I am partial to door #2, simply because I think 7 nights in Brugge is about 5 nights too many. Yes, there is plenty to see in Belgium, but you haven't mentioned going to Brussels, Antwerp, Ostende, or Ghent. So, if those aren't of interest I think you will rapidly run out of things to see and do in the little town of Brugge, pretty as it is.

We would definitely go to Antwerp, etc. Both of my base cities in the Netherlands are just that, base cities. I want to see Delft, Utrecht, etc. But, I'm starting to lean towards #2 myself. Keep the ideas coming! THANKS!

I like itinerary #2. Perhaps steal a night from Amsterdam and give it to Paris. Lots of daytrips are within reach from Paris as well as from London, you may want to do a 50-50 split between those two cities. Cities within an hour or so from Paris by train include Chartres, Amiens, Riems, Rouen.

I understand your logic, but by allocating the same 7 days to Amsterdam, Brugge, and London, you are equating the amount of interest in each.

Yes, there can be day trips, but London has plenty to see in 7 days without. Amsterdam has quite a few things to see and easy day trips, but is much much smaller, and Brugge is tiny.

You can do Antwerpen easily from either Brugge or Amsterdam.

A great little town just north of Antwerpen is Bergen op Zoom, just into the Netherlands.

Did I see earlier that you referred to Amsterdam and Brugge as "Both of my base cities in the Netherlands"? If so, they're not. Brugge (Bruges) is in the country of Belgium.

Hi,

I pick itinerary 2 with a bit of tweaking, ie, take a day or two from Amsterdam to be spent in Paris.

I want to say up front that I'm not trying to be sarcastic or snarky, just trying to understand. With 3 weeks if you're only giving 3 nights to Paris either you've been there before or you just don't have much interest. If either of these are the reason then I would stick with #1. If not and you do have some interest in Paris, I would choose #2 but steal a night or two from either Amsterdam or Bruges and add it to Paris.

Agreed that Paris is worth more time, especially if you have not been before. Like London, it has tons to see without leaving the city.

I would vote for 7 nights in London, 7 nights in Paris and the remaining split between Bruges and Amsterdam maybe 2/5 or 3/4.

2

BUT...

7 London

6 Paris

3 Bruges

6 Amsterdam

I guess I'm skimping on Paris because our original trip was to Amsterdam & Belgium. Then we added London. Since we are so close to Paris hubby said "It seems a shame not to see Paris." So I think I've been viewing it as a throw in city. Rethinking after these posts. Thanks for the suggestions....like I said, just in the early planning stages.

Ever since my husband had back problems that completely disabled him for 4 months in 2012. I try to squeeze in every vacation I can and see as much as I can. You just never know what the future brings.

I'm getting super excited though and afer reading the posts am definitely going to make a few tweaks on the itinerary. It makes sense. Thanks so much for the thoughts. I love these forums because it helps me to get going in the right direction and half of the fun is in the planning!

Let me preface by saying I'm not a "side-trip" traveler. Basing in say, Amsterdam, to take side trips out of the city means you will pay much more for much poorer accommodations as well as more for meals (and expensive parking if you have a car) - simply so you can leave during the day. I like being in the city when the plan is to be in the city but on days where you plan to be out of the city, stay out of the city.

London is great and you can easily spend 7 nights there. If you have side-trips planned, make it 5 nights and plan two nights somewhere convenient to your plans.

Paris, 3 nights is too little - but your itinerary is your own.

Bruges, 5 nights? For what? 1 day is plenty to see Bruges, 2 if you like to go slow. Again, don't day trip from Bruges, plan stops that are convenient to your route.

Amsterdam? I don't think Amsterdam is nice enough for more than a couple of days. There are much nicer places in the Netherlands that are much less expensive.

I like the way you travel. I would do London 7 nights, Paris 7 nights, Amsterdam 7 nights, with a side trip to Bruges from Amsterdam.