Was hesitant traveling to Europe during winter months but to our surprise it turned out to be a wonderful trip. There is so much information out there on the internet to help us right from folks sharing their travel experience via various blogs and awesome youtube videos. Im very grateful to each and everyone of them. Will try to share our itinerary to help with those
Brief Itinerary
Amsterdam
Bruges
Brussels
Ghent
Paris
Amsterdam
We started our trip visting Amsterdam which is one of the most popular airports with decent air tickets and i would suggest anyone planning europe trip to find an airport where the tickets are cheap and start their journey.
One thing i can say is planning the trip is little tiresome task and taking allocating decent time to research over the internet to come up with a itinerary helps or talking to a friend who visited would help a lot or finding a local person for details also would help as well.
Transportation
It is little confusing at first to understand different modes of transportation and tickets/passes for the same.
GVB is a service which takes care of majority of transportation within the city as amsterdam has a combination of land and water so GVB offers trains.tram and ships. of course easiest is uber but it is not as easy as every major city as local taxis are preferred but it is reliable.
9292 app is my favorite
Day/Weekly Pass
Major thing to keep a note of is type of credit card if at all any restaurant accepts any. Please check before you start dining. we went to a restaurant where we came to know they do not accept any credit cards and it has to be cash or local mode of payment.
Helpful Links:
https://www.holland.com/global/tourism/information/public-transport/amsterdam-travel-ticket-1.htm
Train from Airport - https://www.ns.nl - Easy, Just buy Tickets and drop where-ever u want
Itinerary
- Day 1
- MUST - Boat ride - Locals recommended Boat Tour - https://www.rederijkooij.nl/en/canal-cruise/original-amsterdam-canal-cruise
- Adam lookout and over the edge swing - Tickets for Swing, Sky deck and view of the city
- Liedesplein Square
- Rembrandtplein Square
- Another market - https://waterlooplein.amsterdam/en/
- foodhallen
- Day 2
- Royal palace Amsterdam
- Dam Square (Dam in dam square)
- Nine Streets close to Dam Square (De 9 Straatjes, Wolvenstraat 9, 1016 EM Amsterdam, Netherlands (Nine Side Streets , Amsterdam Canal District)
- Negen StraatJes - shopping area
- Damrak - boulevard
- Anne Frank Huis
- Bloemenmarkt - Tulip Market — 11 to 5
- Red light district
- Albert kuyp market - shopping - Largest day time market
- Day 3
- Veondelpark
- Zandvoort, Netherlands
- Van Gogh Museum
- Day 4
- Rijksmuseum
- Anne Frank Huis
- Day 5
- Zaanse Schans - Windmills
- Day 6
- City or Food Walking Tour.
- Heineken Experience at brewery
Adam Lookout with swing at the top of the tower
Memo Museum
Central Station
Best Boat Tour
Best Streets
Food
Coffee shops in Amsterdam are not the Coffee we are used to in rest of the world so google it before you visit a coffee shop :)
Food in the city is amazing, you cannot go wrong with most of the places and google reviews is what is helpful here than Yelp. Smartphone is our dearest friend here which helps us with tickets,directions,food everything so make sure you have good data either before travelling or after we land locally.
Best Food Places we loved:
Bruges
One of the best small towns that ive seen and experience in my life and would certainly recommend everyone to visit this place.
Travel
We took train from Amsterdam to Bruges. We have multiple options to grab the tain tickets. We can either buy the tickets at respective train stations or leverege various apps to purchase tickets which offer refunds for most of the trip.
But i wanted flexibility with my train tickets so i purchased Eurail Global pass for International travellers. With this app you can chose the numner of travel days which is flexible but might be little expensive but it is worth for the pros that it have and try to grab a discount which the company provide from time to time.Mobile app is super friendly and easy to navigate and was able to make the entire trip with no issues.
We had to change a train in Anvers. Did not pick super fast train as that need seat reservation in advance which we need to pay a bit. With Eurail pass we can filter trains with no seat reservations and was very helpful. Navigating across train stations is easy but one thing to note is smaller towns will have less english speaking people and announcements may not be in english but it is easy to navigate, just make sure you get to station few minutes ahead to figure out logistics.
We stayed at Novotel Brugge Centrum which is very close to every good spots in the town and would recommend anyone to pick any place closer to the town which saves you a lot of time and it is beautiful.On local transport - in Bruges I'd say you take an Uber from the train station to the hotel you're in. Once you are there, everything will be walkable.
Bruges is a little smaller, one day will definitely be enough there - and whether you like beers or not I'd recommend you to go visit De Halve Maan brewery (https://www.halvemaan.be/nl) as they have some "interesting" engineering going on and their brewery tour goes up to this rooftop where you have a great view of the city. It's also really close to the typical bridges where people like to propose :). They also serve an unfiltered version of their beer in a super cosy bar where the tour ends. In this bar, you also have food options and non-beer drinks. It's right by the water so great views of the tourists in boats passing by if you manage to get a seat at the window 🙌🙌 Outside of that, It's a super walkable city so I would say to get yourself a Belgian waffle and roam around for the day you are there 🙂 For food in Bruges, this is a very cosy option: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g188671-d23576779-Reviews-De_Vloamse_Trine-Bruges_West_Flanders_Province.html They serve Belgian classics but for some reason also have tapas options (their meatball tapas is great). The staff is also super friendly there.
- Day 1
- Boat Ride a must - Check Airbnb
- Burg Square
- Market Squate - Grote Markt
- Bruges Walking tour
- Belfry of Bruges (Belfry tower )
- Grote markt in front of Belfry tower
- St Salvators Cathedral (Sint-Salvatorskathedraal)
- Bonifacius bridge
- Basilica of the Holy Blood
- Day 2
- De halve maan half moon brewery beer tour - MUST
- Minnewater Lake
- Bruges Boat Tour
Belfry Tower
Beerwall Street
Basilica of the Holy Blood
Sunset Boat Ride Bruges trip is not finished without tasting their Beer
Ghent and Brussels
And in Brussels it's quite busy in terms of cars so you might actually be better of using the metro system. When you take the train to Brussels, make sure to check which station is closest to your accommodation - there is North/Central/South. From the stations, again I'd say take an Uber with the bags and metro once you are settled. In Ghent, there is indeed luggage space: https://visit.gent.be/en/see-do/luggage-storage-gent-sint-pieters Also, as you are starting in Bruges - my personal recommendation would be to make a little stop in Ghent as well, probably your train already stops there anyways. Ghent is a beautiful city that's very "alive" with young people and like Bruges has waterfronts you can sit by. Again, very walkable so you'll be able to hit all the church/monument must sees in less than an hour. In the city centre, there is also this amazing bar: http://www.dullegriet.be/nl/ which is really Belgium in a nutshell: amazing beer options with fried snacks next to it. A wild range of decorations inside and super friendly staff. This bar is really a tourist attraction on its own haha. Next to that, the best stew in the WORLD you'll be able to find here: https://foleys.be/. It's a bit funny that it's an Irish pub serving the best Belgian stew, but it is really sensational!
- Ghent
- Day 1
- Arrive at Gent-Sint-Pieters train station
- Ghent City Center
- Saint Bravo Cathedral
- St Michael Bridge
- Korenlei and Graslei
- Dulle Griet - Beer - Amazing Beer options - suggested by Stien above para - GOOD DECORATIONS
- Patershol
- Gravensteen
- Brussels
- Day 1
- La Grand-Place, Brussels ( The Grand Plaza)
- Royal Palace of Brussels
- St Michael and St Gudula Cathedral, Brussels
- Also make sure you try the fries of course!. Any frituur you come across will not disappoint- La Friterie
- Or Fries at Friteland and Leons
- Manneken Pis
- And about Manneken Pis: close to him, there is a female version as well (Jeanneke Pis) and she's right next to the Delirium bar . They also have a dog called Zinneke Pis 🙂
- Royal Gallery of saint Hubert- shopping
- Mont des Arts
- The View Grande Roue Bruxelles for sunset
- Brussels Town Hall
- Delirium Village at night ( Delirium Cafe has close to 2000 brands of beers)
- Day 2
- Mini Europe - MUST
- The atomium - Elevator can go to Top - Tickets - Cannot make it - tight schedule
- Parc Du Cinquantenaire
- The Art and history museum - Tickets - Cannot make it - Tight Schedule
- Hop on Hop Off
- Free Walking Tour
- "La Friterie" is very nice and it's close to Grand Place
Paris
It is one of the most beloved cities to visit in the world and it offers so many things for anyone everyone.Food scene here is amazing and Uber and local transportation is fantastic.City is big and every district offers a unique perspective and thats when we know that how rich and poor were able to stay here and you have to see it for yourself the magic the city offers.
- Paris
- Day 1
- Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile - One of the best Hotel stays
- Pont des Arts ( Love Lock Bridge - Locks are removed)
- Pont Neuf - old bridge
- Tuileries gardens
- Palais Royal - free access
- Place de la concorde
- Rue de Rivoli Street
- Musée d'Orsay
- Musée Rodin
- Day 2
- Champs-Elysees - 1.2 mile long street at center of paris includes famous arc
- Arc de triomphe
- Eiffel Tower
- For 2nd floor if we take stairs its around 10 euros and if we use elevator it is 17 euros and price changes if we want to go to the top.Guided tours or skip the line and purchase tickets in advance
- Place du Trocadéro ( Open area in front of eiffel tower for nice views)
- Photo of Eiffel tower from Parc du Champ-de-Mars ( picnic area)
- Bateaux Mouches - cruise for sunset
- OR Vedettes de Paris: Seine River Guided Cruise and Snacks Options - https://www.viator.com/tours/Paris/Seine-River-Cruise-Sightseeing-with-Optional-Aperitif-or-Snack/d479-5636CRUISE , https://www.vedettesdeparis.fr/en/
- Day 3
- Montmatre - painters bought inspiration here ( Tram goes top the hill, find this)
- At top of the hill we will find Sacre-coeur basilica
- Church of Saint pierre next door
- Place du Tertre, Pl. du Tertre, 75018 Paris, France - NEAR Sacre Coeur - lively street artis n little shops
- Streets near Montmarte - Rue Lepic, Rue de l’Abreuvoir, and Rue Lamarck.
- Opera theatre - Palais Garnier
- Galerie Lafayette - store for luxury clothes
- Rue Mouffetard, 75005 Paris, France
- Le Marais ( Best neighborhood in paris - great shopping and just explore)
- Day 4, 5
- Sainte-Chapelle
- Notre Dame cathedral - may be tickets to get in and even to the bell tower up top
- Rue Cremieux 12th ( Colorful street for walking and Explore)
- Moulin rouge
- Catacombs of paris - Undergrounds tunnels ( Check if its ok for Vibhu)
- Luxembuorg gardens
- Pantheon
- Montparnasse Tower Observation Deck
- Bois de Vincennes ( Park) - FAR
- Versailles ( Must for Far) - FAR
- The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris, 35 Rue du Chevalier de la Barre, 75018 Paris, France - IF TIME PERMITS - DONE
- Rue de la Huchette, 75005 Paris, France - DONE
- Rue de la Bûcherie, 75005 Paris, France
- Centre Pompidou modern art museum - good for kids but see if time permits
- Forum Des Halles- Shopping mall in d middle of paris
- Disneyland paris
- Asterix theme park with rides
- Boulevard Saint-Germain, Paris, France - Street
- Covered passages, 8 Pass. Jouffroy, 75009 Paris, France
- Grande Arche de la Defense, 1 Parv. de la Défense, 92800 Puteaux, France - Cannot make it
- La defense - europe largest business district
- References
- Shopping districts in paris
- Le Marais: This neighborhood is known for its trendy boutiques and independent stores, and it is a popular destination for fashion-conscious shoppers.
- Avenue des Champs-Elysees: This famous avenue is home to many high-end stores and department stores, as well as theaters, cafes, and restaurants.
- Saint-Germain-des-Prés: This neighborhood is known for its luxury boutiques, as well as its art galleries and antique shops.
- Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré: This street is home to many high-end fashion boutiques, as well as art galleries and home decor stores.
- Les Halles: This neighborhood is home to a large shopping center, as well as many smaller stores and independent shops.
Go have FUN
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