Benelux First-Timers

Charlene, Your proposed Itinerary looks reasonable. Of course, the time in each location will be decreased slightly by travel times, although places in that area tend to be somewhat close together. I'd suggest adding at least one night to Brussels, as there are some interesting sights there. Also, while in the Rotterdam area, you might consider visiting the incredible Het Keringhuis flood gates. You should be able to take a tour. Here's a link: www.netherlodger.com/index-327.php You could also have your Itinerary reviewed at the next meeting of the Denver RS group. Cheers!

Cut Bruges and Lux by one night each. Give one to Amsterdam and one to Brussels.

Gent and Brugge are close enough that you can visit one from the other via daytrips. My preference would be to sleep in Gent, because it's livelier at night, but that's just me. As much as I love De Haan, 4 nights is too long a time outside of the beach season. Although all the Belgian beach towns may have their own character to a certain degree, they all are, in one form or another, essentially places where you go to enjoy the beach. Meaning, the towns are somewhat interchangeable, and the main attraction is the beach, not necessarily the towns themselves. Don't take me wrong, De Haan is definitely worth a look. But outside of the summer beach season, there's not much to do there. Delft doesn't take too long to see. I would recommend also taking a daytrip to Kinderdijk near Rotterdam to see the windmills. I'm not sure how you would get there via public transportation, though. If anyone in your party has an interest in model railroads, check out the display at Miniworld Rotterdam. It's located right by the main rail station, so easy to find. I didn't find it as impressive as Hamburg's more well known Miniatur Wunderland, but still worth a look.

Thanks for your responses. I had been wondering about Bruges and Ghent ... whether to do 3 nights in one and day trip to the other, or spend 2 nights in each, so we can more fully experience each city. This will be a tough decision. I hate to give up my 4 days by the sea, but I appreciate your comments, Tom. I thought there might still be some activity in mid-September. Maybe I'll cut it to 3; we were hoping to take a sailing excursion from Nieuwpoort or somehow get out onto the water. If I add a day to Amsterdam and Brussels, we still have some time available. Would a week be too long for Amsterdam??

It's right on the border for me. Four nights is pretty good with no excursions. I have no stinking idea what the triangle trip is or how long it takes, however.

Here's Rick's description (a few words omitted): "The Historic Triangle is a manageable and enjoyable one-day journey through the Dutch countryside north of Amsterdam. You'll start in the small town of Hoorn, catch a steam train to the town of Medemblik, and then sail on a 1920's era boat to Enkhuizen, home of an excellent open air folk museum, and then train back to Amsterdam." Would be interesting to know if anyone has done this. Is there any town in this region that I've missed, Ed, that you consider worth a day or two??

Good advice from all. I would suggest staying in Antwerp because it has the most to do, and vistiting Bruges and Gent each for one day-trip. It is extremely easy, affordable, and convenient to day-trip by train in Belgium and from Amsterdam. If you turn out not to like Antwerp (unlikely), you could always add daytrips to Leuven, Lier, or Mechelen. I would stay in Den Haag or Rotterdam and day-trip to Delft (just a tram ride from Den Haag). You should determine whether you'd prefer to sleep in Den Haag or Rotterdam. Note that the Mauritshuis museum is closed for renovation, with a sampling on show across town. I don't love Brussels, but I agree you should spend the equivalent of a full day. Whether you prefer lightweight or heavyweight (say, museum or opera house) touring, there's enough to see there. BTW, if you want to stay unpacked, it is also easy to daytrip to Brussels from Antwerp. You are not pressed for time, but if you were, I would urge including Madurodam and Schveningen with Den Haag, and then you could see an equally historic beach restort without wasting four nights. (I have not been to DeHaan, but I have been to Oosteende, and out of season, it was missable without a specific destination - in my case the James Ensor House and Tomb, and the old Synagogue.

Nope, unless you want to spend a bit of the afternoon and an early supper out at Haarlam so you can post about it. What about Kinderdijk, is it included with Rotterdam?

What do you want to see in Luxembourg? I've only been to Lux City but if you take Ed's suggestion and cut the Luxembourg portion of the trip down to 2 nights, that's enough time for Lux City. You can tour the casemates and the Upper and Lower Towns (Haute and Basse Villes), do some shopping, visit the Modern Art Museum, and a couple churches.

PS- I sort of mispoke on one minor point. Perhaps not all of the Belgian coast towns are completely interchangeable. To make an analogy with the Jersey Shore (if that registers with someone from Colorado), Oostende would be like Atlantic City, De Haan, De Panne and Zeebrugge would be like Ocean City or Avalon. But I still think 4 days is too long outside of the beach season.

I'm not a fan of Brussels, but if you are going to spend time there, I highly recommend the ARAU Art Nouveau tours: http://www.arau.org/en/tours. I agree that 3 nights in Bruges and 2 nights in Ghent is a lot, as they are only a half hour apart. I also liked Antwerp more than either of them, and would highly recommend that if you're not staying there overnight, you visit from Bruges, Ghent, or Brusssels (depending on where you find yourself with extra time). I'm not as fond of Delft as many others seem to be, but I found Rotterdam fascinating for a day (it's VERY different from other Dutch cities). From Delft, you can see lots of places as day trips. In addition to the Hague as recommended by Rick, consider Utrecht or Leiden (not in his book, but very nice; use Lonely Planet for tips there).

Hi Charlene-If considering additional options, you might want to glance at Nancy's "Last Minute Trip" thread that has been running on this site for the past few days, too. I'd given her some info on the town of Ieper, which was in the middle of a lot of World War I fighing, and their In Flanders Fields museum is done very well. We were on a bike trip in 2008, and especially dealing with strong headwinds coming off the North Sea, we were traveling slowly but experiencing each town we rode thru. Diksmuide and Kortrijk were also highlights, inland and near lots of canals, but away from the ocean.

Thank you, everyone, for your responses. It's so helpful to hear from people who have actually been there. You have given me a lot to think about. I had not realized how small Belgium is, and how close everything is. Now I need to look into all the places you've suggested, and see what activities they offer. We quickly burn out on museums and churches, so we need to find interesting things to see and do. Operas, markets, classes, tours ... there seem to be lots of options. Sarah had asked why we're going to Luxembourg ... my husband's great-grandfather was born there, so we decided to trace his roots. Last week we got busy on Ancestry.com and discovered that his great-great-great-grandfather and grandmother were born in the little towns of Vichten and Niederfeulen, in the Diekirch canton. We still want to see Luxembourg City, but we'll probably just have 2 nights there, rent a car and spend some time in those little towns. I suspect this will be a highlight of the trip.
Thanks again for helping to clarify my thoughts. Any additional suggestions would be welcome!

Perhaps I missed it but I see no mention of exploration of the lowlands battlefields or the museums which I believe one often does from Bruges but probably could also be done from other places, if that is your plan, then three nights in Bruges may be a good idea. Also, we found Amsterdam to be especially appealing. We would try to spend as much time there as is possible. In our view, Delft deserves no more than a day and may best be included as a daytrip, avoiding another move. The seaside towns are not that appealing.

Fwiw, we spent 3 nights in Bruges and wished we had stayed a 4th night. We loved it.

I am a lover of Bruges and Ghent. I feel both of the cities deserve a minimum of 2 nights. Both cities have charm and history. Ghent is a bit more lively for night life, Bruges is a tad more romantic. The last time i was in Belgium, I spent 5 nights in Bruges and 3 in Ghent for my honeymoon and enjoyed every minute of my time there. I recommend that you definately stay in these two cities for sure vs stay in another city and day trip. We spent 4 hours in Antwerp and could not wait to leave; the city did nothing for us. We fly into Brussels and spend enough time there to see the art Musuems and then we go off to Bruges. I like your trip itinerary and would not change it.

OK, I have a revised plan, thanks to the useful bits of information from each of you. I feel comfortable making my return reservations this weekend. I have eliminated DeHaan; I was expecting it to look like the picturesque coastal towns of Maine, not New Jersey (thanks, Tom). (No offense, New Jersey!) Kelly, I especially appreciate your verification that staying overnight in both Bruges and Ghent is a good idea, because I'm leaning toward Bruges (thanks, Susan) but hope to see an opera at the gorgeous opera house in Ghent. Ed & Ken, thanks for mentioning Kinderdijk and Het Keringhuis, which got me looking seriously at Rotterdam, which Tim & Harold also promoted. My husband is ex-Navy so I think he'd especially enjoy this stop. Cyn & George, thanks for steering me toward Ieper & Flanders Field. So, subject to further tweaking, here it is: 9/10 arrive Brussels, train immediately to Bruges 9/10-9/14 ... Bruges (5 nights) including daytrips to Flanders Field & coast (maybe Nieuwpoort if we can arrange a sailing trip) 9/15-9/16 ... Ghent (2 nights, which may shift when opera tickets become available) 9/17 ... Brussels (1 night) 9/18-19 ... Luxembourg City (2 nights) 9/20-23 ... rent car, go to Diekirch for war museum, to Feulin to find ancesters, wander around Lux & maybe into Germany (4 nights), then return car 9/24-26 ... Rotterdam (3 nights) visit the Kinderdijk, Het Keringhuis, take a boat tour of the port ... daytrip to Delft and/or The Hague?
9/27-10/3 ... Amsterdam (7 nights), fly home on 10/4