I will be traveling Lille in late August to drop off my daughter for a Semester or two at Sciences Po Lille.
Neither of us have been to Europe before and we wanted to make a fun trip of stopping at a few key places along the way.
From what I see flying in through Paris or Brussels seems to be a good plan. That being said - we are new to this and wonder if anyone has some good experiences or advice to share. We are planning on about a weeks time with no agenda so far.
Thanks in advance.
Flying to Brussels might be a better idea given that late August early September there will be the Paralympic Games in Paris.
And Lille is only 35 minutes from Brussels by train.
Are you familiar with our "host" here, Rick Steves? His guidebooks are specifically directed at first time visitors to Europe, so glance and one in a Library, and then buy the current edition for your trip, either France, Paris, or Benelex. I mean, it's not that hard to buy train tickets, but you benefit from his expertise, and you want to know what to do if you miss the train you bought tickets for.
Lille is far from Paris, but very nice, once nicknamed "little Paris." I suggest you focus on Paris, because it's good for a week. Too many hotel changes become a drag. I like Paris much more than Brussels. Your friends will ask if you went to Bruges, but it's not a direct train from anywhere; You have to change in Brussels.
Note the August is vacation month in Europe. Tourist sites are still open, it's just that hotels are very crowded. These days, I prefer air conditioning in August, but you can't take A/C for granted in Europe.
First, congratulations to your daughter for being accepted to a program at Science Po Lille.
Second, Lille is one hour from Paris by train. I agree with reading about these areas in a guidebook before deciding. However, you may want to drop off your daughter's luggage in Lille before touring for a few days. You will be more flexible with the least amount of luggage.
Paris will not be "normal" Paris at the end of August due to the infrastructure of the Olympic Games. You may want to save Paris for a visit later in the year. Brussels has fewer must-see sights to visit, but you can easily radiate to Ghent, Bruges, and Antwerp from there by train and keep Brussels as a base. If you did this and landed in Brussels, you could keep the luggage with you.
Thanks for the great responses! So so helpful!
