Netherlands and Belgium Draft itinerary

While it makes sense to prioritize the capital of Belgium for four days, a common theme of travelers who have stayed there is that Brussels didn’t fit the bill as a European capital. Whatever visitors hoped Brussels would be like before they went there— it seems to fall short. For many travelers, Brussels disappoints.
Since you haven’t specifically written what attractions you’re drawn to in Brussels, I would suggest taking a look at Antwerp as an alternative base for four nights. Antwerp is a beautiful city, has dozens of museums set in historic buildings, a medieval city center, the world-famous Kulminator beer pub, a spectacular Grote Markt or Grand Place and much more. Europeans themselves make Antwerp a weekend destination— it’s that attractive. And from Antwerp, Brussels is only a 45-minute train ride if you wanted to see the Grand Place or the Royal Museum of Fine Arts.
Bruges is a great place for four nights. That will give you plenty of time to explore the entire city and even take a 25-minute train to Ghent should it interest you.
In the Netherlands you have 5-6 nights in Amsterdam. That will give you time to enjoy its attractions and perhaps visit the twice-weekly cheese market in the town of Alkmaar. A couple other daytrip suggestions are Muiden Castle, and the Naarden Star Fortress. Those can both be seen during the same daytrip.
The historic university town of Utrecht is just 25 train minutes away from Amsterdam and makes for a great daytrip.
Because Haarlem is just 18 minutes by train from Amsterdam— you could expand your daytrip reach by basing yourselves in Leiden, the “Oxford of the Netherlands”. Leiden is a beautiful town, has canals and several world-class museums including the “American Pilgrim Museum” and the best archaeological museum in the Netherlands. From Leiden, Den Hague is less than 15 train minutes away. Another daytrip possibility is Delft which is just 15 minutes away by train from The Hague.
Have a great trip!

“ Brussels 3-4 nights
Bruges 4 nights
Day trips from Brussels: Ghent and Antwerp ( other suggestions welcome)”

For me, 4 nights in Bruges would be 3 too many. Especially if you already plan to visit Ghent from Brussels. What do you plan to do in Bruges that takes 4 nights? Don’t get me wrong, Bruges is beautiful and it’s certainly worth it to spend 1 night there, but you can pretty much see everything in 1 day.

“3 nights Haarlem
Train to Amsterdam 5-6 nights in Amsterdam”
Haarlem is only a 15 minute train ride away from Amsterdam. It doesn’t make much sense to switch bases to a place so close to each other. You can easily day trip to Haarlem from Amsterdam.
Instead of Haarlem, I would suggest to look into Rotterdam, Delft, The Hague or Leiden. All great cities and all located on the way from Belgium to Amsterdam.

With so many days it’s worth looking for places in the eastern part of the Netherlands and Belgium too. You can spend for instance two nights in Deventer or Zutphen along the IJssel River and explore the surrounding countryside and visit Giethoorn. The Open Air Museum near Arnhem is not to miss too.

Worth visiting in Belgium are Mechelen, halfway between Antwerp and Brussels, as well as Leuven and Lier. Bokrijk is Belgiums most well known open air museum and has it’s own train stop.

So get first an overview what will be of interest and then look for the best places and how long you want to stay .

Thank you for three thoughtful responses.

Month of year?

You have some good answers. Have you checked whether you can fly to Brussels and home from Amsterdam for similar air cost? "Multi-City" on your airline website.

Your home bases all have many 1 hour or less unreserved train excursions possible, so if you make a planning "mistake", you can easily recover, without changing hotels. Trains can be crowded at school or rush hours.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/the-netherlands-belgium-april-2024-brought-the-rain-pants-needed-the-rain-pants

Perhaps my recent 2024 Trip Report will be helpful. You don't mention the time of year, but going to Keukenhof in the midst of tulip season was a highlight. Of course, try to avoid the week before and after Easter, April 20, 2025.

We didn't have time for Utrecht or Hoorn, so if we return that would be on the agenda. We enjoyed Leiden and Haarlem immensely, and these cities offer lodging that is less than the $400 night (average) for a moderate hotel in Amsterdam (see Cameron Hewitt's Blog, he was also in Amsterdam this past season.)

We spent four nights in Bruges, placed it in the middle of the trip, as it's an ideal location to slow down - and sample the incredible chocolate.

Enjoy these wonderful countries and their warm and engaging people. We felt welcome, safe, and completely comfortable here, and English was spoken fluently everywhere we went.

Just enjoy!

I like Brussels more than a lot of people on this site, and you'll like it better if you stay a few days, as the interesting sites are very spread out across the city and can't be visited on a day trip. However, Antwerp is a nice place to stay as well. I agree that four days in Bruges might be too much unless you are very laidback and into the city. It might be a better idea to do your daytrip to Ghent from Bruges rather than Brussels, as they are very close together. Or stay in Ghent rather than Bruges, as it's a livelier city and IMO is only slightly less scenic.

If you want to be ‘close’ to several parts of the Netherlands you might want to look into Utrecht. Utrecht is the central hub for trains in the Netherlands.

Tim's idea is good.
I have a similar trip planned, also 2025, and am flying into Amsterdam and out of Brussels

For me, 4 nights in Bruges would be 3 too many.

I agree with Dutch Traveler. I found Bruges overcrowded and over touristed. While there are some nice places to visit there, I think 1 to 2 days would be plenty. I would consider taking those extra days and moving them to Ghent, which is a charming city that also has plenty to see and do, but is not nearly as touristed as Bruges. In fact, when I was there, I spent 4 nights in Ghent and took a day trip to Bruges. Obviously it's your trip, so you should do as you like, but I do feel that 4 nights in Bruges is a bit much.

One other thing is that Rotterdam and Den Haag (The Hague) IMO don't get sufficient attention in travel discussions. They're both unique, and offer a counterpoint to Amsterdam and Utrecht. They're both easily reached from Amsterdam or Utrecht as day trips.