In the tinkering, thinking, planning stage. My wife and I have been to Europe numerous times but never to the places being considered.

Normally, I wouldn't plan a trip spread such as this but due to air miles it may very well work out and we'll get to see several places we haven't been to in the past.

Comments and recommendations are requested for the locations, length in each place, etc.

Miami - Prague
1) Arrive about noon and check in - rest of day in Prague.
2) Prague
3) Prague
4) Prague
5) Prague until early/mid-afternoon then train to Vienna.
6) Vienna
7) Vienna until mid/late afternoon then train to Budapest.
8) Budapest
9) Budapest
10) Budapest
11) Start return home but stop in Brussels. Arrive and check-in early afternoon. Remainder of day in Brussels.
12) Brussels
13) Bruges - daytrip (possible sleep over)
14) Ghent - daytrip
15) Brussels
16) Fly back to US

Would probably preferred to stay in Bruges instead of Brussels (for more time in Bruges) but that adds another sleep/move location.

Although we do go to museums, we aren't really museum goers in that we won't spend all day in museums.

We like to just walk around, see the sights and buy a few things. Wandering past the same site more than once coming from a different direction is fine and enjoyable (similar to stopping at the Spanish Steps multiple times coming from different directions, etc). If many people are there, why shouldn't we be. Going inside sites where appropriate is fine and enjoyable. Churching is not our thing.

Now, about itinerary.
Too long in Prague or Brussels?

Thanks in advance.

Bruges is a relatively short train trip from Brussels. Any possibility of you heading from Budapest straight to Bruges? If you stayed in Bruges days 12 & 13, you could daytrip from Bruges to Ghent. Days 14 & 15 would then be Brussels. This would eliminate an extra night of having to pack up and move!

Alternately, you could spend nights 12, 13, and 14 in Bruges and head for Brussels the day before you come home. We did that the first time we visited Bruges and were happy we did...we enjoyed Bruges much more than Brussels.

beanweb,
Thanks. I don't think arriving in Brugges is an option. I could check but I'm pretty sure we'd have to land in Brussels.

We're not opposed to changing our mind in the middle of a daytrip to Brugges and sleeping over. That would mean a hotel in two places for a night but we would have to pack/unpack.

Ghent could be a daytrip from Brussels or on the way back from Brugges if we sleep over in Brugges.

Thanks for opinion on Brussels.

Oh sorry...I was thinking of train travel! Bruges is a short hop from the Brussels airport *via train* (and there is a train station on the ground floor in the aiport). You are correct - you must land in Brussels.

beanweb,

Let me correct myself.

It's Bruges and not Brugges.

And the other paragraph should be. If we decided on a daytrip to Bruges from Brussels that we wanted another day there, we could either go back the next day (not preferred) or find a hotel and stay over.

That way we're there in the evening after tourists have left. Also, even though we'd sleep over, by having our hotel in Brussels we wouldn't have to go through a pack/unpack.

I think you would probably enjoy a night in Bruges...not just because tourists have left, but because the buildings along the canals at night are beautifully lit w/spotlights. I love wandering, and Bruges is a perfect spot for it.

I also wouldn't be able to pass up a very special meal at Den Dyver...and I'd be too full to go back to Brussels.

http://www.dijver.be/

Hi Myer: We did a Prague, Vienna, Budapest trip in 2003. I did extensive planning and have web pages, as well as other info I compiled. If you would like any or all of it, please e-mail me. It was one of our favorite trips to Europe. We loved Prague and Budapest, Vienna less so, but overall it was a terrific two weeks.

Haven't been to Belgium yet, but God and the Airlines willing, we will visit someday.

I did the beginning of this trip almost exactly last month, except I flew back to London at the end instead of heading to Belgium. I had four nights in Prague and that was not too much. Loved Prague. I even wanted to do a day trip one of the days in Prague out to somewhere else in the Czech Republic but didn't really have time. If you somehow got bored in Prague, you could venture a day trip too, there are some easy ones (Kutna Hora or Terezin for example).

I wanted to take pictures at dusk and needed two of my three clear nights in Budapest to shoot (arrival night was raining), but otherwise I could have shaved a day off of Budapest. Not that I hated Budapest, but it wasn't the inviting, intimate place Prague was (I too like to walk and explore and not museums so much). I had two nights in Vienna and that was just about right.

I stopped in Brussels a few years ago off the train between Paris and Amsterdam, and I really liked it in the few hours I had to explore and wished I could have taken a night in Amsterdam to stay there (or even one in Bruges). The people in Brussels were surprisingly friendly compared to other big European cities.

Andrew

Thanks. More to think about.

In June I flew into Brussels from LAX and went straight to Bruge where I spent 2 nights. It was a magical place after dark, I loved it.