msheiny

Okay guys, thanks to all of you that have been so helpful already with my posts! We have finally purchased airfare and now comes the planning. We are flying into Paris and leaving out of Amsterdam.
We will have nine nights total.

Trying to figure out a timeline and curious on your thoughts as to whether a stop in Bruges is worth the travel time and missing out on time in one of the other cities?
How do you suggest we split our time?

Thanks so much

menachem

Instead of Brugge: Gent. Much nicer city.

adrienne

Nine nights is 8 days. If you're counting day one as the arrival day then deduct a half day as you won't be at your hotel/apartment and settled in before noon. This is not enough time to add Brugge as it will take too much transit time (about a day to get there and on to Amsterdam). As much as I like Brugge I would just visit the two cities with your limited time.

Five days in Paris and 2.5 in Amsterdam (you'll need about half a day to get from Paris to Amsterdam).

Aramis

I enjoy Brugge much more than Ghent.

Whether it is "worth" the time is something only you can answer. I presume you are thinking (nights);

Paris 5/4
Amsterdam 4/5

if you don't stop in Brugge.

If you choose to, I would take one night from each and end up with;

Paris 4/3
Brugge 2
Amsterdam 3/4

You can choose to leave Paris in the morning and be in Brugge by lunch, or you could leave Paris late in the day and arrive in Brugge in the evening. Same for leaving Brugge; you can reach Amsterdam by noon, or stay longer and arrive in Amsterdam later. This in/out time flexibility for Brugge allows you to make it either a 1 full day plus 1 or 2 part day stop, or just an evening and full next day stop - and you can do it without having to make a dreaded one night only hotel stay. Brugge is superb in the evening and early morning too, either light up fantastically, or calm and brooding as the light begins to grow.

The comment that it would take a about day of transit time to include Brugge needs to be examined. Paris to Amsterdam is 3:20 by train and it goes through Brussels. Paris to Brugge is 2:38 and Brugge to Amsterdam is 3:06, both connecting through Brussels. That is only 2:24 more transit time to include Brugge. And yes, I think we all know it takes time to get from the train station to the hotel and back.

I usually look at these kinds of decision like this;

When else am I going to see "Brugge/wherever"?

If you don't plan on returning to the Paris - Amsterdam corridor soon, or ever, then it is a much more difficult task to work Brugge into a vacation. You may return to Paris, or Amsterdam in the future but Brugge is about halfway between them and not on the way to anywhere else, and "somewhere else" is probably where you would be headed if you return to Paris or Amsterdam in the future. You would have to somehow include Brussels into a future trip as a stopover to make this easy again and if you don't have any burning desire to see Brussels.......

lateinlifetraveler

Msheiny, check out my current TR on this route and see if Bruges is a place that interests you. Only you can make that decision based on what things interest you.

VictoriaRose

We only spent one day in Bruges on a guided tour but I thought it was totally worth it! Adorable city -like from a fairytale. Incredible buildings and tiny little streets and yes, amazing chocolate and beer. We took a boat trip along the canal and all, too. So I don't know - hard to take time away from two other great cities, but it was really, really darling. Memorable.

Sue_xx_yy

I think Aramis makes an excellent point: think about the opportunities you will have to revisit Paris or Amsterdam (both airline gateway cities, especially Paris) versus Bruges, which is a small town at a remove from major airports. Getting to Bruges seems simple enough on a map, but an excursion there may not happen that often on an overseas trip in practice.

For this reason alone, my vote is Paris 4, Bruges 2, Amsterdam 3.