Christmas break in Amsterdam Bruges and Cologne - too much?

Margaret, two weeks is plenty, in my opinion, for these three cities. Cologne is fun for a day or two. The cathedral is the main thing and a walking tour of the rest will take little more than a day. Bruges is beautiful, but quite small. We were happy with a day trip out of Brussels. I would think that 2, at most 3 days would be ample. Amsterdam is wonderful, but again, 4 to 5 days is ample. I would add Brussels. Actually, unless you have a burning desire to go to Cologne, I would drop it, shorten Bruges, and add Paris or London.

You can probably find 5 days worth of activity in Amsterdam, but you'd be stretching it in the other two. I've been to both Amsterdam and Bruges around the holidays, and both would be good place to spend Christmas... plenty of Christmas markets in both.

From Cologne, you could either take daytrips down the Rhine or Mosel, or if you get tired of Cologne, spend a night in one of the towns on the river.

I agree that you might want to spend your time a little differently. I don't know about Amsterdam for 5 days. I will say it is not my favorite place, and 5 days would be too long for me. In 2008 we landed in Amsterdam the day after Christmas and only spent the one day/night. It was our 2nd time there, but my daughter wanted to go to the Anne Frank house. By the way, it is open Christmas day. We then went to Bruges for 2 nights. At that time of year that was plenty of time. There was a Christmas market going on, but it was VERY cold. I may have wanted to spend another day there if the weather was warmer. Don't count on that during that time of year. I have not been to Cologne, but from everything I have heard there is not much for visitors to do there. Unless you have a specific reason to go to Cologne I would not go there.

For 2 weeks (I count 15 nights for you) I would consider this - Assuming you have to fly in and out of Amsterdam:

Arrive Amsterdam in a.m. (?) - Spend 3 nights. Take the train to Bruges.

Spend 2 nights in Bruges, take the train to Brussels. Look around for a few hours, the take the Eurostar to London. Spend 4 nights in London

Take the Eurostar to Paris. Spend 5 nights in Paris.

Take the train to Amsterdam. Spend one night. Fly home.

If you really want to see Cologne you could spend 4 nights in Paris. Then you could train to Cologne and spend one night. Train to Amsterdam, spend one night and then fly home.

If you are able to fly into one place and out of another you should seriously consider that to avoid backtracking and maximize your time.

Have a great trip!!

Thank you so much for your replies. I am feeling that this isn't perhaps the best way to spend our 15 days at Christmas. We can have an open ended trip. Can fly into anywhere from the Middle East and back to Middle East from anywhere and actually do not have a specific place to go. Just thought the 'little' triangle I designed would save so much travel time. We went Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Krakow a couple of years ago for 4 weeks through Dec. and loved the slow travel, the full on Christmas, and the places we went. This year only have 2 weeks but thought we would go for another 'winter' Christmas rather than return home for 2 weeks to 'down under' New zealand (our home country) so truly open to any other suggestions.
thanks again for your help
M

One thing to consider as well... you will get many suggestions on possible day trips. Consider these carefully, as many of them are based on summertime travel experience. It's not that day trips are not possible in December, but they usually need to be less ambitious. Daylight hours are much reduced, and in that region of Europe, fog and rain are common in December.

Margaret - If you don't have any particular place in mind I have a suggestion. On our 2008/2009 trip we spent 10 days in an apartment in Paris. We were there for New Years. If you really want to see Amsterdam and Bruges you could do what we did - fly into Amsterdam and out of Paris. How many days you spend in each location would be personal preference. If you have never been to any of those places I would suggest (assuming 15 days):

Amsterdam - 3 or 4 nights,
Bruges - 2 nights,
Paris - 9 or 10 nights

Daylight hours are very short and you want to spend the bulk of your time where there are plenty of indoor activities in case of bad weather or extreme cold. You can day trip from Paris to Versailles and some other locations.

We enjoyed having an apartment in Paris. It was nice to have the extra space and a kitchen, washer/dryer, etc. It was also less expensive than most hotels.

Yes! Into Amsterdam for 4-5 days. Train to Bruges for 2-3 days (might be delightful on Christmas eve & day?). Train to Paris for a week. Home.

THAT would be wonderful!

Yes, at the relaxed pace you are proposing, there are many other places you could squeeze in in the same amount of time. But it seems to me you prefer to keep things simple and slower. That's great. Keep it that way.

You would have a wonderful time!

(dress warm)

I would support the few days in Amsterdam, few days in Bruges and some time in Paris itinerary as well. Bruges was a very peaceful part of our itinerary, but three to four days was more than enough. We stayed at a wonderful, art filled B&B in Bruges. Some amazing chocolates and meals while we were there, but our favorite part of the trip was renting bicycles and cycling out in the countryside, not so easy in the winter.

We like slow travel, so your general idea would be fine. I think 4 nights
amsterdam is fine - it can be a great walking city if you get off the main drag and wander the canals (weather permitting). Lots of museums, too. Bruges for 3 nts is probably enough for winter - there are a number of sm museums for cold days. Also. Ghent could be a day trip, though often off the tourist track- Brussels for a day trip, too. Then to Paris for a week would be great. Do take warm clothes - it is quite cold that time of year. Enjoy