Itinerary for Benelux & Paris? 3 weeks Mar/April (solo!)

Its a shame that you're a week early for the opening of Keukenhof Gardens near Leiden (22nd March, 2012). I also don't see any chance of meeting your expressed need to see Tallships. The best chance may be at
Scheveningen near Den Haag or north of Amsterdam at Ijmuiden. You seem undecided between Leiden and Utrecht. I know both. What is that you think you will find there? What pulls you to both?

This sounds like a pretty nice first trip. "My interests: Soaking in some culture, people watching, art & history, tall ships, horses, 'activities', architecture and homes." Since you are leaving from Luxembourg, what about this... after Brussels, go to Paris on 3/24, THEN go to Germany. Germany's Mosel River is a good place for indulging your interests. Trier is almost in Luxembourg and has plenty of Roman history and architecture - and several hostels. Nearby Bernkastel has some eye-popping half-timbered homes - Cochem does too - and a small hostel in and old villa near the town's castle, in the vineyards. http://www.diejugendherbergen.de/cms/upload/Jugendherbergen/bernkastel-kues/bernkastel-kues_hausbild.jpg Speaking of architecture and castles... Burg Eltz, near Moselkern: http://www.burg-eltz.de Burg Arras, Alf: http://www.arras.de Reichsburg, Cochem: http://www.burg-cochem.de/english/gallery_exterior.htm Cochem also has a hostel. But you'll find that single rooms in small B&B's in this area are about the same price and much more comfortable, and you'll avoid noisy pre-teens on week-long school outings. http://www.bensbauernhof.com/hausandreascochemmosel.html http://www.bensbauernhof.com/froehlichenweinbergcochemmosel.html Mosel riding resources: http://www.mosel-ferienland.de/UK/horsebackriding.html

Hi Ariadne. I would put one of your extra nights in Amsterdam. You have only 3 nights in Amsterdam, which is 2 full days, and you're planning to go to Haarlem for one of those days. I'd recommend at least 3 full days in Amsterdam (5 nights total, including daytrip to Haarlem). The same with Ghent - you're staying in Ghent for 2 full days but you're going to 2 other cities while you're staying there. Plan one day for Ghent, another day for Antwerp, and another for Bruges (so 4 nights in Ghent). Brussels isn't that interesting and you won't see much with only one day and one night. Spend that time somewhere else. Trier is really cool and only an hour from Luxembourg City. You could also spend only the night of April 5 in Luxembourg City and spend the night of April 4 somewhere else. 5 nights in Amsterdam (3 days for Amsterdam, 1 for Haarlem) 4 nights in Leiden/Utrecht (3 days to see 3 cities) 4 nights in Ghent (3 days to see 3 cities) 3 nights in Germany (Trier and/or Mosel River area)
6 nights in Paris 1 night in Luxembourg This works out to be 22 nights; I'm a little confused by your dates. You say 3 nights for Amsterdam but you count 4 days. Do you arrive in Amsterdam on the 14th so the 14th is your first night in Europe?

In regards to your Belgium aspect of the trip, I would have to say that all that Brussels is worth is a stop from Ghent before you are off to where ever. We have been to Belgium 2 times and find 3-4 hours in Brussels is enough. We recently honeymooned in Belgium, spending 5 nights in Bruges (one of our favorite cities) and 3 in Ghent (what an amazing city, it was a pleasant surprise). We day tripped to Antwerp and could not wait to leave and where upset we wasted time going there. When we show photos to our friends, the only picture we show is the train station (it was a cool station). So I would at least do 2 in Ghent and 2 in Bruges. Both have excellent museums, wonderful architecture, and charming presentation.