Itinerary help

. How long you stay in each location really is a function of what you want to see/do in each and your tolerance for "getting from point A to point B." Thus, I would recommend you come up with a list of what your priorities for the trip are - in short what you want to see and do. Once you've got that down, then you can start figuring out how long to spend in each location. When you've got a rough itinerary, the fine folks on this board will be happy to help you fine tune it.

So, pick up some guidebooks, pass them out, and start making some lists!!!
As this is your first trip to Europe, some things to keep in mind:

Know the style of travel your family enjoys most. Are they up at the crack of dawn eager to go all day? Or does everyone like a very leisurely start to their day? If it's the former, a faster paced itinerary would work - if it's the latter, a slower paced one will work better.

Changing locations will use up anywhere from 1/2 to a full day so keep that in mind when planning your itinerary.

Now, as for the cities you listed, depending upon what you are interested in, you could do Amsterdam for 3/4 nights, Bruges for 3 nights, and stop in Brussels on your way to Paris and spend the balance of your trip in Paris - there is more than enough to see/do in Paris as well as quite a few day trips to keep you busy! Personally, there isn't much to see/do in Brussels, so I think one night there is sufficient. It could be done as a day trip but since you pass through there on your way to Paris (assuming you don't detour to Frankfurt or Cologne) you could simply stop there for a night.

I prefer to make my first stop 3 nights to ensure I get over the jet lag before moving on. When we have been to Amsterdam with children we stayed in nearby Haarlem which I felt was an excellent choice. It's a very pleasant town and only a 15 minute train ride into Amsterdam. I haven't been to Brussels, but love Brugge. I would say 2 nights for Brugge.

As much as I love Germany - to add it to this trip is too much I think. If you want to see Castles see them in England as day trips from London. You could visit Hampton Court Palace, Windsor, the Tower of London and even Dover Castle ( a little farther out).

You also might consider renting a car and spending a few days in northern France. You could do a day or 2 in the Loire Valley. (seeing Chateau) and a night on Mont St. Michel. In my experience most teens LOVE Mont St. Michel! Especially if you plan it so that you can see the tide come in. You could then return your car and take the Eurostar into London for the remainder of your trip.

ETA: seems like the RS best of Europe guidebook would be helpful for this trip.

You need to take a look at travel times between possible stops. You can use the Deutsche Bahn for information on most trains. Moving from big city to big city, a train will usually be quite a bit faster than a car, so the train time will represent the minimum time you'll spend moving from place to place.

With your group, and the first-time thing, I would find a castle in France. There are quite a few of them. Leave Germany for another time. London too.

For the time you have, and your situation, I think Amsterdam > Brugge > Paris is about perfect. At least 4 nights in Amsterdam (or, stay in Haarlem as a base), at least 2 in Brugge. Factor in a day trip from Paris if you like.

A family of 4 noobs can have an outstanding time, but is not going to be especially nimble. Please take that into account.

Yes, you could add London. It will be logistically hairy and I think make your trip less fun. You won't have time to do it justice, and you'll have to fly home from Heathrow. But if you do go there, consider dropping someplace else to make room.

Thanks Adam. I agree with everything you said. After looking at all the wonderful day trips from Paris, I too agree that Germany is out. Another time. I did make a mistake and cannot fly into Amsterdam. So I would. fly in and out of Paris and visit Paris, Amsterdam and Bruges. Any way to not back track?

Other option is to arrive in London or Paris and depart from paris/ London depending on arrival place. If I did this, i would skip Bruges. I'm not sure what order makes sense if I go this route. Paris, amsterdam then fly to London? The flights are so cheap.

Thanks. Getting closer!

Your best option is to fly open jaw. For 2 weeks you can do 4 cities and not be too rushed. Definitely leave Germany out this year and come back next year. One suggestion would be to do London(4)-Amsterdam(4)- Brussels/Bruges(2)-Paris(4). That's only 3 half days for travel which leaves you more time to sightsee and maybe some daytrips. Other posters can give you better suggestions about Brussels/Bruges attractions and if 2 days is enough time. RS seems to like Bruges better than Brussels. Have fun.

For a first trip to Europe, I wouldn't try to cram in too much. It takes time and effort to move, packing/unpacking, getting oriented to a new city with different signage, different money different languages, different transportation - it takes a lot out of you. London is disorienting even though everything's in English because the traffic moves in the opposite direction, you have to learn to use the tube, the buses, the money - just figuring out how much something costs takes a little more effort plus a lot of things are called by different names. If you stick with London/Amsterdam/Paris, it could be faster to fly from London City airport, then train to Paris to fly home. If you have 14 nights you really only have 13 days - the first is lost with arrival and jetlag (and maybe some of you will still be at 60-70% on the second day as well) and your last day is just going to the airport. 5 nights in London = 4 full days; then 4 nights in A'dam = 3 full days, that leaves 5-6 nights in Paris - 3-4 full days in the city and one day trip. Enough time to enjoy each. Also, going for 2 full weeks, you may want to spend a few hours at a laundromat and shopping for toiletries etc after about a week.

There's no way to not backtrack if you do not fly open jaw. Can you fly in to Brussels? That would save you some time. Or find a budget flight to Schipol from deGaulle day of arrival?

If you can fly into London, but not open jaw any other way, then I would start there. Can you fly out of Amsterdam? If not, there are trains that will make the trip London > Ams in as little as 4 hours. London > Amsterdam > Paris would be my choice for those cities.

I can fly into London and out of Paris or vice versa. So, going to Amsterdam will always be backtracking in some way, correct?

I can fly into London and out of Paris or vice versa. So, going to
Amsterdam will always be backtracking in some way, correct?

Yes, but open jaw still avoids the dread "must spend a day getting back to where I started to spend a wasted night near the airport" syndrome. It is still more efficient than a simple round trip.

And although it is "backtracking" if you look on the map, it does not involve revisiting places you have already been. And the trip times are reasonable: a little as 4:10 hrs Lon > Ams, 3:10 Ams > Paris.

So I wouldn't beat myself about the head and shoulders over it.

Ok. I must not be saying this right. I can fly into London and out of Paris. Or I can fly into Paris and out of London. That's open jaw. If I want to go to Amsterdam too, that will lead to backtracking at some point I would think. What would be the best order is my question.

One way to avoid backtracking would be to put Amsterdam in the middle, and fly between London and Amsterdam. If you do this, look into flights from London City airport, as Chani suggested. London has six airports (as far as the airlines are concerned), and some of them take a lot of time and/or money to reach from central London. London City is the closest to the center, and four of you could taxi there quickly for not too much money.

Thank you Harold. That would work! Now to decide if I want to go to London or stick with Paris, Amsterdam and Bruges. For some reason, I'm not into London.

"Now to decide if I want to go to London or stick with Paris, Amsterdam and Bruges. For some reason, I'm not into London. "

Sounds like you've made the decision. One cannot see everything on a single trip, so you should always go where you want to, at that time. London will still be there if you feel you want to see it on a different trip.

If you can't fly into Amsterdam or Brussels but are locked into a round trip flight to Paris, there are various approaches. One would be to go from CDG direct to Brussels or Bruges on arrival. To do this you'd have to buy last minute tickets (at last minute prices), since you can never predict how long it will take you to get through the airport arrival formalities. You would then go to Amsterdam, then back to Paris to finish your sightseeing.

Or, you could start in Paris, work your way north to Belgium and then to Amsterdam, then on the afternoon BEFORE your flight home, head back to Paris and stay in an airport hotel for your last evening. There are hotels in CDG itself, which don't even require a shuttle bus - just a quick ride on the CDGVAL (the airport's internal train, sort of like a subway). That's probably what I'd do, because it requires less hassle on arrival (just get a cab from CDG to your hotel). This also allows you to buy an advance ticket for all of your trains from Paris to Belgium, Belgium to Amsterdam, and Amsterdam back to CDG, which will save a LOT of money. Note that if you're searching for trains that go to the CDG rail station, use "Roissy" rather than "Paris" or "CDG" to find these.

No matter how late your flight leaves, I'd be very leery of being outside of the Paris area the morning of your flight - just in case.