My Husband and I are going to be flying into Brussels and have a Benelux-Germany Rail Pass. We will be traveling to Bacharach for a day and then on to Rothenburg for 2, then 2 days in Berlin, 1 in Amsterdam then back to Brussels to fly home. We have 2 days before we go to Bacharach and we are not sure how to best spend our time between Brussels and Bacharach. We thought of spending 1 day in Brussels and then go to Luxembourg. Any suggestions? Also, we thought of visiting the Atomium in Brussels, has anyone been? Is it worth looking into?
Thanks!
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
"Also, we thought of visiting the Atomium in Brussels, has anyone been? Is it worth looking into?" The Atomium itself is a kid-friendly science museum. I'll let you decide if you think that's worth your time. In the immediate vicinity, however, there are some beautiful parks around Domijn Laeken. The main royal palace sits here, although it rarely opens for visitors. Right next to the Atomium you'll also find Brupark. If it interests you, here you can visit MiniEurope, which has miniature models of famous landmarks from every EU member.
The National Basillica isn't too far away either. This is probably the only Art Deco cathedral in the world, and in my opinion, worth a look. Some people hate it, but as a big fan of the style, I think it's wonderful.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19273 posts
"Bacharach for a day"?
A few years ago, I spent five nights on the Rhein, based in Boppard. I found plenty of things to see right there. Unless you have already seen the Mittelrhein, I suggest you go right to Bacharach and see some more things there. In addition to Bacharach, there could be a boat trip to St. Goar, Rheinfels castle in St. Goar, Deutsches Eck in Koblenz, the Marksburg in Braubach.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33784 posts
I am a big fan of Luxembourg, and will be back there in June, however the trains from Brussels to Luxembourg are not the worlds' fastest and the city can be quite exhausting due to its very three dimensional structure.
Can I suggest that you may want a short jet lag recovery after arrival and while Brussels has a most wonderful Grande Place, you may find it a little intense. May I respectfully suggest Bruges or Ghent. Both are much smaller and more laid back. Most of what you would want to see in Bruges (that's the American and French spelling, the people speak Flemish which is a dialect of Dutch and spell it Brugge) is in a very compact area, they have chocolates to die for, and the scenery is uniformly wonderful.
Ghent, or Gent in Flemish, is even more laid back, certainly sees many fewer tourists, and is like Bruges for locals. Good food, beautiful buildings, and real people. We prefer it, but that may be because we have been to the others so many times.
Both Ghent and Bruges are on the same train line to the coast, half an hour Brussels Midi to Ghent, 57 minutes Brussels Midi to Bruges. In both towns you will want to take an easy bus (Bruges) or tram (Ghent) a few minutes into the center.
Whatever you try, best of luck with the trip.
By the way, its a shame you won't have much time in Amsterdam. With a journey time from Berlin of around 6 and a half hours, your time will be limited. You'll need to plan carefully to get in everything you'll want to see.