We're lining out a trip with the family to NW Europe and trying to work out where to visit and how long to stay in each.

The family includes 3 teenagers (1 in JH, 1 in HS, 1 that will have just graduated HS), a 10 year old, and the parents.

Is three days in Amsterdam, two days in Brussels (or somewhere else in Belgium) and three days in Paris too little time? Too much time? Would you spend more in one of the spots and cut out one of the locations?

My wife has spent time in Europe but not in any of these locations. I've been all over Asia but never to Europe, and the kids have only been out of the country for beach vacations (cruise, Roatan, etc).

Thoughts? Suggestions?

And if you've taken kids/young-adults with you to these places, what would be must sees and must do's?

I would spend one of the two Belgium days in Bruges. One of my favorite places in all of Europe. Better than Brussels IMO.

Stive said:

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We're lining out a trip with the family to NW Europe and trying to work out where to visit and how long to stay in each.

The family includes 3 teenagers (1 in JH, 1 in HS, 1 that will have just graduated HS), a 10 year old, and the parents.

Is three days in Amsterdam, two days in Brussels (or somewhere else in Belgium) and three days in Paris too little time? Too much time? Would you spend more in one of the spots and cut out one of the locations?

My wife has spent time in Europe but not in any of these locations. I've been all over Asia but never to Europe, and the kids have only been out of the country for beach vacations (cruise, Roatan, etc).

Thoughts? Suggestions?

And if you've taken kids/young-adults with you to these places, what would be must sees and must do's?

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I have never had teenagers with me but...Amsterdam yes. Three days OK. Brussels, skip it. Paris, yes. For your first time in Paris I would do another day. (4 days). Right bank. I like the left but my wife likes the shopping.

Instead of Brussels do Prague, Berlin or Rome.

London is always a favorite.

I go often, work and things.

We were trying to keep travels days/time to a minimum so I think that rules Rome out for sure right?

How long would a train ride to Prague or Berlin be? And then back to Paris? London seems easy enough if we wanted to add it. Are there other places in that corner of the continent we should consider? Previous poster said Bruge, which we considered. Cologne? Hamburg? Cool day trips to out of the way places instead of spending our entire time in urban areas?

9 hours to Berlin by train, 6 weeks by tank according to the Germans.

This. Bruges is a gem of place.

Danger Mouse said:

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This. Bruges is a gem of place.

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Would teens (or a family) enjoy it? Or is more of an adult place to check out and enjoy?

Don't have much to offer but if you're into beer, especially lambics Cantillon for a tour is a must stop. Was in Germany for work last year and built in time to stop but. Really cool old world brewery that still runs all the equipment off of belts.

I also recommend Bruges. Very cool place to explore and people watch. It's small so don't need tons of time. I did a super fun bike tour there.

Stive said:

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Danger Mouse said:

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This. Bruges is a gem of place.

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Would teens (or a family) enjoy it? Or is more of an adult place to check out and enjoy?

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Family would enjoy for sure. Amsterdam, which I like, can be a bit sketchy having kids tagging along. Particularly the Red Light District that gets a lot of tourist traffic. Without kids wouldn't be too big of a deal.

The museums in Amsterdam are great, but I would choose visiting Delft, Den Haag/The Hague, or other Dutch cities.

I would do 2 days in Amsterdam, stay in Bruges and just take train into Brussels for a day and spend the other day in Bruges, and then spend 4 days in Paris. I hate Parisians, but Paris is a really cool city with a lot to see.

Brussels is fine but concur with Brugge being your better stop. Dont sleep on Ghent either. I'd stay in Ghent or Brugge and do a day in each of them.

I'd personally do 2 days in Amsterdam and of those, spend one of them in Haarlem, 2 in Belgium and 4 in Paris stretching a day out to Versailles. Amsterdam is fine but living over here for a while now the 2 cities I thought were massively overrated relative to their reputations were Amsterdam and Dublin.

Stive said:

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We were trying to keep travels days/time to a minimum so I think that rules Rome out for sure right?

How long would a train ride to Prague or Berlin be? And then back to Paris? London seems easy enough if we wanted to add it. Are there other places in that corner of the continent we should consider? Previous poster said Bruge, which we considered. Cologne? Hamburg? Cool day trips to out of the way places instead of spending our entire time in urban areas?

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I used to do everything by train. Don't. The only time to do a train is ICE. Never do a regional that does not have assigned seating.

What are your priorities? What are your top places to visit? The idea is to keep the trip tight. Western Europe, Eastern Europe.

I am by no means a "travel agent", but I have been to Europe about 30 times. Worked there. Made all the travel mistakes.

Stayed in Ghent in December. 30 mins from Bruges by train but less touristy. Get to Bruges early if you don't want to be overrun with tourists.

Urban Country Boy said:

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Stive said:

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We were trying to keep travels days/time to a minimum so I think that rules Rome out for sure right?

How long would a train ride to Prague or Berlin be? And then back to Paris? London seems easy enough if we wanted to add it. Are there other places in that corner of the continent we should consider? Previous poster said Bruge, which we considered. Cologne? Hamburg? Cool day trips to out of the way places instead of spending our entire time in urban areas?

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I used to do everything by train. Don't. The only time to do a train is ICE. Never do a regional that does not have assigned seating.

What are your priorities? What are your top places to visit? The idea is to keep the trip tight. Western Europe, Eastern Europe.

I am by no means a "travel agent", but I have been to Europe about 30 times. Worked there. Made all the travel mistakes.

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What is "ICE"? And what qualifies as "regional"?

Keeping the trip tight is why I was questioning adding in Prague/Rome/Berlin when we're flying into Amsterdam and definitely wanting to include Paris. Were a family of six so adding in additional flights seems cost prohibitive and kind of a pain when the trains are so easy right? Prague and Berlin would seem to make sense on a separate trip that would be more central continent. But then again, I've never been so thus my OP.

Stive said:

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Urban Country Boy said:

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Stive said:

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We were trying to keep travels days/time to a minimum so I think that rules Rome out for sure right?

How long would a train ride to Prague or Berlin be? And then back to Paris? London seems easy enough if we wanted to add it. Are there other places in that corner of the continent we should consider? Previous poster said Bruge, which we considered. Cologne? Hamburg? Cool day trips to out of the way places instead of spending our entire time in urban areas?

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I used to do everything by train. Don't. The only time to do a train is ICE. Never do a regional that does not have assigned seating.

What are your priorities? What are your top places to visit? The idea is to keep the trip tight. Western Europe, Eastern Europe.

I am by no means a "travel agent", but I have been to Europe about 30 times. Worked there. Made all the travel mistakes.

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What is "ICE"? And what qualifies as "regional"?

Keeping the trip tight is why I was questioning adding in Prague/Rome/Berlin when we're flying into Amsterdam and definitely wanting to include Paris. Were a family of six so adding in additional flights seems cost prohibitive and kind of a pain when the trains are so easy right? Prague and Berlin would seem to make sense on a separate trip that would be more central continent. But then again, I've never been so thus my OP.

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ICE is the Germain fast train. Regional will stop...everywhere. London to Paris is Eurostar. Amsterdam to Paris is (Eurostar) Thalys, one stop in Brussels, don't get off.

I have never traveled with six. Europe is really small but flights can be expensive for six I would think.

Next trip, East.

Currently on last leg of a 10 day trip with wife - London>Amsterdam>Dublin. Liked them all for different reasons but Amsterdam wins by a wide margin for us. Just a wonderful place but $$$. With kids rent bikes and a canal boat and have a blast exploring.

I did an Amsterdam-Berlin-Amsterdam trip earlier this month. Five days, five days, three days.

The train from Amsterdam to Berlin is 6 hours, unless your train is canceled, then it is a sh*t show.

Have been to Amsterdam many times, but Berlin was a first. It was really cool and I am glad I went there.

However, for what appears to be an 8 day trip, I would do Amsterdam and Paris. Each transit day is such a loss of travel time, in my opinion.

What would you recommend there?

Living in The Hague currently. Do a couple of days in Amsterdam - if you like museums/Anne Frank Huis book early. One or two days in Utrecht/Harlem/ or Delft. If you like windmills, Kinderdijk close to Rotterdam. If into castles, Kasteel de Haar close to Utrecht.

Skip Brussels, go to Brugge or Ghent (castle there is fantastic - get the recorded tour).

Paris - around 4 days. You can also take a day trip to Versailles, Chambord, or Fountainebleu palaces.

The Eurostar has routes from Amsterdam or Rotterdam, through Brussels, and into Paris. Rotterdam - Paris takes about 3 hours.