10 day trip to Netherlands and Belgium (and maybe Luxembourg)

It’s your trip, so it’s up to you to decide what you want to see and do. Have you booked your flights yet? If so, when and where will you arrive? And when and where will you depart from?
This helps to determine how many days you actually have. It would also help to know how you plan to get around.
What sights do you want to see in the Netherlands? Only Amsterdam? Or do you want to make day trips?
Given that you’re traveling with a 1-year old, I would limit the places to stay in to just 2 bases; one for the Netherlands and one for Belgium. I would also reconsider Luxembourg, but if you have your heart set on it, you can see it on a long day trip from Brussels.

Yes, the tickets are booked for July 13-22, it’s 10 days including the one we arrive in the morning. The flights are to and from Amsterdam.
We were thinking of taking a car (from Antwerp or Ghent) to drive to Luxembourg and have a stop somewhere (Like Dinant or Liege).
It feels like Luxembourg is not easy to get to and if we are not doing it now - it probably will not happen.
As for the Netherlands we definite want to go to Amsterdam (maybe Den Hague and Lieden but it seems like it gets too much for such a short trip)

We just toured the Anne Frank Huis Museum. I would book separate times. Maybe 2 hours apart. Not only so that you can each take it in, but also for those around you. It’s quite somber and people are really quiet and reflective and respectful while absorbing it. In fact the audio guides go silent when you are actually in the rooms where they were hiding, to allow one to be contemplative and in their own thoughts. There is a very casual pancake restaurant across the walkway from the museum that is super kid friendly. And the area is great for walking around outside along the canal.

Now that I think about it, we didn’t see any children on the tour. Is there an age minimum? Make sure you know exactly when the tix go on sale for the dates you are looking for. They sell out quickly.

We spent 2 nights in Ghent and 2 nights in Bruges which seemed perfect.

Thank you for your feedback! We’ll split into two if we decide to go. Now when I understand we are not going to go to museums I am more comfortable to spend less time in cities I planned. We’ll probably do most of the time sightseeing and nature - do you think one day for Bruges and one for Ghent is enough in our case?

You could enjoy both Bruge and Ghent as day trips if you are staying nearby. Ghent would be a lovely day trip. Bruge is a bit larger, so we were glad to have 2 nights. Both are charm filled! Canal cruises are wonderful in both towns.

And while we were in the Netherlands (while staying in Delft; also lovely) we took a day trip to Rotterdam where we caught the water taxi to Kinderdijk for the UNESCO windmills. Completely wonderful and a nice day activity with a little one on a beautiful day.

I think exploring the small towns and charming sites, sounds so much easier with a little one than Amsterdam. We just got home from 3 weeks in Belgium and the Netherlands, and Amsterdam was our last stop. We saw all the wonderful sites that Amsterdam offers, but it is very crowded and stressful trying to be a pedestrian and avoiding bikes constantly. Love seeing all the children in the bike carts! Adorable. Our last day we took the train out to the charming town of Haarlem and were glad our last day felt so much more relaxing.

Pat just wrote a trip report of her travels to the Netherlands and Belgium. Obviously some things are different but it might give you a good idea of what's there: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/the-netherlands-belgium-april-2024-brought-the-rain-pants-needed-the-rain-pants

This was an April post for travel this past July. Perhaps they will let us know how the trip went!