First draft Itinerary Netherlands and Belgium April 2024

A number of years ago from Bruge I did a day trip with https://www.quasimodo.be/bus-trips/battlefield-tour Quasimodo tours to a number of war memorials and Flanders Fields. it was a full day trip and I extended my trip to see the Last Post and was returned to Bruges in a pre arranged car. For me seeing where the poem Flanders Fields was written was very powerfull. I have been wearing a poppy and saying the poem since I was in Kindergarten on Rememberance Day.

Wendy

I think generally you have a good outline for your trip.

The one modification I would suggest is to stay in Ghent rather than Bruges. It's a shorter train ride from Leiden and shorter back to Delft. Plus it's right between Brussels and Bruges, so you can do day trips more easily. And it's lit up beautifully at night. Personally, I found Bruges to be very pretty, but not a place I'd want to stay for four nights. Other people love Bruges, and that's okay too.

Be aware if you're traveling to either Bruges or Ghent from the Netherlands, you'll need to change trains twice, once in Rotterdam and once in Antwerp.

Wendy and Lane, thx for such quick responses. I will do more research. Funny, once you've been in a place, logistics seem so simple, but when it's an unknown, so complicated. Thx again!

Re Ghent +1 to Lane above.

YMMV

Thx, Hank. I do enjoy all your posts!

Just a side note, Amsterdam is not in the BIG city category, just around one million. Hopefully your husband will enjoy it.
For a nice neighborhood walk, head to the Central Canal Ring area.

For your stay in Haarlem you and your husband might both enjoy some time at Jopen, a brewery in an old church. Architecturally interesting and I miss a good IPA after several weeks of being away and they do a good job with craft and traditional beers.

https://www.jopenkerk.nl/haarlem/en/

DW's favorites in BE and NL:

Bruges, Zaanse Schans

Leiden > Bruges > Delft:

On either the Leiden side or the Delft side of Bruges, a stopover in Antwerp for a few hours seems justified, given your husband's preferences. A stopover in Ghent (as opposed to making a separate day trip from Bruges) could make sense too.

Don't forget to go to the Oude Kerk and Nieuwe Kerk in Delft

Thx, Hank. I do enjoy all your posts!

Same same :)

Suki, Mona, Russ, thx so much for your help. More colored post-it notes have been added to my board!

Hi Pat,
I am planning a similar trip April-May 2024. May I ask where/how you nabbed great Business Class Fare? Thanks so much!

WRT trip timing, I recommend scheduling so that you are in Amsterdam on April 27th for Kings day.
I do not love Amsterdam, but on that weekend it is a great place to be.

The one modification I would suggest is to stay in Ghent rather than Bruges. It's a shorter train ride from Leiden and shorter back to Delft. Plus it's right between Brussels and Bruges, so you can do day trips more easily. And it's lit up beautifully at night. Personally, I found Bruges to be very pretty, but not a place I'd want to stay for four nights. Other people love Bruges, and that's okay too.

I would second Lane's recommendation upthread. I stayed in Ghent for 4 nights and just loved it. It's charming, walkable and is similar to Leiden in that Its charm and beauty and overall residential atmosphere made it a wonderful destination. I enjoyed Bruges but there were so many tourists there that I don't think I would have enjoyed staying there overnight. And it's very true that Ghent is more convenient for public transportation and day trips.

You have stated that you don't like big cities, so I may be wrong in suggesting to you that I prefer Antwerp because there are so many things to do there. It's not remotely as big as Amsterdam or Haarlem, but bigger than Ghent or Bruges. I think you (and everyone else!) want to pretend that you are living in a medieval city, even though the lovely core is surrounded by banal mid-rise postwar development.

You are certainly not wrong in thinking (?) that "everyone says Bruges is the most romantic place in the world, you have to stay there as long as possible." While you will enjoy quiet evenings and mornings, it is very crowded with daytrippers. Ghent is certainly cheaper, and also a very attractive place. While both Ghent and Antwerp are well-placed for unreserved local train daytripping, Antwerp has enough to do without traveling, for several days. You can also (in Antwerp) walk miles in a different direction every day, and discover new things every day.

Kaye,
Regarding that business class fare-
I had been checking Google Flights every few days, plugging in different cities from LAX and SFO. BC fares have been high for about the past 18 months, as far as I could tell, so I was giving up on a good fare out of San Diego, which is a smaller market. A few days earlier, I had spotted $2200 BC fares into Frankfurt and Zurich, and posted it here. So I continued to randomly check, and finally found the British Airways low fares into Amsterdam, which were offered from this summer thru next spring. ( I shared the find here.)
We stacked the AARP discount with the 10% discount using the British Airways Visa card. Because we used those promotions, we couldn't apply any BA Avios to the price. We booked directly with the airlines. AARP membership is open to any age, and is very cheap. You start with the AARP site.
The Google Flights alerts I had set up notified me the next day of the low prices. Since then, the prices have fluctuated- they go high, then back down. Don't give up if the prices go up. Good luck!

Pat, Seriously excellent airfare research! I didn't know about the added AARP discount, great idea. I really liked Delft, stayed at the Best Western Museum Hotel; clean, great breakfast, nice reception area and just next to the cathedral & an easy walk from train station. I rented a bike near the train station; some nice windmills in town, one that you can climb up inside. I also enjoyed the Delft pottery museum. About Keukenhof - here's where to track the arrival of spring. https://keukenhof.nl/en/

Sandancisco, thx so much. I'll check out the site and post-it note iton my board. Safe travels!