Vacation Dilemna

So we are taking a very unique, very personal look at what is, without
question, one of Europe's most stunningly beautiful cities. I was
kicking myself throughout the shoot at the fact that I hadn't been
there earlier.

If you are into architecture porn, Budapest is for you. One incredible
building after another. Block after block of what is simply an
incredible mix of styles, the imaginations of the creators gone wild
during the city's years of empire. It is really something to see. And
I felt like a total rube arriving so late. What took me so long!?

Anthony Bourdain

There are some pretty inexpensive direct flights from both Amsterdam and Paris. They are both lay over locations for regular flights to Budapest from the States.

Not sure of your schedule but I picked two random days in January and RT from Paris, non-stop was $204 on Air France.

January is a good month for the theaters, maybe you get lucky with some snow, excellent food, Vienna style coffee shops (they stole the idea from Budapest), world class museums, if you are interested in Jewish history, holocaust history. or communist history or WWII; soak in the bath houses, enjoy the grand boulevards (the French stole the idea for the Champs-Élysées from Andrassy ut in Budapest), monumental buildings (the train station was done by Eiffel, before that tower thing in Paris), etc, etc, etc and 4 days is a pretty decent visit to my favorite town. We arrive back in Budapest towards the end of January and are looking forward to it.

While I don't think there is any real risk in going to Paris, and I love Paris; you are entitled to your comfort zone. Right now Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria are listed as countries with the lowest terrorist risk in Europe.

If you haven't been to Bruges, that would be my pick. I would also suggest arriving in Paris the night before your flight home just to make that connection easier.

Well I'm kind of curious as to why you feel like "targets"? What does that even mean?

I think we can infer what Molly means by "target". She's not visiting Paris and that's her choice. In any case, I love Barcelona. It ticks all the boxes you mentioned above.
Vueling.com offers plenty of flights between Paris (CDG and ORY) and Barcelona. Flights are about 1.5 hours and 50-60 euros in January.

Brugge is wonderful, u could easily spend some days there. However with just 4 xtra days perhaps seeing the beauty outside of paris might interest u. There is alot as loire valley and its castles, chartres, versailles, assuming the sights are open in January.
Either way u cannot go wrong it is all terrific.

The canals in Brugge were built to try and capture some of the beauty of the Danube when it goes through Budapest....... naaaaaa

The dilemna is that in January places will be cold, gray, fairly empty and a lot will be closed. You need to stick to cities in winter, not rural places like the Loire. Bruges and Ghent would be ok in winter. Strasbourg, London, Frankfurt, and Cologne are other possibilities. If you are flying out of Paris, you'd want to be at the airport the night before anyway, so that gives you three and a half days exploring and relaxing.

Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, my daughter made a connection from Budapest to the States through Paris last Christmas with no problems. 3 hour lay over. No need to arrive in Paris a day early or pay for a hotel room just to catch a plane.

As for dark and dreary winter, that's why you have to look for cities that shine in the winter. The old central European capitals are perfect. They come alive with the arts in the Winter.

James--
It's not connecting in Paris; it's originating in Paris for the return, from what I understand.
Of course, if it's an afternoon flight, they could do SNCF train from Brussels to CDG the day of the flight. It's a quick ride.

4 nights in Ghent with excursions to Bruges, Antwerp and Brussels.
or
2 nights in Cologne/Aachen and 2 nights in Liege/Maastricht

Bets, but if you are leaving from Paris back to the states, if it's an afternoon flight then you can come from a number of cities on other flights and make the connection to what was intended to be the originating flight back to the states. Or am I totally confused. Probably am, that happens to me a lot.

If you are afraid of being a target.. I would not choose Brugges.. as Beliguim is on high alert also.. and that's where some of the terrorists actually came from..

I think a good point is the weather at that time of the year and picking a destination with more urban sights.. museums etc .. to be inside on cold rainy days.

Ps You would not be a target.

Thank you all for your input, I truly appreciate it. We would prefer to take train or drive on our way back to Paris, as I know there are beautiful things to find along the way; instead of flying out of area and returning. We are considering 2 nights in Ghent, 1 night in Amiens and then to Roissy-en-France to be close to the airport because we do have a morning flight. It looks as though the trains are more direct that way as opposed to the Cologne/Aachen and Liege/Maastricht route (which sounds wonderful as well). I could be wrong as I was just taking a quick look and am not familiar with the rail system. Let us know your thoughts.

I loved Koln and Aachen, also Amiens. I will be in Brugge for New Year's, no reason not to keep it on the list. You can visit Antwerpen and Gent (or base in any of the three and visit the other two).

It is a natural reaction to be worried after nasty events, but in neither the recent horrors in Paris nor the even more recent ones in and around San Bernardino were tourists the targets.

It is worth noting that the biggest shootout was in Brussels, not Paris, and that Gent and Brugge are very close to Brussels - the home of most of the Paris terrorists who commuted to Paris and tried to return home if they survived.

The security is a tight as possible in both Paris and other French cities, as well as Belgian cities and towns; even in England.

I don't know where you will not feel like you are a target.

Train connections between Paris and Luxembourg are quite easy, less so between Brussels and Luxembourg (a quite slow older train).

Any small town in that part of the world will be pretty grey and blah in January - the cities are where the arts and museums are, in the main.

I wish we could make you feel more comfortable but I don't know how.

As I said in other posts previously statistically you are safer in France or Belgium than in the USA. But I understand feelings if something big happens like in Paris and now San Bernardino. I have a suggestion: after couple days in Amsterdam fly to Prague then train to Vienna and then Budapest. From there fly back to Amsterdam and US. Prague and Budapest have never had a terrorist attack and it is very unlikely that the first one would happen while you are there. Vienna if I remember correctly had the last one in 1986. Prague and Budapest are also quite cheaper than Amsterdam and Paris. They are also eye candies and you will feel safer and spend less.

Ilja and I will never agree on the gross over generalization that "statistically you are safer in France or Belgium than in the USA." But that's okay; she is correct on most everything else. Sounds like you want to take it easy on this trip so on the surface I think the places closer to Amsterdam and Paris are going to suit you better. But keep in mind that it gets dark early, it can snow or the weather can otherwise be bad. Small towns will just shut down, larger cities have the infrastructure to keep operating and after dark the lights of the larger cities can be more engaging. I love Prague, Paris and Budapest at night. The short days actually work to an advantage and the weather just drives people into the concerts, museums, art fairs, etc.

Last time I stayed I went from Amsterdam, taking the train to London for a few days and then back to Paris before flying home. I reserved a few months in advance and got the senior fare so it wasn't bad. Easy trip back to Paris on the EuroStar.