Proposed 30 day Western European Trip - October 2015

Amsterdam: 2 or max 3 nights depending how you feel after jet lag ( Museum Van Gogh and Rijksmuseum + tour on the canals. Beware pickpockets and junkies there.
Brussels 4 nights if you want to visit Ghent and Bruges which each of them merits 1 full day. It takes around 1 hour by train to go to either city and you would need 2 full days to visit Brussels. Do visit the Museum of Central Africa,( mainly Congo) which is a little in the outskirts, tramite 44 fron Montgomery tube station, Musee du cinquantenaire near which there is also a very nice old car museum and/or musee des Beaux arts (bozart). If you stroll down the street go and visit rue des bouchers, Grand Place, Gallerie St Hubert.
Paris: 4 days is ok, 5 if you want to visit Versailles. Why don't you take your car from Gare du Nord rather than Orly? Are you flying from Brussels? That seems to me such a waste of time and money - train from Brussels to Paris 1 hour from Brussels midi station - If you come by train and need to go to Orly to pick up your car, watch out if you take public transport at night.
Betten, I don
2 nights in Beaune would be enough.
Zurich at least one night ( one to 2 full days, city + lake tour)
1 night at least in Zurich (one full day)
Betten I do not know. I suppose you do not intend going skying at this time of the year?
M

Wanted to ask that you need to stop in Milano to see its cathedral which is made out of stone lace and inside the last supper. It is very near the central station and there are also some very nice 19th century commercial galleries.
If you go to la Spezia and the 5 terre, stop at least one afternoon in Genoa, try the pesto genovese, the ligurian lemons and oranges, the piedina and the focaccia and trofoglie ( pasta).
I would take at least 4 days Venice even 4 and in 5 terre if you are good walkers I would add one, if not I would substract one. Cinque terre could also be done out of Florence or Sienna, should you visit Italy another time. Just see how everything I told you fits within your tasye. Enjoy Europe!

Francoise

Wanted to ask that you need to stop in Milano to see its cathedral which is made out of stone lace and inside the last supper. It is very near the central station and there are also some very nice 19th century commercial galleries.
If you go to la Spezia and the 5 terre, stop at least one afternoon in Genoa, try the pesto genovese, the ligurian lemons and oranges, the piedina and the focaccia and trofoglie ( pasta).
I would take at least 4 days Venice even 4 and in 5 terre if you are good walkers I would add one, if not I would substract one. Cinque terre could also be done out of Florence or Sienna, should you visit Italy another time. Just see how everything I told you fits within your tasye. Enjoy Europe!

Francoise

Pick up hire car at Paris Orly, drop off at Zürich airport. Have you got a quote for this?
One way international car hire usually has an expensive surcharge.

66,

Brussels & Side trips. If you are aware you will only be spending 1 full day in each place if you decide to do it that way, its your trip. I personally try not to do 1 day (2 nights) stays since i feel its a waste of time & $$$ - I could give that extra day to someplace else. I gave brussels 3 full days but i probably could have made it a really fast 2 days if i wanted to.

I gave Paris 4 full days, but again, if i were to rush my itinerary, i may have done it in 3.

good luck and happy trails.

You might could drop the car off in Basel, France and catch a short train ride into Zurich from there or Basel, Switzerland.

I count 23 nights. Generally, the number of days you have in a place is equal to one less than the number of nights.

You've been to Europe twice: are any of these destinations repeats? That would make a big difference in your "how long" question.

Amsterdam 4 nights is fine. You'll be jetlagged, and 3 full days is not too much. You can always take a day trip to Rotterdam, The Hague, Delft or others if you feel you've seen enough of the city.

Belgium I prefer to stay in Ghent and day trip to Brussels and Bruges. Ghent is lovely at night and lodgings are cheaper than the others.

Paris 4 nights is a minimum.

Italy Late October is not a good time to plan for the CT. If the weather isn't good (all too likely then), there's nothing much to do. 2 full days in Venice is a minimum.

If you are keen on the CT, why not reverse your itinerary. Fly into Venice, really the best place to relax and get over the jetlag, and end in Amsterdam.

I haven't been to Beaune or Switzerland. On the map, I don't know why you want to go through Zurich. You could drive to Chamonix and drop the car there, then train to Betten Talstation. According the bahn.de, it's 3.25 hour journey - albeit with 3 train changes.

What are you interested in seeing in these cities? do you go to art museums? do walking tours? cooking classes? I have been to Amsterdam about five times? last time was in November for a week. I went and did interesting museums, a walking tour of the red light district and also the church in the attic. Tons of old historic houses to see. There is plenty to see in both Paris and Amsterdam.
I thought Brussels was a bit dull and could be seen in a day. There are some nice museums there if you are interested tho. but not compared to A or P. Brugges is lovely in the warmer months as there is a lovely water taxi ride. nice to stroll about. has a great one day tour (meet in the am and drop back off at night) of the WW 1 Flanders field etc. if History is your thing, there is also an amazing museum about the old hospital.
are you staying in Milan at all? RS doesn't give it credit as a previous poster said, there is the last supper, the cathedral, la scala, great museums and good food. also you can day trip to Lake Como from there. Venice, ride the gondola, get lost. I personally think three nights in Venice is a lot. But not sure what your interests are. maybe if you post that, it would help