sockboy

I am getting down to the nitty gritty of planning my fall trip! I thought I had it all figured out, but just thought of an alernative last night . . .

Option 1 - my current plan
Day 1 - Fly into Amsterdam, arrive 12:20pm
Day 2 - Amsterdam
Day 3 - Amsterdam
Day 4 - Day trip to ?? Haarlem? Windmills?
Day 5 - train to Brussels, spend the day, then train to Bruges in the evening.
Day 6 - Bruges
Day 7 - Day trip to Flanders
Day 8 - Depart for Luxembourg or Koln - see my other post!

My alternate option 2:
Day 1 - Fly into Amsterdam, arrive 12:20pm
Day 2 - Amsterdam
Day 3 - Amsterdam
Day 4 - Train to Brussels, stopping along the way in ??Haarlem and Rotterdam??
Day 5 - Brussels, train to Bruges in the evening
Day 6 - Bruges
Day 7 - Day trip to Flanders
Day 8 - onward . . .

I had done my original planning to eliminate 1 night stays. Option 2 does mean a 1 night stay in Brussels. But Amsterdam hotels are so expensive, this does mean a cost savings!
I guess the real deciding factors are where I would be taking my Amsterdam day trip to, how much there is to see in Brussels, and if there is enough time to stop in a few towns between Amsterdam and Brussels.

Any thoughts or suggestions are very welcome!

zoomoozophone

We did a week for Belgium and Netherlands as well. Quick question - do you have some specific sight-seeing you'd like to do in Brussels? We found it to be a bit of a bore and even left early but we loved Bruges and ended up staying an extra night with lots to do such as biking to some nearby towns, lots of windmills, etc. We did a daytrip from Amsterdam to Delft.

yk

sockboy-
I remember you asking Q about the Amsterdam daytrip before.

I went on my trip in May, and visited Delft, Den Haag and Rotterdam. In terms of where you should go depends on your interests.

If you like art, you can spend quite a bit of time at the Royal Museum of Art in Brussels.

I stopped in Antwerp for a few hours when I traveled from Brussels to Amsterdam.

In case you missed it, here's a link to my trip report (warning: it's long)
for some ideas:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34626323

yy4me

We have taken several trips that included Belgium and have never been disappointed. Brussels is a let-down compared to other parts of the country. The Grand Place is great but limited. The little statue is not worth the walk to see it. Head out. Do not bypass Ghent. It is a stop on the train ride to Bruges. Both the fortress of the Counts of Franders and St Bavo's Cathedral are both remarkable. There is much to see in both Ghent and Bruges, too bad you do not have a car because the rest of the country has much to offer. Maybe on another trip. If you think Amsterdam(I'd pass Rotterdam, its an industrial city) is expensive, wait until you get to Luxembourg city. We found it to be very $$$ and once we saw the casements, we took off for the Trier, Germany. Everything is very close. By far, after 5 trips tp Europe, Belgium is my favorite. The people are really special. We have seen almost all of Belgium and would go back in a heartbeat if the old bank account could take it. Have fun! We missed Haarlem while in Holland and have been told it is worth a trip from the city.
The airport in Amsterdam is amazing, you will have no trouble making connections. Everything is clear and in many languages. All of your choices are tourist friendly and welcome you, not just your $$$.

sockboy

Thanks for the comments - I actually posted this about a month ago and didn't get any replies. I let it die because I did get some day trip feedback elsewhere - probably what yk remembers!

Anyway, we decided NOT to spend a night in Brussels - for the reasons you all mention. We also decided not to take the day trip to Flanders, and just enjoy another day in Bruges.