Travel Itinerary Feedback

That's a lot of days in Belgium.

Looks pretty good to me. I might quibble over half a day here or there (I might cut half a day from Brussels and give it to Brugge or Amsterdam, for example) but overall this looks about right to me. Well done.

They could add Hamburg if they took time from Belgium. I haven't been to Brussels, but I've heard from other people that you can see what there is to see during a few hours stop on the way to somewhere else. Two nights in Bruges is plenty.

Thank you for the feedback. How many days do you think are needed for Prague? We are trying where else to take a day from other than Brussels to add in Hamburg.

I´ll be the voice of the opposition and say don´t cut from Brussels. The city takes a little more effort to explore because many of the interesting areas are separated by bland post-war concrete blocks. Most visitors get off the train at Brussel Centraal station, have a look around the Grand Place and Mannekin Pis, then assume there´s nothing else. I would disagree. There´s some wonderful urban parks and museums in Brussels, and some great examples of Brabantian Gothic, Baroque, Art Noveau and Art Deco architechure spread around the city. I would give it at least one full day.

In my opinion you are overrating Belgium and significantly underrating London.
London and Paris are the top AA+ sites in europe. There is so much to see there. I would aim at adding two days in London. I would give Brussels one full day and probably cut a day off Amsterdam.

Jesse, " where else to take a day from other than Brussels " What is it about Brussels that your boyfriend and his friend think they want parts of 3 days there for? You wouldn't push so hard if you weren't attached to it. Its their trip and everybody is different but you don't have Paris at all and only a little time in London? We love Belgium and spend time there every year. But at the expense of two of the most incredible places in the world?

I am a Bruges lover, so really, don't cut out too much Belgium time, especially Bruges. I really like your itinerary. Your travel day to Brussels, will take up a good chunk of your day, plus hotel check ins aren't until 2ish, so really 2 days in Brussels is really 2 nights and 1 good site seeing day. I spent 4 days in Prague and found that I was done with my sites around 1-2 pm. So maybe 3 nights is really all one needs for Prague (IMO). It looks like you have 5 nights in Prague. So maybe Prague is where you can trim your trip up. Best beer in the world is in Belgium, so don't discount it yet. It is amazing how secretly cool Belgium is. And it doesn't get that much respect.

I wouldn't cut your days in Brugge. Other than Brugge, you've got a lot of big cities on your itinerary. They're great, there's tons of sights to see, but you also have to deal with the crowds and figuring out public transportation in each city (although most things in Prague are within walking distance). Brugge will be a nice break from that. Your time in Prague might be a bit long, but you can always add in a day trip. We found that we were tired of Prague after 2 days. It's a beautiful town, but really touristy, which is fun for the first day, manageable the second, and annoying by the third.

I agree with Maureen. I'd consider taking some time days from Prague and adding them to Berlin - there's so much to see in Berlin! Also have your friends determined how they will travel from one city to another? Look at train schedules and also budget airline schedules. Check out www.whichbudget.com for discount airlines and www.dbahn.com for trains. Others will disagree but they could cut out London, add Hamburg, and have a little more time to allocate to the other cities in the proposed itinerary.

Belgium is terrific, especially Flanders, but Brussels is ok at best. Why no Paris? Is it because they being red blooded American men don't want to visit? I'd cut Belgium in favor of Paris.

Thank you for the feedback! They aren't for sure cutting anything yet, but if they do your feedback will be super helpful. About Paris and London - this isn't going to be their one and only trip to Europe and Paris didn't fit in to the flow of their trip so they decided to wait and take their girlfriends another time :)