Hi everyone - We are planning a 2 weeks trip to Europe late this April. (Myself, husband, and 11 yr old son who is a great long haul traveler.) We are trying to do it on somewhat of a budget which is a little new to us. We found the best airfare flying round trip on BA in and out of London, so that's our plan. We have always done open jaw but would save 2K on airfare costs this way, so we figure we will just get a commuter flight back to London the night before our BA flight home to Seattle. I'm looking for advice on our itinerary. We will spend 3-4 days in London and another 3-4 days in Paris, but beyond that we're open minded. Where do people typically visit from these locations? We're thinking of Belgium, southern France or western Germany, but seem to be getting "travel planning block". Has anyone planned an itinerary like this that they loved? I know this is the usual request, but we'd love to get away from the bigger cities after London and Paris. P.S. This started with a quick 1 week trip to Paris just to get away so thanks in advance for humoring me!
Also, of course we're looking for good reco's for smaller boutique type hotels. We have Rick's guide books but love hearing from people on the forum too.