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April Road Trip

Looking for some tips on a road tip starting in Amsterdam going through Belgium, Luxembourg and ending in Frankfurt.

Some background.. My wife's only sister has been living in Lux with her husband for the last 5 years. We were offered a free trip from my wife's parents to have a reunion of sorts there in April. The caveat is we will have to bring our 4 year old and 11 month old(at time of travel) daughters. While we are dreading some of the logistics with the kiddos they are good car travelers and they are regularly taking 2-2.5 hour car trips with us to the mountains. We plan to break up a lot of the driving into those 2-2.5 hour intervals but please provide feedback if you think this is to much with kids.

What we have set in stone is we will be arriving in Amsterdam on 4/1 and staying until Tuesday 4/4 when I will pick up a rental car in the morning.

We then have an open itinerary until Thursday 4/6 to make our way down to Luxembourg to stay with our in-laws. We would love to hit Bruges but understand that's a little out of the way and Dinant caught our eye as well. Any other thoughts or ideas for places to stop/stay for a couple nights in Belgium on way down to Lux? Best breweries to stop on on way to Lux? Nicest drives?

We will be in Lux from Thursday until Sunday or Monday when we will make our way for a flight out of Frankfurt on Tuesday 4/11. Any thoughts on day trips, Small towns stops, places to stay for a night in between Lux and Frankfurt?

Any other feedback, tips, recommendations and criticisms for parents road tripping with 2 kids would be a huge help!

Cheers,
Mark

Posted by
6873 posts

Do you have some quotes for car rental starting in Amsterdam and ending in Frankfurt? The drop-off fee could cost several hundreds of dollars, being in a different country.

Posted by
3 posts

@Balso, Yes I have a couple different quotes from Hertz and Sixt and you're correct that it a big add on expense. We are aware of it and its apparently provided in the budget we were given, cheers.

Posted by
365 posts

Antwerp or Brussels is your ideal stop. You want this to be a fun trip for everyone, but it’s already a whirlwind trip, and adding 2hrs to the drive for a single day in Bruges? It’s pushing it but you would have a full day. What about Ghent if you really don’t like Antwerp or Brussles? You want to plan this to minimize car time, minimize meltdowns and stress. Maximize enjoyment of where you are in the precious few days you have.

With littles you want relaxed flexible entertainment for them, while enjoying the destination yourself. Set the schedule to light, expectations down low as far as what you’ll accomplish, and enjoy the journey!

I would think somewhere along Rhine would be a nice stop for a scenic relaxed final day.

With any luck, this is your first of many trips together!

Posted by
3 posts

Thank you Mary, I totally agree with you on the extra time to Bruges not being the best idea.

I appreciate your thoughtful feedback!