Paris to Amsterdam/Brussels/Bruges or Some Such Combination

If by 8 or 9 days you mean that's your total time abroad, I would recommend you not try to include these other destinations -- at least not all of them. If you mean you have 8 or 9 days just for the Belgium and Netherlands (on top of whatever time you have in Paris), you have a good amount of time to see those other cities.

I don't think there's a logical order. You can take the Thalys all the way from Paris to Amsterdam in about 3 1/4 hours, then head back to Brussels, then to Bruges, then to Paris. You can go directly from Amsterdam to Bruges (changing trains in Antwerp), then to Brussels. Or you can start with the Belgian cities and end in Amsterdam.

Be aware that the Thalys requires advance reservations and the price goes up as you get closer to your travel date. So this requires some careful planning.

Hi Paul,

This works best if you pick one destination and also if you do not ultimately return to Paris. If you fly open jaw.

Personally I'd prefer to fly into Amsterdam and out of Paris. But maybe you can't do any of that.

If you really have 9 full days (that is, 10 nights), then you can squeeze it in with a round trip, but you may find it frustrating. (Hello, I must be going.) If you actually only have 7 days (8 nights), then I would just plan some day trips from Paris.

Why I am not counting your arrive and departure days: Because those are your arrival and departure days.

I did this with my husband a couple years ago and we flew open-jaw. We flew into Amsterdam, spent a couple days there, then took the Thalys train down to Paris and flew out of Paris. I think this is the best way to do it. You save a lot of time!