Travel Planning - Belgium, Amsterdam & Germany

Many people here are not thrilled by Brussels and seem to prefer Brugge and/or Ghent to Brussels; and that's my own preference.
3 nights in Amsterdam is barely sufficient, but will work if that's all the time you have.
I'm going to guess that you could mention to your husband that he might enjoy Belgian beer.

Ok reading a bit of the Belgium boards & it seems that Brussels is not a must see city but Bruges, Ghent & Antwerp are. So maybe 3 nights in one of those places & day trip to the cities & sites that interest us. Sound right?

What we did last year was home base in Bruges/Brugge (first name is the French, 2nd is the Belgian spelling), and day trip to Ghent to eliminate a change of hotels (which uses up at least a half day to accomplish). Worked well for us.

Re the American war cemeteries part of your itinerary, you mention ending up in Paris, and coming from the north or northeast you could see the American Cemetery above Omaha Beach, one of the places that will bring a tear to your eyes. On this Memorial Day, I could say that there's a sculpture in the Cemetery called "The Spirit of American Youth Rising From the Waves." Every day, 75 years after, the French government has flowers delivered to the base of that sculpture, next to a sign that says in French: "A grateful French nation thanks the Mothers of America for the sacrifice of their sons on this beach in June 1944."

I really enjoyed Bruges better than Brussels, but that may be personal preference. I am not sure how accessible any American cemeteries are from either Brussels or Bruges.

If you want to consider American Cemeteries in Belgium you might want to check the website of the American Battle Monuments Commission, which runs them all.

https://www.abmc.gov
and:
https://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries-memorials

The most obvious cemetery is at Omaha Beach in Normandy, France. It is wonderful in a very poignant way. And for a little relief maybe plan to visit Bayeaux nearby. It is a charming, intact (mostly) small French city with an extraordinary tapestry that is the oldest political spin document in existence explaining why William was the rightful king of England. They can be reached by tours or public transportation from Paris.

Also from Paris there are daily tours to Belleau Wood or Chateau-Thierry, France where there are American cemeteries from WWI. That is where the American Army stopped the German Spring 1918 offensive.

In Germany there are many interesting WWII sites - some more appalling than others (Dachau just outside Munich for example). Nuremberg has a range of important sites including the Nazi Party Rally Grounds on the southeast side of the city (with an excellent Documentation Center), and the Nuremberg Trials courtroom and Museum on the west side the city.

https://museums.nuernberg.de/nuremberg-municipal-museums/

The RS discussion of Transportation Options on this site is a very helpful place to get started in thinking about how to get around.

https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation

Sounds like a great trip!

If you love art museums, please consider a day trip from Amsterdam to Den Haag/The Hague, to visit the amazing Mauritshuis museum. And a word of advice from sad personal experience: do not try to visit an art museum after a redeye flight!

There is a beautiful American cemetery near Aachen but in Belgium called the Henri-Chapelle near Welkenraedt that is a must-see.

I find that the Omaha beach area does not coordinate well with many itineraries. I suggest that you refine your interest in paying your respects to some WW II location in the hope of finding something not so far out of the way. I believe you would have mentioned Normandy in your OP if that were really important to you. I could be wrong.

I’ve seen a lot of Canadian force thank-you plaques in Belgium, so maybe there are some American ones. It’s also striking the sheer quantity of (Belgian, say) war memorials you run across. It’s also striking to find, say (in Alsace) a German cemetery where the dead were buried (by the victors) facing their home. While a concentration camp may be too much for you, Amsterdam has a very moving small Deportation memorial (Schouberg) and a fine Resistance Museum.

It’s a long way to Bavaria. Do you have some concrete destinations to make the journey worth it? Train or plane? Where have you two been besides Paris? What time of year might you go?

I am one of those who deprecates Brussels, but the art museums there could fill an entire day. Antwerp is also famous for museums. See if the KMSKA may have re–opened by your visit time.

Edit: I'm sure it's not a good way to choose a museum, but "The Death of Marat" is in Brussels, and "Girl With A Pearl Earring" is in Den Haag. (Alas, many of the dozens of Rubens' in Antwerp are in the closed KMSKA. But there are plenty in churches and temporary exhibits like at the MAS.) Many people prioritize the Mystic Lamb altarpiece in Gent, especially since "The Monument Men" came out. James Ensor and Rik Wouters are pleasant discoveries in Belgium.

I didn't ask about timing just because of Oktoberfest. There are special open-historic-building-weekend festivals in both low countries in September. August is very crowded with tourists everywhere. Some visitors prioritize Christmas Markets, others beaches like Ostend, Belgium. Some people want to see ballet or opera, which is limited in season. You might be interested in Keukenhof, which has about a 7-week season and is worth a detour-high hotel occupancy, however.

And for Bavarian Palaces, etc.

https://www.schloesser.bayern.de/englisch/palace/index.htm

To answer Tim's question, we've been to Paris 4 times, all around Ireland, Liverpool, London, Edinburgh, Rome & Venice. I think that's it.