Your typical - help w/ my itinerary question. Paris -> Brussels -> Bruges -> Amsterdam

You will take the Thalys to Brussels and then local Belgian train to Bruges. The switch is easy and its about an hour to Bruges. The ease of train travel may depend on time of day you are travelling and which leg you want to do in one shot Paris to Bruges or Bruges to Amsterdam. Bruges is smaller but has plenty to see in 2 days as does Brussels. Both have plenty of good food and Belgian beer for a one or 2 night stay, so it depends on specifics of what you might want to see.

Hi. You can do that if you choose; the order is okay. I'd probably eliminate Brussels and add a night to Amsterdam. You will increase your flight options if you include IAD on your return as opposed to just BWI. Have a great trip.

You might just lock your bag up in the locker at Brussels Midi or Centrale train station and do that as a daytrip and continue on to Bruges later.

Thanks! We are flying nonstop from and back to IAD. Brussels gets a lot of ambivalence on this forum, I was hoping to see the major points there at least. Maybe it would be better to train into Brussels early, check out the sights, have lunch, and head straight to Bruges same day to add a night to Amsterdam?

edit - just saw that suggestion above too. Seems like a good idea!

Our main goals for Belgium and Amsterdam especially are to walk around, see a museum or two, have leisurely meals, and soak up the culture. Night time we'd like to visit some pubs or bars (not clubs, somewhere we can sit ideally).

Not sure when in September you are going, but there is a Belgian Beer Festival in Brussels September 7 thru 9th. My husband and I went last year for a day and if you are into beer (especially Belgian Beer) its a lot of fun and held at the Grand Place so a stunning setting also. You could train from Paris to Brussels early morning, dump your belongings in a locker, go to Beer Festival for day and then head to Brugge end of evening.

Just thought I'd share the festival details. Have a great trip.

ah, bummer! We arrive in Paris on the 9th. Will be in Belgium the 13th-16th with a little wiggle room

I've been to all of these locations and the only one that I have no desire to see further is Brussels. We stayed in Brussels for 2 nights and took a day trip to Bruges on a bus. As others have said, I would eliminate the Brussels night and move it to Amsterdam. Truly the only thing I remember about Brussels was a) doing laundry there, and b) looking at the Mannequin Pis statue and going, "Yep, it's a boy peeing, next?"

I really like the Grand Place in Brussels I've been 3 times It is definitely worth a stop. There is a beer shop called De Bierking one of only places where you can find Westeleveen 12 Trappist ale. I bought 6 bottles back in my checked luggage.

Stop in both Brussels and Antwerp for some sightseeing en route. I believe both stations offer luggage storage facilities. This allows for a 3rd night in Amsterdam.

Day
1..Arrive Paris - 4 nights
2-4..Paris
5..Train via stop in Brussels to Bruges - 2 nights
6..Bruges
7..Train via stop in Antwerp to Amsterdam - 3 nights
8-9..Amsterdam
10..Depart Amsterdam

Train times ...
Paris to Brussels - approx 1.5 hours
Brussels to Bruges - approx 1 hour
Bruges to Antwerp - approx 1.5 hours
Antwerp to Amsterdam - approx 1.25 hours

One thing you may be looking for is that the trains between Brussels and Bruges are several times an hour, and stop in all three downtown (not Airport) Brussels stations. They are unreserved, and crowded at rush hours, including school hours. But they are very convenient.

I prefer Antwerp to Brussels, but you are right to want to hit the high spots of Brussels - whatever your interests: Art, Architecture, food, shopping, World War II ... . How often do you get to see The Death of Marat by J-L David, painted in exile in (later) Belgium from the French Revolution? Anyway, also note that Sept 15-16 2018 is Open Monumentendaag in Flanders. You may not want to do all the work (a lot of the publicity is in Dutch, which I don't speak or read), but you can read the names of the places and the hours easily enough. And you don't need a national identity card to visit the places. (This is called Open House New York near where I live, I don't know about the big cities near you ... ) I have been, twice. (It's harder to make the most of it when you have to go to Google Maps for each change of destination, I'm sure you can figure out!)

Because you can daytrip if you make a mistake (among Bruges, Antwerp, and Brussels) the allocation doesn't matter that much. I personally think Bruges is only worth one night, but it is a must-see. The Rick Steves religion of being somewhere after the tourists leave isn't quite as important in a place with so much street space. (Opinion!) (Smaller) parts of Antwerp are just as attractive as Bruges. If you are interested in Art Deco and Art Nouveau more than medieval, you would really want to see the Cogels Osy Lei of Antwerp. Bruges can be "done" in a day, Antwerp cannot.

I agree that there is no point in staying in both Brussels and Bruges with all the hassle of transferring all your stuff between hotels. Pick one and travel by train to the other.

Thank you for the insights. I'll look into perhaps stopping in Antwerp for a daytime visit en route to Amsterdam. I agree it's less complicated to stay in fewer places. I haven't looked into Antwerp much but I will check it out!

In that scenario we could arrive in Bruges later in the day, spend the next full day and night there, and then leave early to day trip to Antwerp before reaching Amsterdam.

Thanks again to those who replied! We've decided on the below and booked our accommodations.

Arrive at CDG/Paris early morning
4 nights Paris (half day trip to Versailles)
[Day trip to Brussels on the way to]
2 nights Bruges (really just the one full day there as we'll arrive in the evening and leave in the morning)
[possible stopover in Antwerp on the way to]
3 nights Amsterdam
Depart AMS/Amsterdam afternoon.

It's a little dense but we are pretty active and up for it. Now to research the activities and FOOD!

I enjoyed the tour of the European Union institutions in Brussels - the Berlaymont building which houses the EU Commission and the Espace Leopold complex which partially hosts Parliament (sharing time with Luxembourg and Strasbourg). Worthwhile to consider if you're into EU government and politics. 10-minute bus ride from Grand-Place. Or a decent 1.5-mile walk, passing Parc de Bruxelles and the Royal Palace.

But, as previously mentioned, you would likely prefer more time in Amsterdam. my recommendation would also be to skip the night in Brussels and visit either in between Paris and Bruges or on the way from Bruges to Amsterdam.

We are doing this same route only opposite. Great to have seen the idea of the Belgium Beer Festival as we were going to simply pass through Brussels en route Amsterdam -> Bruges, 2 nights Bruges, and then Bruges -> Paris. Can anyone help with the best way to get to/from the festival from the train station?

Apparently there are two beer events in September, 2018, but only one in Brussels, with "Weekend" in the name. Let's make sure what you are asking about:

https://belgibeer.com/en/blog/the-best-belgian-beer-festivals-in-2018

It seems clear that the September 7-9, 2018 Brussels event is in Grand Place, the #1 destination in Brussels.

https://www.brussels.be/belgian-beer-weekend

This is only 400 meters from Bruxelles Central station, with escalators to make the popular walk easier. Note that Thalys (as opposed to lower echelon trains) don't stop at Centraal, but the Thalys ticket includes the right to take a local railroad train one stop to Centraal.