Ideas for family trip beginning in Brussels

I would imagine that your daughter will want to weigh in on what would make her happiest and at 16 may guide your choice.

There's a lot to see in and around Amsterdam and I would think it would warrant at least 2 nights if you go at all. Only you and your family can decide if the museums, canal tour, Anne Frank House, maybe a bike tour or what have you is to your liking. I don't think of Amsterdam as a window-shopping place, but I don't do a lot of shopping on vacation. You will have to make really hard choices if you just do a day trip.

You could fly from Amsterdam to Vienna - both airports are easy access to the cities. Vienna has tons of pedestrian street shopping and lots of lovely cafes for breaks and you can mix in the right amount of museums and palaces for your daughter. To get some outdoor time, I would recommend heading to Melk and biking along the Danube to Krems if that is something your family would enjoy. It's gorgeous.

Or you could fly to Munich. Lots of shopping, but felt like less than Vienna, Bike tours are fun, Dachau for some serious history, Day trip to Neuschwanstein which is touristy but pretty and gets you out of the bigger city.

Also think about how you are getting home. Do you have to fly back from Brussels? I would recommend an open jaw ticket from wherever you end up. Connections for Amsterdam and Munich are easy and direct. From Vienna, Budapest and Prague there may be fewer direct flights but connections aren't bad.

Have fun planning!

You must have a conference in Brussels. I visited there once and at best you can see the city in a day. It is not a three star michelin place.

Bruges is amazing, don't miss it.

Stick to places closer to Brussels with only 7-10 days. You could take the train to Munich and take in that city as well as Garmisch/Fussen and Salzburg/Berchtesgaden, that will take up most of your time.

Stick to places closer to Brussels with only 7-10 days.

Good advice. Don't waste time. Suggest you consider these very worthwhile options...

Belgium: Bruges, Gent, Antwerp, the Ardennes

Also... Maastricht (NL) / Aachen / (D) / Cologne (D) / Upper Middle Rhine Valley (D)

Thanks for the advice! I suggested my daughter look at the guidebook for Germany and Austria (RS Europe thru BackDoor). She read aloud: "Biking the Danube river to see ruined castles and monasteries", that sounds fun, mom! I had never heard of this until Tigerfan suggested the bike ride from Melk. And the description of Vienna sounds like something my daughter would really enjoy. My husband loves the idea of the Bavarian alps, especially since we can take advantage of the summer weather and he will like some hiking in this area. So now the plan is 3 stops: Belgium with Brugges; Munich with day trips to Garmisch/Fussen and Salzburg/Berchtesgaden; and Vienna with Melk-to-Krems. My family says this sounds like a good mix of outdoors and city explorations, with lots of variety. We would skip Amsterdam this trip.

Sounds like a good plan. If you end up spending a night in Melk, the hotel zur poste had a fabulous apartment with 2 bedrooms if y'all would like a night to spread out. Their restaurant is fantastic too. They had some loaner bikes, but we tried out ebikes this last time that we rented from another company. We biked down to Krems, left our bikes locked up for our provider, and then took the boat back up to Melk, arriving in time for dinner. Quicker to take the train, but kind of fun to see where you just spent your day. You will pick which side of the river to ride based on what you want to see. Even the e-bikes wouldn't carry us up to the ruins at Aggstein, and we had to push the bikes up the hill/mountain. Strenuous, but worth it. We crossed the river at the ferry powered by the current which is fun to experience.

For a more outdoorsy day trip to Neuschwanstein, look at the one offered by Mike's Bike Tours. We did some biking and hiking around the area as part of that day. They also offer a fun bike tour through Munich.

Fantastic ideas, Tigerfan! Thank you!

Rebecca, if you want to travel to one other region other than the low countries, and you don't want to go to France/Paris, then I think logical/ efficient alternatives would be Hamburg or Berlin, flying home from one of those. Or maybe Copenhagen. Itineraries from Brussels to one of those cities will work nicely in your 10-day frame.

So Brussels Amsterdam Hamburg for instance, taking in some smaller places along the way. You could see Deflt on the way to Amsterdam for instance.