Analysis Paralysis - September 2018

If you're cycling aficionados, here's a totally off-the-wall thought, which may not be practical from a time or cost standpoint, but the Vuelta A Espana bike race will be wrapping up in Madrid on September 16, 2018. Maybe this will be American Tejay Van Garderen's year to win the Tour of Spain! They will be racing in Andorra the days before the big finish stage. Maybe watch some pro cyclists (including some Dutch pros amidst rabid Dutch fans), and/or do some more riding yourselves?

After Belgium, the Spanish beer could be disappointing, but the food and culture (and scenery, and maybe biking) would be a real change of pace. Enjoy your beercycling, either way!

Hi Donna, I definitely wouldn't plan the 7 days that's in an area that's not appealing to you - that's a lot of money & time to waste! Looking at Rome2rio, I'll throw out an idea: would you be interested in taking a circular trip in France for that week since it's so close to Brugge, and looping through the French Alps & beautiful Lake Annecy? We really enjoyed our time in those areas and also in Lyon.

Cyn... you might have just cost me more money but I the Vuelta is on my bucket list. I didn't even think to look at that!

(totally off the wall - I've been to Wheat Ridge a few times to visit a client we have there.)

Jean...thanks. I would totally look at France but we are actually heading there in May, although that is just to Provence for a week. I'll look into your suggestion.

Is it possible to START in Italy? Fly from Amsterdam directly to Milan as soon as you land? There are several KLM flights a day to Milan, last I checked, if not some budget options. Then you could fly back to Brussels and start your bike trip. (Or is that already on a fixed date?)

If you started in Italy, could finish in Belgium, train back to Amsterdam (or another town in the Netherlands, many nice towns like Delft have direct train service to Schiphol airport) and fly out without the uncertainty of getting back from Italy. You wouldn't really be burning two half days - on travel back and forth, just one from Italy back to Belgium.

The downside would be the timing of the flights the first day. Some people are uneasy about flying out to another city the same day they fly in from the US, but I have done it numerous times. You can give yourself a long layover if it makes you feel more comfortable, but I'm generally OK with about three hours. Of course, if your flight from the US is really late you'll miss that connection and have to take a later flight, probably at your expense (sometimes travel delay insurance will cover costs). I suppose it's POSSIBLE all flights to Milan are sold out that day...but it seems unlikely, and at worst you'd have a big one-time expense due to the delay.

Others might argue that when you are jet lagged, it's best to "get over it" for a few days first before flying on somewhere else, but I like to get my complicated travel over the first day, when I'm going to be groggy anyway, to make the later part of the trip easier.

Andrew - that was my original thought but it ended up that it was better flights so the "extra" days got tacked on the end of the trip. I do like your travel philosophy of getting the harder travel days over in the beginning. As it is we are taking the day we land in AMS to get to Brugge just because I like to get it all done and over with.

Itineraries are personal things but, since you asked, my thoughts. I personally like to keep my itineraries inside easy transportation distances. From Belgium/Amsterdam 1/2 of France and 1/2 of Germany are convenient. September is a great month in both those places and might still be on the warm side in Italy (I prefer the north, of Italy, in October and into November further south, Rome and beyond). Also, I prefer just about everywhere in Netherlands to Amsterdam - especially if you aren't museum people and like being outdoors.

If you really don't want to do the Netherlands after Belgium, from Brussels you could go to Luxembourg and maybe head over to the Mosel Valley in Germany, then get back to Amsterdam by train or bus or flying via Frankfurt. Or train south to Paris, head to Normandy or Alsace, fly back (or train back) to Amsterdam from Paris.

I didn't really love Luxembourg City itself very much (still worth a visit), but the little country of Luxembourg is pretty, with rolling hills and some cute towns like Vianden. More pretty than the relatively flat countryside of Belgium in my opinion.

Do you do wine as well? September is harvest season in the Mosel Valley and there will be a lot of week end festivals. The bike trails along the river follow an old rail road bed. If it makes you feel better, there will be tons people from the Netherlands there on the week ends. They can smell a good party from 500 km.
Easy to get there by train from Belgium and Netherlands.

There is more to the Netherlands than Amsterdam. It's a lovely country. Why not take a short bike and barge tour in the Netherlands for 5 days? We used cycletours.com (was .nl at the time) and thoroughly enjoyed the country.

PS, I'm not advertising for them. This was in 2000, but I see they are going strong.

All good ideas! I'll do some research. I do like the idea of taking advantage of public transportation.

And yes we are into wine for sure. My husband is a regional wine judge in fact. Last September for my birthday we did a barge & bike out of Venice - not much wine in that region that we liked but it was sure fun wine tasting.

I'm not sure I understand why you don't want to just fly to Italy for that time. Easyjet has three nonstops daily between AMS and Milan, less than two hours in the air. You want to revisit some places nearby and visit some new ones. Yet you feel "compelled" to stay in the Netherlands just because you're flying home from there?

Fly to Italy, enjoy your days there, fly back to AMS the day before your homebound flight so you're sure not to miss it. Spend the night near the airport if it's a morning flight. Have fun, it's your trip!

Enter your dates here and see what is going on during your window. Also check out the bicycling section.
https://www.mosellandtouristik.de/en/wine-cuisine/wine-events/wine-festivals/

Thanks all.

I'll do more research on some of the recommendations.

I love all your thoughts and comments. Thanks for taking the time!

If you want to go to Italy and aren't interested in the Netherlands, go to Italy! (Although now if the Vuelta is attracting you more, go to Spain!)

For white wine. The dry white wines of the Rhine and Mosel are very nice. They offer "new wine", only in September, that tastes like drinking fresh-squeezed white grape juice but is definitely fermented. Alsace (not far from Burgundy) makes really great Gewurtztreminer. I think that may be my all-time favorite white.

For red wine, nothing beats Burgundy. Seriously, I sat down at a restaurant and had a glass of the best red wine of my life. I tried to track down a bottle or two to bring home and found out many local producers are tiny and contract all their wine to just one or two customers. There is definitely a reason Burgundy is considered the best wine in the world.

Champagne is also an option. The Champagne region is closer than either Burgundy or Alsace. I really liked Mumm's in Reims but haven't tried the Champagne houses in Troyes.

For red wine I heartily suggest Bordeaux, from inexpensive to pricey.

We've done Burgundy and will hit Provence & Cotes du Rhone in May.... Bordeaux will be another trip in the future.

Still looking at all our options. I did book my favorite hotel in Bellagio for a few nights to hedge my bets but considering the Mosel area for something new.

Go to Italy. Go where your heart tells you to go. Forget about the time lost in transit. Just get up early and get the first flight out.