Brussels in time to catch the one-and-only direct flight to Toronto at 10:15 a.m. Would it be better to plan 4 nights in Bruges and 3 in Brussels (for example) so we'd already be in place? My original idea was to rent an apartment in Bruges for the week - any recommendations welcome.

tomandjudy - it would be better to start your own thread as more people are likely to open it and help if you put your specific question into the title...