Hello, I recently booked flights from Chicago to Brussels on March 31 (Land April 1 in AM) and fly out of Amsterdam on April 9 in the AM. I am just looking for insight and opinions on how to plan to maximize the trip. The original plan was maybe 3 days in Brussels (Sat-Mon) and 5 days in the Netherlands (Tues-Sat, leave Sun morning). It looks like we won't really need 3 full days in Brussels though from reading some guides. Then 5 days in Netherlands with maybe 2-3 full days in Amsterdam, a trip to Keukenhof one day for the tulips, and a trip to Alkmaar for the cheese market which should start the week before we get there.
Does Bruges make sense at all? If we land in Brussels and spend a day or 2 there, is a day trip to Bruges in the morning, and back in the evening worth it? Would it be better to do a couple days in Brussels, stop in Antwerp for a day, then continue on to Amsterdam? It looks like Bruges is almost out of the way if we are going to Amsterdam.
Has anyone done a similar trip and could recommend some tips on what the definitely get in between the 2 cities? Any input is always welcome and appreciated!