trip to Amsterdam and Belgium in 2013
 

Hi,

We were thinking of flying into Amsterdam and out of Brussels in 2013. We would rent a car and try to see as much as we can in about a week or so.

We haven't decided when to go, but were thinking maybe June. Any suggestions on if that would be a good time to go weather wise?

Once we confirm the trip, I will probably ask for suggestions on hotels and places to visit.

Thanks
Peggy

A car is useless in Amsterdam. Parking is expensive, and driving pointless.
Likewise for Brussels, and Brugge.
With only a week if you want to see cities only then choose train travel.

You could easily spend your week in the Netherlands, which is just so much more than just Amsterdam. Spend a few days in Amsterdam and then visit other places in the Netherlands, either by car or train depending on where you wish to go.

As to when to come - there is absolutely no guarantee of the weather no matter when you come. If you want the tulips too then late April early May is best. June has long hours of daylight, but the last couple of years has been cool and wet. Maybe next year it will be warm and sunny, but maybe it won't.

September is also a nice time to come, good weather normally, and less crowded. Do be aware that hotels in Amsterdam can fill up fast for September though due to a couple of big conferences held there every year. But you could stay in Haarlem or somewhere else instead.

We just spent five days in Amsterdam and four in Bruges this month. As the above post notes, a car is not necessary. We used the train. The weather was unseasonably cool and wet, the worst summer so far in years, but we enjoyed ourselves immensely.

I agree with other posters that you don't need/want a car in either Amsterdam or Brussels. You could easily spend a full week based in either of these cities, taking some day trips. Splitting a week between the two would also be reasonable but I don't think you would want to add many other destinations.

Thanks everyone for the replies! Sounds like we won't bother with a car. We just have to figure out when to go and which towns to see.
Any suggestions on hotels in Bruges, Brussels and Amsterdam?

I can recommend the Hotel Patritius in Bruges. We stayed there last summer and really liked it. Click on my name to see my trip report.

I just returned a few days ago from Belgium and Netherlands. I'll be posting a trip report and photos in a few weeks.

I based in Antwerp and visited Gent and Brugge (had previously been to Brussels but you could easily visit that also from a base in Antwerp). I really liked Antwerp, more than I expected to and am glad I based there. Stayed at a hotel that was a former convent. I'll review it in my trip report. Brugge is wonderful.

In the Netherlands I based in Haarlem and visited A'dam, Delft, Leiden and Gouda. I had been to A'dam before so thought Haarlem sounded like a nice base but now that I've done it I don't recommend it, I would base in A'dam and would most definitely stay at Hotel Brouwer. I stayed there on my first trip and was so sorry I didn't stay there again.

I did all this by trains and they were easy and reasonably cheap.

The weather was crap - rained everyday, at least some. The last time I was in either country (two separate trips) were in March and it rained both of those times too.

Just to say it doesn't always rain here. We have had a horrible summer until this week - but now we have blue skies, and 30C.

But there is no way of predicting what the weather will be like in any given month, certainly not a year away.

Here is my trip report from Dec 2011. I went to Brussels, Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp, Amsterdam and Cologne. It lists the sights I saw and what I thought of them. It might help.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...am-cologne.cfm

We stayed at an apartment in Brussels on our trip to Belgium last fall and really liked the neighborhood (Ixelles). Several people have recommended a hotel in that area, NH Stephanie, on other threads. My trip report talks some about the neighborhood and also describes things we did in Brussels and our day trips to other cities.

hetismij2 - you have me to thank for your nice weather. It rained every day I was there (10 days), then I came home (to Massachusetts) where it had not rained one single day of the 28 days I was in Europe and have been home four days, it has rained three of them.

Thanks for the info and I enjoyed some great trip reports! Very informative.

pegpaz--if you are interested in sampling Belgian beers, I got a lot of good recommendations on this thread

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...mendations.cfm