Trip to Belgium and France
 

Hi
My husband and I , in the 50’s ,want to visit Paris , Normandy ,Brussels and its breweries and maybe Bruges in two weeks . We have a moderate budget and we will be going in May . Hotels we will use Airbnb .We would love best advise on where to go first, train , flights or renting cars , specially to go to The D beaches and the breweries .
Thanks a lot

Trains are great to all those places - like to Bayeux an excellent base for Normandy D-day beaches and to go by train, bus or tour to Mont Saint-Michel; Paris to Brussels by high-speed Thalys trains (www.thalys.com) - and onto Bruges as well. For lots on trains check www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

Book thé Thalys 3 months in advance to get cheapest fares - about 39 pp per trip.
Izy is cheaper - 19 but takes longer and has less nice schedules. So you may lose half a day.

Internal trains (TER in france or any train in Belgium can be reserved on the day - same price ).

I would rent a car in Normandy.
Take a train to bayeux or ... and take the car there.

Michelin Green guide is fabulous fir the region.
Pointe du ho c Omaha beach (cemetery of Cole ville are not to be missed ) arromanches muséum is great.

Tapisserie de bayeux is a must.

Belgian breweries : I visited Leffe maredous and Orval. All with a car.

Brugge is best seen by train as is Bruxelles.
No car there. Avoid south station area to sleep (Bruxelles midi or Brussels zuid). Try to be close to Bruxelles central station or close to place sainte Catherine.

The museum of musical instruments is great ne located in a Horta house - the most renown Belgian architect.

Just came back from almost 3 weeks in Europe but just about a week in Belgium. Bruges and Brussels were my 2 sleeping locations. In Bruges, although not an airb&b, I can really recommend Hotel Botaniek. Great location, wonderful host and fabulous breakfast and incredible rooftop view from my room.

FYI on apartment rental: Although I traveled by myself (F, 60+) I still rented an apt in Vienna and Budapest. Remember, you might need to schedule appointments with apt rep to either pay or get the key. With your 2 week schedule are you staying in 4 places and needing to commit to 4 scheduled appointments? So you are stuck being somewhere at a specific time. If you were going to 2 b&b's, OK but if you need to make 4 appointments, I would consider another option.

I had a scare in Budapest where my phone did not work, and train was late leaving Bratislava, so I had to arrive in Budapest Keleti instead of Nyugati which was only 5 minutes from my apt. So was going to be late and no way to contact owner and it made me upset the whole train ride.

Sans your own car from Bayeux several mini-bus tours take folks from hotels to the D-Day highlights (J-Jour in French).

the whole "pick up the key" palaver is one of the reasons I stick to hotels.

I'm with you on that Menachem. Especially if I'll be staying only a few days, I don't want to make appointments to get in and check out, and I don't want to have to buy any basic supplies for my stay (which has happened to me with apartments). If I'll be staying for about a week, I begin to want the opportunity to prepare at least some of my own meals, so I consider an apartment.

Hotels we will use Airbnb >

Paris airbnb situation is quite in flux with many illegal - there have been two recent long threads on that - check that your airbnb is on Paris city's official approval list.

I rented some kind of airbnb last week and it meant we skipped 2 breakfast that were not provided and the local store was nit open when we came back and before we left.
We are now in hotels and my God the breakfast are just great or at least exist !

In Normandy leave time - a half day for Bayeux itself - splendid cathedral and museum with Queen Matihlda's famous 1066 Tapestry documenting the Norman Invasion and Conquest of Saxon England.

I rented some kind of airbnb last week and it meant we skipped 2 breakfast>

Um airbnb -bed and breakfast but not breakfast -is this common with airbnbs?