steve_Australia

Hello again fellow Fodorites. It seems I have come up against my first minor snag with planning our 8-week European adventure.

As regular readers might remember, we start our trip by spending 6 nights in Amsterdam; then 1 night in Brussels and 2 more nights in Bruges before continuing on with the remainder of our trip.

I thought I was clever in planning a day trip to Antwerp and Brussels from Amsterdam on the day we leave Amsterdam. This way we get to see Antwerp and then simply don't return to Amsterdam with the rest of the bus tour - we would just stay in Brussels for the night.

The snag is: We leave Amsterdam on Friday morning and I have now discovered that all of the various day trips to Antwerp and Brussels leave on either Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday - not bad eh, picked just about the only day the tour doesn't leave!

So, can anyone advise:

1. Whether I have missed a tour company that does operate a day trip from Amsterdam to Antwerp and Brussels on a Friday; or

2. The best way to see Antwerp on our way to Brussels doing the trip independently.

Oh, by the way, the date we need to leave Amsterdam is Friday, April 27, 2012.

Your suggestions - as always - will be much appreciated.

Thanks, Steve.

lavandula

Hi Steve,

Amsterdam and Brussels are only 2 hrs 45 minutes apart by train. Had you thought of just catching the train to Antwerp, dropping your bags in a locker at the railway station, having a quick look (or a slow one ), and then catching the train the rest of the way to Brussels. To help you plan, as I don't know when you want to travel:

http://hari.b-rail.be/HAFAS/bin/query.exe/en?

Lavandula

Vttraveler

I am not sure how much time you are planning on in Brussels after your overnight Friday? Trying to see both Antwerp and Brussels in one day, especially including travel time from Amsterdam, seems very ambitious. Each city merits at least one day. If you don't have time in Brussels on Saturday morning I think you should pick one or the other for sightseeing.

The idea in the last post of stopping in Antwerp en route would also make sense. The train station there is spectacular, by the way.

steve_Australia

Hi Lavandula and Vttravler,

Thanks very much for your responses. What your suggesting is entirely why I posted this query. I was hoping it was just a matter of catching two trains.

Vttraveler, I understand what you're saying. Because we are spending two whole days in Brugge, our intention was to not leave Brussels until around 4pm on the Saturday.

If we were able to go with our original plan, that would have given us around 3 hours in Antwerp and then a few hours in Brussels before heading for our hotel for the remainder of Friday night and then we were going to spend most of Saturday checking our Brussels.

As far as sightseeing goes, in Brussels the plan was:

Friday:
Check out the Grand Place
Check out the famous Manneken Pis statue
Possibly see a litte of Tintin memorabilia

Saturday:
Take a train to the Atomium and Mini Europe

If there is something glaring we should see in Brussels that I have not mentioned, please let me know.

As far as Antwerp goes, we really had nothing planned because that part of the tour originally was beyond our control - it was simply the first part of the day tour from Amsterdam.

I would be very interested in knowing the "must see" sights we shouldn't miss in Antwerp given our 3 or so hours we plan to be there.

Thanks again for your input.

Regards,

Steve

MyriamC

Antwerp: from the Central Station, head straight to the historical centre, either by foot (20 min.) or by metro (leaves from Central Station, lowest level - tram no. 2 direction Linkeroever - get off at Groenplaats, less than 5 min.).
If you go by foot, don't forget to look up at the beautiful buildings along de Keyserlei and Meir (main shopping axe) that you will pass.

In the historical centre worth visiting are
-Our Lady's Cathedral
-Carolus Borromeus Church
-the City Hall and the guild houses on Grote Markt
-Rubenshuis Museum
-Bourla Theatre and the side-streets for good shopping!
-the brandnew MAS (Museum aan de Stroom) which in fact is too extensive to see in a day but its architecture is very special.

Furthermore, stroll the cobblestoned streets and squares, sit back in a café and sample a few of our famous Belgian beers, enjoy a good lunch/dinner at the numerous restaurants.

There is a tourist office (called Stadswinkel) on Grote Markt, temporarily in the City Hall, where you can get a city map.

Coming from Amsterdam you have a direct train to Brussels Midi that stops in Antwerp Central. It's 2 hours on the Intercity train and only 1 hr 12 min. on the Thalys highspeed train (for which you need a reservation!).

Vttraveler

In Brussels I would agree with the Grand Place as a major site but would personally choose either the the Museum of Ancient Art or the Horta Museum (Art Nouveau) over the Atomium and Mini-Europe. The Horta House is only open in the afternoons I think 2 to 5 so might be harder to fit in your schedule. The Museum of Musical Instruments is also a good choice and is in a stunning Art Nouveau building.

Vttraveler

In Antwerp, we really liked the Museum Plantin-Moretus but it would be hard to do that plus the Grote markt and the cathedral in only 3 hours.

spaarne

There are hourly trains to Antwerp from Amsterdam. For an illustrated introduction to trains in Europe see
http://tinyurl.com/eym5b.

Only three hours in Antwerp is a sin. The Maritime Museum, Het Steen, is worth that much time.

ssander

If possible, don't miss the Horta Museum if you have any interest at all in architecture or design - it is incredible!

http://www.hortamuseum.be/main.php?lang=en

However, it does have limited opening hours.

Opening hours:
from 2 PM to 5:30 PM (everyday except on Monday,1st January, Easter Sunday, 1st May, Ascension day, 21 July, 15 August, 1st & 11 November, 25 December.)

Entrance fee:
Standard 7.00 euros
Students and seniors 3.50 euros

SS

steve_Australia

Hi guys, again thank you very much for all the helpful advise. I apologise to all the Belgium aficionados but in my defence ...

We had planned a 5-week trip to Europe. We were told "you can't possibly spend xx days and see Amsterdam ... Paris ... Switzerland ... Italy etc - so we increased our trip. The next to final itineray was close to 8 weeks and included travelling from Amsterdam to Paris via a quick stop in Brussels. That's when we told "you cannot possibly go to Belgium without visiting Bruges". So, we are now visiting Bruges for 2 days, and spending a day and a half in Brussels on our 8-week trip. Antwerp only came up because it was part of a day tour from Amsterdam to Brussels. So, again, I'm sorry for offending those who are rightfully proud of Antwerp etc. If I could, I would travel year round but hey, "one powerball and .."

Thanks again for all the help,

Steve

MyriamC

@ Spaarne,
The Maritime Museum Steen isn't anymore (since a few years). It's under major renovation. As is the KMSKA (Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten). The collections of both museums have found a place at the brandnew MAS.

There are a few other museums that are much smaller but very much worth an hour or so: Rockox Huis and Vleeshuis are two examples.

@ steve-Australia,
With only a few hours, I would just stroll the historical centre in Antwerp and soak in the atmosphere.