Taster: 3 nights Amsterdam, 3 nights Belgium, 3 nights Paris - Should I drop Belgium?

We took our son 21 year old son to Amsterdam (with his 11 year old sister), and he liked it so much we were afraid he was just going to stay.

With the limited time you have, I would limit the trip to two cities--Amsterdam and Paris.

You acknowledge this is a taster, as long as you do not have high expectations of seeing everything, sure, do three stops, either 3/3/3, or just as logical 3/2/4, just going on the gross number of things to do in each place. But it really comes down to the short list of things you want to do in each place.

My rationale would be while Amsterdam and Paris are great cities, mixing in a smaller locale might offer a nice counterbalance to the city grit. If I were to do this, I would pick Ghent as my stop in Belgium as well. It is a nice older town, has a student population, a nice Cathedral, good food and beer.

Have each member of your family make a priority list of what they want to see and do in Amsterdam and Paris. For example, an impressionist fan may say the Van Gogh in Amsterdam and the d'Orsay in Paris are must dos.

Once you have your list you can see how many days each of you will need together and seperate in each city and if you have time for another stop or two.

If you are flying out of CDG in Paris unless you have a very early AM flight you can stay in town and take a taxi to the airport for a fixed rate.

This is a hard call. I see what you are trying to do. I think it's possible (lots of people rent bikes in Bruges and bike to Damme as well). My inner self wants to ask for more time in Paris, lol but I like Ghent and particularly Bruges a lot. When I was your kids' age, long ago and far away, I'd have preferred the 3/3/3 split.

Month and year? Budget level? Are the kids going to tour more independently, or are they in hostels purely to save money?

I don't know how important it is to you, but what are you aiming for as "quaint and calm Country villages?" Ghent and Brugge have historic brick and stone centers, but the surrounding "town" (i.e. small city) is post-war reinforced concrete by government and developers, even if some of the residential single-family developments happen to have "modern" thatched roofs. You're not going to walk on a dirt street, and go into tiny shops run by a old guy wearing an apron.

It's 60 km from Ghent to Brugge, so I wouldn't bike it myself, but maybe your family would. I know the Netherlands has bike path networks, but I don't know about Belgium. I'd feel better if you confirmed that "taster" means "none of us have ever been to Western Europe before. In fact, we haven't seen most of Canada yet!"

Our first trip to Europe was a week in London and a week in Paris. But I really like big cities. Your short timespan makes it hard to waste time and energy checking in and out of multiple hotels to experience multiple places. The whole advantage of northwest Belgium is that you can sleep in one place and get to another city every day on a quick, cheap, unreserved train. You won't have time to visit all the swell train daytrips from Amsterdam, like Delft, den Haag, Leiden, Almaar, Amersfoort, Utrecht, ... You can't even "see" Amsterdam or Paris in three days.

I don't mean to sound harsh. It's just that your objectives aren't clear enough to me, and you are pressed for time on the ground. Have you read a Netherlands or Belgium Rick Steves book in the library yet?

First, not last trip. Enjoy a great trip and create wonderful travel memories = leaving the family wanting more.
Amsterdam and Paris offer great menus to explore with nine nights being “ just right”.

With only 9 nights, I would cut 2 nights from Belgium. Just do a day in Brugge.

We did Amsterdam in 2022 and stayed a week and were busy every day.
Just doing the Anne Frank House, the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum will take up at least 2 days.
There is much to see in Amsterdam, as well as taking a tour to see windmills and villages outside of the city.

With only nine nights, consider dropping Belgium and limiting your trip to just Amsterdam and Paris. I know you said this is a "taster" trip, but changing places twice means you'll lose at least three quarters of a day each time.
Plus part of the first day may be lost to jet lag and or delays. Instead of getting a taste of all three places, I'm afraid you'll just have blurred memories of constantly being in motion. Don't mean to be critical, just offering food for thought.

If you are up to the bike ride I would do it. It has been 50 ( yikes ! ) years since I biked in Belgium. As I recall, There were bike paths. I only cycled from Zeebrugge to Brugge and the went north to Amsterdam.