Traveling after Amsterdam

Jenn, I went to Brugge and Amsterdam this summer. I spent about a day and a half in Brugge, which was a little short. I was jet lagged and I would recommend another day. You can spend the full four days in Amsterdam. You might want to take a day trip to Haarlem. There are other day trips people will recommend. Train travel is amazingly easy. I just passed through Brussels and so can't help you there. Pam

You could spend the entire 11 days in Amsterdam and still not see all of it! But if you insist on going out of town, then I suggest a day in Leiden, or Haarlem, or Arnhem(sp).Utrecht is a lovely 2 day stay.Rotterdam is a very interesting city if you like modern places. Brugges is nice, but again,at least 2 days is needed for there, and in my opinion, Brussels is, at best, a day trip.

Utrecht and Delft would be my two recommendations. Brussels would be best in two days (so much more than the Grand Platz to see!). Personally, I prefer Ghent to Brugge. EDIT: And I see that Ghent is one of two European cities that Lonely Planet has picked as one of the Top 10 cities in the world to visit in 2011. I must say I concur.

Have not been to Bruges, but the train ride to Brussels is very enjoyable and pretty short, and Brussels is definitely worth a day visit! Stroll around Grand Place, grab a waffle (preferably from a street truck, not one of the walk-up places by the square), and visit the museums (Magritte, Ancient & Modern Art). And if you like beer, go to the Delirium pub -- they have over 2000 beers to try!

I also recommend Ghent, and Leuven is a pretty town. In the Netherlands, I went to The Hague (Den Haag) for a day to see the Mauritshuis art museum (about an hour train ride from Amsterdam). If you like 17th-century Dutch/Flemish art (think Vermeer), they have a beautiful collection.

A short train ride out of Brussels, you can visit Leuven, a charming village with an incredible town hall - the best we have seen in Europe. Also, a short train ride is Dinant, a small hillside village. We loved Brugge!

"you can visit Leuven, a charming village with an incredible town hall - the best we have seen in Europe". I agree with everything here, except Leuven is as much of a "village" as New York is a "small city". If you are within 10 years of college age, check out the cafe scene on the Oude Markt (seperate, but close by to the Grote Markt, where you can find the aforementioned stadthuis and cathedral). There's also a street of great restaurants around the corner, kind of like Brussels' Rue Bucher, but with better food and no tourists.

Almost anywhere in Europe is inexpensive to get to from Amsterdam using the low-cost carriers. We flew this summer from Amsterdam to Madrid for about $60.