Europe advice

I am traveling to Europe end of July/early August and any and/or all travelers advice is welcome. I am going to Paris for four nights, Belguim for two, and Amsterdam for three.

I booked the flight but dont know where to go from there

Thanks in advance!!!!

Re: Europe advice

I've been to all three but it's been so long that I don't have any specific recs.

Are you staying in Brussels? It's a city that you can eat your way around. There are waffle stands everywhere with all sorts of toppings. I am not a beer drinker but I have heard you have to try some if you are. The chocolate is to die for.

The "Grand Place" is stunning.

Amsterdam is great fun. We went to the Van Gogh museum because he interests me. The line for the Anne Frank Museum was unfortunately too long (we were only there for the day from Brussels.) There are food stands all over the place that sell fresh herring and things like that - so good!

Both cities are very walkable.

Paris I went in high school so I can't even comment there - it's been almost 20 years.

Have a great time and share pics!

Re: Europe advice

OMG we are doing the same trip in 2 weeks! We're doing Paris for four days, Brussels for one day and night, and Amsterdam for four days.

**all tours were booked with viator.com (except for Anne Frank House)
Our itinerary so far is:

Arrive Paris early morning
Start hop on hop off bus tour (already booked with viator.com/good for 2 days)
Day 1 we plan on taking the bus tour to:
-Eiffel Tower
-Napoleon's tomb
-Hotel des Invalides
-Madeleine
-Pont Neuf
-Notre Dame
-Musee Dorsay (just to take pictures)
-Concorde square
-Champs Elysees
-Arc de Triomph


Day 2 we're taking the metro early morning to Pere Lachaise Cemetary to see Jim Morrison's grave. Then the metro back to Sacre Coure (Sacred Heart Basilica). Beautiful views up there!
Then catching the hop on/hop off bus and stopping at any other sights we didn't have time for day 1.
At night we booked a guided tour of the Eiffel Tower...allows us to skip the line and have access to all 3 levels.

Day 3 we're taking a half day guided tour to the Palace of Versailles. Later that afternoon we have a guided tour of the Louvre museum for 2 1/2 hours. The rest of the evening/night we have free.

Day 4 - taking the high speed train to Brussels. Booked the 24 hour hop on/hop off bus tour. Probably going to stop to see the "Little Boy Peeing" Statue lol and a few other sites. Also planning on eating Belgium waffles, drinking Belgium beer and visiting a few chocolate shops!

Days 5 - 8 - High speed train to Amsterdam. We've been there before, so we've done the Van Gogh museum and I recommend a night time walking tour of the Red Light District. This time we're going to the Anne Frank House - already purchased tickets on line so won't have to wait in line. We also plan on going to the Heineken Factory, a few flower markets, and possibly Rembrandts house. I also booked a 4 course dinner on a canal cruise. We did the wine and cheese cruise the last time and it was so nice!

If you want any info on where we're staying let me know. Can you tell I'm excited!!!!

Re: Europe advice

We did a 5 day trip to Paris a few years ago, along with London too. The best trip since our honeymoon!

My best advice would be to get some good maps and travel books and study, study, study. That's what I did. It sounds like a lot of work but it was the best thing I ever did b/c once we were there and everything was already planned, all we had to do was relax and enjoy.

Here was my strategy. I spread out a map. Marked our hotel. I read/skimmed the guide book(s) and figured out where we wanted to go and marked them with stickies. Then I grouped what was close. I figured out the hours each was open and took that into account when ordering the sites for the day. We hit a few sites a day and walked between them. That way we weren't using precious time traveling from one end of the city to the other.

I also studied up on the public transportation/Metro/tube and saw which line to take each day so, again, we weren't wasting time figuring out how to get places each day. I typed up (I know, anal) an itinerary for each day with any special notes (take Museum passes, remember Metro tickets), we grabbed them each morning and hit the ground exploring.

I'll share our Paris itinerary if you'd like to use it or alter it. I think it was perfect for us! Enjoy!

Day 1 (travel all day):
Overnight flight to Paris
Paris Shuttle to Hotel
Check in Hotel
Relax

Day 2:
walk to Musée Louvre (9-6)
walk to Sainte-Chapelle (9:30-6)
walk to Notre Dame (10-6)
walk to Panthenon (10-6:30)
Metro home

Day 3:
Metro to Arc de Triomphe (10-11)
walk down Avenue des Champs élysees
walk to Place de L’Alma for Dinner Cruise (8:30-10:30)
walk home

Day 4:
Viator Day Trip to Versailles and Giverny
8:15 am - 5:30 pm

Day 5:
walk to Musée d’Orsay (9:30-6)
walk to Musée Rodin (9:30-5:45)
walk to Eiffel Tower (9:30-11:45)
Metro home

Day 6:
Check out of Hotel
Musée Picasso (9:30-6)
Travel to London

Re: Europe advice

If I were you, I'd start looking at hotels and where to stay in the cities you mentioned.

Where in Belgium are you staying? I was in Bruges and Brussels in October, so if you need food or hotel suggestions, let me know.

Are you travelling by train? I'd start looking at train times and booking tickets as well.