How is this itinerary? Doable or not? - Netherlands, Belgium, Paris

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Will you have any children with you?

Yes, 2 teens - which is why I included all these day trips with canal rides, climbing a windmill, cheese making demo

One is also into photography - she was busy taking pictures of kites and buildings when we went to see the cherry blossoms while we were enjoying the flowers.

This reminds me of my mother. Traveling with her meant WORK. If she had paid to take us somewhere, we were going to see every single thing there was to see. Your teens have the rest of their lives to visit places.

Except OP is visiting everything from the OUTSIDE only.

I think that's what feels off putting as someone who's lived in one of those locations. It feels like someone trying to perform a visit. Like those people who methodically check off rides at Disney while their kids melt down.

Sit at a Cafe, have an aperol spritz and watch people on the canals. Or something. But this whole rushing around to take photos outside of places you don't even bother to go into? It's weird.

Some of the most interesting photos are taken in relatively uninteresting places. It's all about having a "seeing eye". Taking photos that look the same as those taken by millions of others isn't that exciting. You can take amazing photos in a supermarket carpark.

No need to go anywhere to take parking lot photos.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you seeing so many museums from the outside? That doesn’t make any sense to me.

Your day 2 really doesn't make any sense to me. If you want to day trip from Amsterdam instead consider Leiden or Den Haag (maybe 45 min on the train).

This is so OP can tell people they went to the museum when asked. OP DGAF about museums. I think the whole itinerary is nuts, but, I am a deep dive traveller.

OP here. I love when random people on DCUM get triggered by what other people like. How nice that you like to deep dive in one place. Unfortunately I don't have that inclination.

Sorry, not sorry that I want a photo op in a place well known like the Louvre, while at the same time actually spending time doing other things that interest me.

And when we plan a trip to Italy, I will be going to Pisa too - just for that photo op.

If you want the holding up the leaning tower of Pisa photo op, you should definitely look to get the finger on top of the Eiffel Tower photo op from the Trocadero across the river.

I didn’t know people traveled like this after their early 20s. Instagram culture has come for us all, it seems.

I’m the PP. This was a few years ago. I don’t have any social media accounts, and DD was too young to have any at the time. We did it just for - gasp! - fun. And we still laugh hysterically at the series of pictures where we got it wrong until we finally got it right!

PS - my first holding up the leaning tower of Pisa pic was from 1995 - no social media then, just fun to be had.

[Anonymous]

A few suggestions for the Netherlands that your teenagers may enjoy are the Straat Museum, This is Holland (5D movie experience), the A'Dam swing, a canal tour around Amsterdam or Leiden, the Gouda cheese market on Thursdays, and if you can't get Anne Frank tickets, look at the Corrie ten Boom House in Haarlem- very different tour but free- you just have to book in advance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Will you have any children with you?

Yes, 2 teens - which is why I included all these day trips with canal rides, climbing a windmill, cheese making demo

One is also into photography - she was busy taking pictures of kites and buildings when we went to see the cherry blossoms while we were enjoying the flowers.

This reminds me of my mother. Traveling with her meant WORK. If she had paid to take us somewhere, we were going to see every single thing there was to see. Your teens have the rest of their lives to visit places.

Except OP is visiting everything from the OUTSIDE only.

I think that's what feels off putting as someone who's lived in one of those locations. It feels like someone trying to perform a visit. Like those people who methodically check off rides at Disney while their kids melt down.

Sit at a Cafe, have an aperol spritz and watch people on the canals. Or something. But this whole rushing around to take photos outside of places you don't even bother to go into? It's weird.

Some of the most interesting photos are taken in relatively uninteresting places. It's all about having a "seeing eye". Taking photos that look the same as those taken by millions of others isn't that exciting. You can take amazing photos in a supermarket carpark.

No need to go anywhere to take parking lot photos.

Exactly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is too long to go into in detail, but many of your days are way too packed. You'll be rushing the whole time and not enjoying anything. But then your Day 6, by comparison is sparse (those each would take an hour tops and frankly both are things you should skip).

Thank you! This is exactly what I needed to hear from someone who has been there done that. I wasn't even sure if those are worth it but saw it on youtube videos.

Have you been to Ghent and Bruges?

My son and I did 17 days in Benelux and we skipped Brussels (I've been, and don't think it was great). Split our Belgium time between Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp. Ghent is more about the city and there is less to see there than the other two. Your Amsterdam day is really unrealistic, especially if it is the day after you arrive. I would choose either the Netherlands and Belgium or France, and slow it down to vary your experiences a bit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is too long to go into in detail, but many of your days are way too packed. You'll be rushing the whole time and not enjoying anything. But then your Day 6, by comparison is sparse (those each would take an hour tops and frankly both are things you should skip).

Thank you! This is exactly what I needed to hear from someone who has been there done that. I wasn't even sure if those are worth it but saw it on youtube videos.

Have you been to Ghent and Bruges?

My son and I did 17 days in Benelux and we skipped Brussels (I've been, and don't think it was great). Split our Belgium time between Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp. Ghent is more about the city and there is less to see there than the other two. Your Amsterdam day is really unrealistic, especially if it is the day after you arrive. I would choose either the Netherlands and Belgium or France, and slow it down to vary your experiences a bit.

Would the windmill tour bus option be better for the day after we arrive then? Its about 6 hours between 3 nearby towns I think with 30 min on a bus each way and we don't have to anything much besides walking around the tiny villages, watching an edam cheese making demo and hearing some information about the villages.

So far I think we may do 3 day trips - the 6 hour Zaanse schans trip, 8 hr Giethoorn trip that starts 10am and ends 6pm - 4 hours in a bus and 4 hours in Giethoorn (one of my kids saw the youtube video and showed interest) and Keukenhof (I want to see it but rest of fam don't care much - so if we do it, its a third day. It might actually be relaxing for them since they will just hang out, eat, and walk a bit, sit down while I go around). Then one day for just walking around Amsterdam, taking a 1 hour canal cruise, going to Bloemen floating market, dam square, palace and damrak (I'm assuming we can do these in 1 day - would appreciate a suggestion as to what I can club together if it is not possible to see all these in one day - I can tweak my itinerary a bit).

Antwerp - what is something that is a must visit there?

May I know where you stayed in Amsterdam - which area is safer? I read somewhere that Amsterdam East is not so good. What did you do on the first day after you arrived - trying to get an idea of what is realistically possible.

Just to give an idea of what my family could do in a day:
When we were in NYC -
Day 1 - we reached in the evening at 7, had dinner at Bryant park, went up the Empire State building and called it a night.
Day 2 - We started only at 10, went to Times Square, hung out a bit, got on the hop on hop off, then went to China town, it was not what we expected so got on the next bus and went to the Met. Saw the crowd there, backed off, and went to Central Park. Had hot chocolate there after going up that tiny castle. Walked a bit then went to Columbus square on the bus and had something to eat. Finally an evening tour for an hour on the hop on hop off. It was my favorite part of the trip. Then we went to Rockefeller center, kids skated at the rink while we watched them, and we called it a night after getting street food in that area.
Day 3 - At 10am, we took the Hop on Hop off at Times Square, a short walk from where we stayed, went to the Brooklyn Bridge, then went to Wall street, saw the bull, had lunch there in a park in between all those tall buildings, caught the Staten island ferry to see the Statue (no tickets available then), finally the M&M store when we got off at Times Square, dinner at Bryant Park and Wax Museum.

I was dead tired since we were out for 12 hours but kids still had energy left and were upset that we called it a night. I think 10 hours outside is optimal for me. My kids' favorite thing in the short 2 day trip was the Staten island ferry both ways (And this is the reason why I am planning the Giethoorn trip and the canal cruises in both Amsterdam and Ghent/Bruges - they actually enjoy it and it will be a good way to see the city).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A few suggestions for the Netherlands that your teenagers may enjoy are the Straat Museum, This is Holland (5D movie experience), the A'Dam swing, a canal tour around Amsterdam or Leiden, the Gouda cheese market on Thursdays, and if you can't get Anne Frank tickets, look at the Corrie ten Boom House in Haarlem- very different tour but free- you just have to book in advance.

Thanks! Canal cruise is already on my list of to-do's and the A'dam swing looked scary to me. I am not adventurous enough. Will look into the others though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you seeing so many museums from the outside? That doesn’t make any sense to me.

Your day 2 really doesn't make any sense to me. If you want to day trip from Amsterdam instead consider Leiden or Den Haag (maybe 45 min on the train).

This is so OP can tell people they went to the museum when asked. OP DGAF about museums. I think the whole itinerary is nuts, but, I am a deep dive traveller.

OP here. I love when random people on DCUM get triggered by what other people like. How nice that you like to deep dive in one place. Unfortunately I don't have that inclination.

Sorry, not sorry that I want a photo op in a place well known like the Louvre, while at the same time actually spending time doing other things that interest me.

And when we plan a trip to Italy, I will be going to Pisa too - just for that photo op.

If you want the holding up the leaning tower of Pisa photo op, you should definitely look to get the finger on top of the Eiffel Tower photo op from the Trocadero across the river.

I didn’t know people traveled like this after their early 20s. Instagram culture has come for us all, it seems.

I’m the PP. This was a few years ago. I don’t have any social media accounts, and DD was too young to have any at the time. We did it just for - gasp! - fun. And we still laugh hysterically at the series of pictures where we got it wrong until we finally got it right!

PS - my first holding up the leaning tower of Pisa pic was from 1995 - no social media then, just fun to be had.

My kids ad me saw some funny Pisa pics when we googled and we were thinking we shoud try those when we go - one was having a straw and pretending to drink from it.

And here's a funny troll video where both sides have fun:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u06wUniQVlk

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is too long to go into in detail, but many of your days are way too packed. You'll be rushing the whole time and not enjoying anything. But then your Day 6, by comparison is sparse (those each would take an hour tops and frankly both are things you should skip).

Thank you! This is exactly what I needed to hear from someone who has been there done that. I wasn't even sure if those are worth it but saw it on youtube videos.

Have you been to Ghent and Bruges?

My son and I did 17 days in Benelux and we skipped Brussels (I've been, and don't think it was great). Split our Belgium time between Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp. Ghent is more about the city and there is less to see there than the other two. Your Amsterdam day is really unrealistic, especially if it is the day after you arrive. I would choose either the Netherlands and Belgium or France, and slow it down to vary your experiences a bit.

Would the windmill tour bus option be better for the day after we arrive then? Its about 6 hours between 3 nearby towns I think with 30 min on a bus each way and we don't have to anything much besides walking around the tiny villages, watching an edam cheese making demo and hearing some information about the villages.

So far I think we may do 3 day trips - the 6 hour Zaanse schans trip, 8 hr Giethoorn trip that starts 10am and ends 6pm - 4 hours in a bus and 4 hours in Giethoorn (one of my kids saw the youtube video and showed interest) and Keukenhof (I want to see it but rest of fam don't care much - so if we do it, its a third day. It might actually be relaxing for them since they will just hang out, eat, and walk a bit, sit down while I go around). Then one day for just walking around Amsterdam, taking a 1 hour canal cruise, going to Bloemen floating market, dam square, palace and damrak (I'm assuming we can do these in 1 day - would appreciate a suggestion as to what I can club together if it is not possible to see all these in one day - I can tweak my itinerary a bit).

Antwerp - what is something that is a must visit there?

May I know where you stayed in Amsterdam - which area is safer? I read somewhere that Amsterdam East is not so good. What did you do on the first day after you arrived - trying to get an idea of what is realistically possible.

Just to give an idea of what my family could do in a day:
When we were in NYC -
Day 1 - we reached in the evening at 7, had dinner at Bryant park, went up the Empire State building and called it a night.
Day 2 - We started only at 10, went to Times Square, hung out a bit, got on the hop on hop off, then went to China town, it was not what we expected so got on the next bus and went to the Met. Saw the crowd there, backed off, and went to Central Park. Had hot chocolate there after going up that tiny castle. Walked a bit then went to Columbus square on the bus and had something to eat. Finally an evening tour for an hour on the hop on hop off. It was my favorite part of the trip. Then we went to Rockefeller center, kids skated at the rink while we watched them, and we called it a night after getting street food in that area.
Day 3 - At 10am, we took the Hop on Hop off at Times Square, a short walk from where we stayed, went to the Brooklyn Bridge, then went to Wall street, saw the bull, had lunch there in a park in between all those tall buildings, caught the Staten island ferry to see the Statue (no tickets available then), finally the M&M store when we got off at Times Square, dinner at Bryant Park and Wax Museum.

I was dead tired since we were out for 12 hours but kids still had energy left and were upset that we called it a night. I think 10 hours outside is optimal for me. My kids' favorite thing in the short 2 day trip was the Staten island ferry both ways (And this is the reason why I am planning the Giethoorn trip and the canal cruises in both Amsterdam and Ghent/Bruges - they actually enjoy it and it will be a good way to see the city).

If you are the OP, you went to New York and things didn't go quite as planned? You got dead tired without jet lag, faced crowds and enjoyed unexpected things. I'm curious why you're trying to plan things to the hour in Europe. It will rain on days you're planning outdoor photo shoots, there will be queues and there's the probability that someone in your group gets ill or tired.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is too long to go into in detail, but many of your days are way too packed. You'll be rushing the whole time and not enjoying anything. But then your Day 6, by comparison is sparse (those each would take an hour tops and frankly both are things you should skip).

Thank you! This is exactly what I needed to hear from someone who has been there done that. I wasn't even sure if those are worth it but saw it on youtube videos.

Have you been to Ghent and Bruges?

My son and I did 17 days in Benelux and we skipped Brussels (I've been, and don't think it was great). Split our Belgium time between Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp. Ghent is more about the city and there is less to see there than the other two. Your Amsterdam day is really unrealistic, especially if it is the day after you arrive. I would choose either the Netherlands and Belgium or France, and slow it down to vary your experiences a bit.

Would the windmill tour bus option be better for the day after we arrive then? Its about 6 hours between 3 nearby towns I think with 30 min on a bus each way and we don't have to anything much besides walking around the tiny villages, watching an edam cheese making demo and hearing some information about the villages.

So far I think we may do 3 day trips - the 6 hour Zaanse schans trip, 8 hr Giethoorn trip that starts 10am and ends 6pm - 4 hours in a bus and 4 hours in Giethoorn (one of my kids saw the youtube video and showed interest) and Keukenhof (I want to see it but rest of fam don't care much - so if we do it, its a third day. It might actually be relaxing for them since they will just hang out, eat, and walk a bit, sit down while I go around). Then one day for just walking around Amsterdam, taking a 1 hour canal cruise, going to Bloemen floating market, dam square, palace and damrak (I'm assuming we can do these in 1 day - would appreciate a suggestion as to what I can club together if it is not possible to see all these in one day - I can tweak my itinerary a bit).

Antwerp - what is something that is a must visit there?

May I know where you stayed in Amsterdam - which area is safer? I read somewhere that Amsterdam East is not so good. What did you do on the first day after you arrived - trying to get an idea of what is realistically possible.

Just to give an idea of what my family could do in a day:
When we were in NYC -
Day 1 - we reached in the evening at 7, had dinner at Bryant park, went up the Empire State building and called it a night.
Day 2 - We started only at 10, went to Times Square, hung out a bit, got on the hop on hop off, then went to China town, it was not what we expected so got on the next bus and went to the Met. Saw the crowd there, backed off, and went to Central Park. Had hot chocolate there after going up that tiny castle. Walked a bit then went to Columbus square on the bus and had something to eat. Finally an evening tour for an hour on the hop on hop off. It was my favorite part of the trip. Then we went to Rockefeller center, kids skated at the rink while we watched them, and we called it a night after getting street food in that area.
Day 3 - At 10am, we took the Hop on Hop off at Times Square, a short walk from where we stayed, went to the Brooklyn Bridge, then went to Wall street, saw the bull, had lunch there in a park in between all those tall buildings, caught the Staten island ferry to see the Statue (no tickets available then), finally the M&M store when we got off at Times Square, dinner at Bryant Park and Wax Museum.

I was dead tired since we were out for 12 hours but kids still had energy left and were upset that we called it a night. I think 10 hours outside is optimal for me. My kids' favorite thing in the short 2 day trip was the Staten island ferry both ways (And this is the reason why I am planning the Giethoorn trip and the canal cruises in both Amsterdam and Ghent/Bruges - they actually enjoy it and it will be a good way to see the city).

If you are the OP, you went to New York and things didn't go quite as planned? You got dead tired without jet lag, faced crowds and enjoyed unexpected things. I'm curious why you're trying to plan things to the hour in Europe. It will rain on days you're planning outdoor photo shoots, there will be queues and there's the probability that someone in your group gets ill or tired.

Yeah if this superficial tour of NYC mostly using hop-on-hop-off busses makes OP tired, there’s no way this European itinerary will work out as planned. God speed, OP.

[Anonymous]

Op. To the PPs above - My superficial NYC trip was just fine for my family and my kids enjoyed it and didn't want to leave. They liked it so much that I'm planning another superficial NYC trip using the Chinatown bus next time.

We switched up things when it did not work out as planned so that's what we will do if we get tired. I'm sure we will have a wonderful trip in spite of you naysayers.

I am also currently looking at Europe tours focussed on photo ops for Instagram. I need to increase my followers.

[Anonymous]

OP if that was what you enjoyed in NYC then I think your trip sounds fine. I was going to say that it sounded like too much sitting on buses and going between sites without doing anything at the sites, but it sounds like that is how you prefer to visit places, and so I think it will work well.
I don’t think there is much is Antwerp. I’ve been several times as I have family there and in Brussels and neither city is an exciting tourist destination but Brussels probably has more to do/see. It would also be totally reasonable to go to neither!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP if that was what you enjoyed in NYC then I think your trip sounds fine. I was going to say that it sounded like too much sitting on buses and going between sites without doing anything at the sites, but it sounds like that is how you prefer to visit places, and so I think it will work well.
I don’t think there is much is Antwerp. I’ve been several times as I have family there and in Brussels and neither city is an exciting tourist destination but Brussels probably has more to do/see. It would also be totally reasonable to go to neither!

Bruges is top of my list. Any recommendations on where to stay there?

I have to see if there is a direct train there from Amsterdam or if we have to switch in Brussels. If switching we may as well get down and see the main square and the palace in Brussels before heading out to Bruges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op. To the PPs above - My superficial NYC trip was just fine for my family and my kids enjoyed it and didn't want to leave. They liked it so much that I'm planning another superficial NYC trip using the Chinatown bus next time.

We switched up things when it did not work out as planned so that's what we will do if we get tired. I'm sure we will have a wonderful trip in spite of you naysayers.

I am also currently looking at Europe tours focussed on photo ops for Instagram. I need to increase my followers.

The troll emerges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP if that was what you enjoyed in NYC then I think your trip sounds fine. I was going to say that it sounded like too much sitting on buses and going between sites without doing anything at the sites, but it sounds like that is how you prefer to visit places, and so I think it will work well.
I don’t think there is much is Antwerp. I’ve been several times as I have family there and in Brussels and neither city is an exciting tourist destination but Brussels probably has more to do/see. It would also be totally reasonable to go to neither!

Bruges is top of my list. Any recommendations on where to stay there?

I have to see if there is a direct train there from Amsterdam or if we have to switch in Brussels. If switching we may as well get down and see the main square and the palace in Brussels before heading out to Bruges.

I mean this in a non-snarky way, but since your main priority seems to be taking pictures, just search Bruges on Instagram and see what comes up and decide from there. There will be some hotels that are insta-famous, just like I’ve come across several insta-famous restaurants that have been decorated specifically to look good in photos with neon lights or flower walls or whatever.