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Itinerary Comments and Recommendations

Posted by on

Hi all,

I'm planning a trip to europe in September and wanted to bounce this itinerary off other people for possible tips, suggestions, or tweaks. We will have roughly 2 weeks (it looks like 15 nights probably). So far the plan is:

4 nights Paris
2 nights Bruges
4 nights Amsterdam
4 nights Berlin

I'm curious what people think of this timeline. If we are spending too much time in one place and not enough in another. I have been to Paris but everything else is going to be totally new to me. My girlfriend and I enjoy art and history so we will likely want to visit some museums and tour some historic sites. We also just like "hanging" out in new places, and eating and drinking of course, but we are by no means party people. Anyway, all thoughts, comments, and suggestions welcome.

Posted by
2487 posts

Sounds fine. Even allows for some easy day trips from Amsterdam (such as Haarlem or Hoorn) and Berlin (Potsdam).
Consider staying in Gent, being more lively than Brugge, which can have an open-air museum atmosphere. Gent is only 30 mins from Brugge on very frequent trains.
Everything can nicely be done by train. On most of you legs faster than flying, if you take everything into account. The plane is only somewhat (1 or 2 hrs) faster on the route Amsterdam to Berlin, but the train is more comfortable.
Advance buying of tickets can come with huge discounts. Consult the reliable Man in Seat 61 for more practical information on train travelling in Europe.

Posted by
7175 posts

Nice trip. Lots to enjoy. You'll have a great time.

Consider an extra night in Belgium, and I too think the more central Ghent is the better option as a base.

Day
1. From Paris via Brussels to Ghent (3N)
2. Day to Antwerp
3. Day to Bruges
4. On to Amsterdam

Posted by
1821 posts

Looks good to me, and I agree with the suggestion of staying in Ghent instead of Bruges.

Since you are interested in art museums, of course you won't have any shortage in Paris and Amsterdam, but two of my favorites in the region would involve stops between Paris and Amsterdam. The Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam and the Mauritshuis in The Hague are worth a stop if time allows. You could also do them on a day trip from Amsterdam and also visit Delft, which is a delightful city to wander around.

Posted by
14 posts

Thanks for all the feedback. I found an awesome video on YouTube called "Ghent in Motion". I have to admit the castle looks ridiculously cool too. We just got our plane tickets and turns out we are going to have 16 nights, so...

At least one of those nights is definitely going to Paris, possibly both. The other option would be to spend that other night in Belgium (leaning towards Ghent). This would allow us to spend one full day in Ghent, and take a day trip to Bruges (or vice versa).

So, the trip would look like:
5 nights Paris
3 nights Belgium (Ghent or Bruges)
4 Amsterdam
4 Berlin

Thoughts?

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