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Trip Report
France, Belgium Netherlands Itinerary
5 day itinerary of France, Belgium, Netherlands. We discovering new spots at Amsterdam, Bruges and Brussels.
+ 8
EuropeBelgium, Netherlands5 days / August 2019
Highs & Lows
Great architecture and views in each city.
Amsterdam was quite rainy.
Itinerary Overview
At that moment I was living in Lyon, a city located in the south east of France. I bought a ticket from Eurail, this ticket was for travelling trough Europe in train as many times as I wanted for 4 months. The first trip was Brussels-Bruges-Amsterdam, first I arrived by train with one of my friends to Brussels the trip was about 6-7 hours long, she had a friend living in a town near the capital its called “Mons” it was around 40-50 minutes from Brussels, and we stayed 3 nights, one of those days we went to Bruges for the day but we didn’t spend the night there, we went by train with the Eurail ticket but a normal train ticket costs around 30 euros round trip, there are also buses (Flixbus) which are cheaper one ticket can cost 6 euros.
Finally, our last destination was Amsterdam, we went by train from Brussels and the trip was about 3 hours long, previously we saw some hotels but they were quite expensive, so we decided to stay in “Couchsurfing” basically is an app where you find different people that could host you with no cost, the main idea of this is to have a cultural exchange with other people and at the same time helps save money.
A Dutch guy received us in his house and the experience was great, we stayed with him 2 nights, he was so gentile, we spend time with him and some of his friends, and he took us to main places in Amsterdam. There are lots of things to do in the capital of Netherlands, many touristic spots, national markets, ride in bicycle, trips in boat, parties and many other things! It’s a great city with a totally different culture, for sure you will learn new things!
Brussels Brussels best beer
1+The first day in Brussels we arrived at 1 pm, and we started visiting around right away, our first stop was at Delirium Café, its well known bar because they offer beers from more than 60 countries, also their original beer is the best beer in the world. Then we went to the Grand Place which is located in the center of the city, there you’ll find the city hall and other buildings with amazing architecture, for sure you will be impressed.
Finally, last day we went to the Atomium, it’s a model of an atom but its 100 meters tall, its simply incredible! You can enter and it costs 16 euros per person. After visiting the Atomium we went to the “parc du cinquantenaire” we had a picnic there, which is a plan that I totally recommend you can seat on the grass an appreciate the architecture of the arc.
Bruges A fairy tale experience
In our second day in Brussels we decided to go to Bruges a little town near, we didn’t stay the night there. We went to the Basilica of the holy blood, despite from the faith you have I think its worth visiting it, the architecture is incredible, also you can do a line to see the cloth with the holy blood. Next we went to the Belfry which is a medieval bell tower, its beautiful and different as the architecture of the tower is different. Bruges for sure is a must if you go to Belgium, the details makes it unique, for sure you’ll feel like in a fairy tail.
Amsterdam Amsterdam is a must
1+There are many interesting museums in Amsterdam, we choose to go to Van Gogh’s Museum and it was completely worth it, all the paintings are incredible, you can listen to the history of each painting which gives a historical view and completes the experience! We also went to the palais royal which was also impressive seeing all the details of such a great building. My favorite part of the trip was the Bloemenmarkt which is the famous flower market, all the colors are beautiful and vibrant, it was definitely my favorite place. Amsterdam is a city which has many canals and you can go on boat ride it costs around 14 euros per person, and you can listen to the history of the city and go trough main spots.
Q & A
What would you have changed?
More nights in Amsterdam. It's a great city with a lot of beautiful spots.Anything go wrong during the trip?
No, everything was great. New experiencies !Restaurant recommendations?
Try the local food! In Brussels, waffles (gaufres)and chocolate! In Amsterdam, stroopwaffles, french fries and bitterballen.Transportation Tips?
For brussels you can use the metro for some places, but in general it´s better to walk ! You can find secret spots.Booking details?
There are good hotels around each city, but also hostals which are a great option.
Lodging
Friends house.
couchsurfing