Early Stages of Itinerary for Paris - Belgium - Netherlands Trip

"I welcome some general feedback on how many days should be dedicated to each of these,"

How many days do you have? When are you planning to travel?

I may travel differently than you do but I'd go for a minimum of 7 days in Paris, 3 in Ghent, 3 in Bruges and 5-7 in Amsterdam depending on what day trips you want to do. Some like Antwerp, I didn't particularly like it. I also like Bruges over Ghent. Both of those cities are better in the early morning and late afternoon after day-trippers have left which is why I suggest overnighting in both locations if you have the time available.

I am not an expert on rail passes but in Belgium you can easily buy tickets on the day of. I was given the Senior discount without asking. For your longer train trips Paris to Brussels and on to Ghent,you'd want to book well ahead for the best prices. Ditto for Belgium to Amsterdam on the fast train. Have you read the website Man in Seat 61 regarding rail passes?

www.seat61.com

Thanks Pam! I was thinking about 3 weeks or just a bit over would work, now that I am set on adding Paris into the mix! This is going to be in July but it could be shifted to go a bit into August if need be. I appreciate you confirming my sense that I might need a full week in Paris, and that Ghent and Bruges are worth considering as hubs. For Belgium, I'm wondering about Liège, too, or Namur, due to being a francophone and having family from there...I'm curious to get a sense of what it's like there. Any chance you've been toward the eastern areas in Belgium too? You mentioned 5-7 days in Amsterdam...I plan to catch they main attractions and museums, so probably a good few days trips, but does it makes sense to stay in one of the nearby cities like Haarlem, or other?

For Paris, I'm wanting to stay near the sites so I can walk or take the metro...but I worry this is going to cost me considerably more. Are there convenient areas that connect back via metro?

Thanks also for directing me to Seat61. I could not remember the name of the site from previous years!

I can only speak for Belgium since I've been there recently. I don't know what you're into specifically, but speaking generally, I would say that Bruges will be the highlight of your time in Belgium so if you stay overnight anywhere in Belgium make it there. As someone else said, it's a totally different vibe after the day trippers leave. Very magical walking around the quiet city at night. I would give Bruges 2 full days, Ghent 1 full day (you can day trip there from Bruges or Brussels easily enough), and Brussels 2 full days, assuming you like art museums. If the art museums aren't of interest to you then perhaps 1 full day in Brussels is enough. I would also suggest looking into Lille, France as it's an easy day trip from various places in Belgium and was a beautiful place, not touristy at all, and I had the art museum there nearly all to myself.

Thank you Kblur9! I am getting a pretty clear indication of the value of taking time in Bruges! :) Probably a few days there then, and then 3 in Ghent from which to explore Ghent, Brussels, and Antwerp, and then down to Namur and area for a quick detour before heading to the netherlands. I'm not sure if I'll get Lille in there from Bruges, but it will be on the list of possible sites to see.

Remember that the Olympics will be in Paris this summer, and the advance teams will be arriving early. This may impact the cost and availability of lodging.
We have just returned from the Netherlands and Belgium. It's was a wonderful trip, and I'll write a Trip Report soon. I fell in love with Bruges, and we stayed four nights. We day-tripped to Ghent. We had Bruges in the middle of our trip, and it was perfect for some slowing down time.
I have found the various facebook Belgium and Amsterdam groups to be very helpful, especially for real-time info. You can easily join them and just "lurk".
Have fun planning your adventure!

Thanks Pat for the helpful suggestions! This is coming together slowly but surely. A bit more tweaking and then a heavy shift to booking, and pre-purchasing passes and making reservations...boy am I feeling....ambitious hahaha!

Rent a car in Paris. Your travel goals lend themselves to a trip that could include a tour through the Reims area. Anyone who enjoys French wines should enjoy that region. For the baguette of a lifetime, locate a countryside bakery. Enjoy it with a selection of local cheeses and that wonderful local bubbly.
The drive through the Ardennes to Dinant is on my list of favorite things to do. Get off of the beaten trap to fully appreciate this region. This is when the car really pays off.
Dinant and surrounding is a wonderful place to visit. Sadly, the local brewery Brasserie du Bocq is no offering tours but look around. There are other options. If you are a musician, there are some comical photo ops.
Visit Namur or any other of these often-overlooked towns as you follow the herd path to Brugge.
Three weeks is just about right. We capped off renting a place on a canal in Amsterdam. We were a quick ferry ride away from the ferry terminal/train station, but in a local neighborhood without trolleys and traffic.
The Netherlands are very easy to explore by train. The beer is dreadful, but the Jenever makes up for it. What is the correct order? Young first or old?

If Bruges is the next destination after Paris you can take a highspeed train with a change in Brussels to a local train for the final leg. And takes around 3 hours up to 3h 26min. Or a highspeed train with a change in Lille and a local train to Bruges with a change in Kortrijk. For the latter depending the schedules of the connecting trains it can be the quickest option, but not very much and not always. In some cases cheaper, but again not always. But in contrary to highspeed trains as the tickets are timed and need booking you can take any local train you want as tickets are not timed and booking is not needed.

With changing in Lille you can walk around for a few hours or so and take a later (local) train the moment you want moving further to Bruges. Highspeed trains like TGV or Eurostar arrive/depart most of the time at Lille-Europe and local trains anyway arrive/depart at Lille-Flanders. Both railways stations are located close to eachother and an easy walk from the historic center. Lille-Europe has anyway a left luggage, however not so sure about Lille-Flanders.

You can do the same if you still want changing trains in Brussels. Best is booking as early as possible as it works the same as airfares. For tickets and schedules for instance: https://www.b-europe.com/EN

Specifically what dates are you traveling? Paris central area is going to be a mess with the Olympics. The games start July 26 and run to August 11 and Paralympic games start August 29. Streets and other areas will be closed off before and after to set up and take down venues. Transit will be affected as well. Th Here is a website with info:
https://www.sortiraparis.com/en/news/olympic-games-paris-2024/articles/310600-paris-2024-olympics-traffic-restrictions-and-installation-dates-for-temporary-sites

Yes, the Olympics will make Paris very expensive and lodging scarce this summer. I doubt if you'll have many good choices at this point, but see how it looks. The Metro system is so extensive that you could stay almost anywhere within a few blocks of a station -- preferably a station where two lines intersect. Paris by Train is a useful website for understanding the Metro and also the rail systems and stations that connect to the airports, suburbs, and other cities.

Your overall 3-week timeframe seems adequate and realistic. I wouldn't recommend a car unless you want to do some of this as a road trip. If so, keep in mind that dropping off a car in another country will mean a big extra charge. And of course a car in big cities will be a liability. Rail is the way to go. Pre-purchase your ticket between Paris and Brussels to save cost, but most other train rides can be bought on the spot. And, if you haven't booked your flights yet, consider a multi-city itinerary where you fly into Paris and home from Amsterdam, or vice versa, saving you the time and cost of backtracking.

Good luck putting this trip together in the time remaining, and I hope the Olympics adds a welcome extra dimension to your Paris time.

Thanks Dick and CL! No cars, just trains, and I flipped my itinerary so that I will be out of France well before the olympics begin. It took some effort to locate a place to stay but I think that's mostly just because it's....Paris. I can only imagine that will get more challenging as the Olympics approach though!...

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/the-netherlands-belgium-april-2024-brought-the-rain-pants-needed-the-rain-pants

I finally finished this. It's a long read, but hopefully you'll find some helpful info.

Safe travels!

Thank you Pat, this was great to read! Thanks for sharing your adventure! I'm currently trying to work out what transit passes I'll use in what city, and what to do do about train travel, in another thread. Reading your post has me believing I should remind myself that there will be lots of unexpected things...like weather that might call for adjustments...