20 days in Europe

I have never been to Bruges before so can't suggest if one day is enough. The other places look fine. I would look at getting the Eurostar ticket from London to Paris as soon as possible, because the price increases the closer you get to the date of travel. For getting back from Amsterdam to London Easyjet currently fly that route from about £40 but you need to book soon to get that price else it will start to increase.

The places you want to visit are relatively safe. Take normal precautions and you should be fine.

Feasibility is no problem,neither is safety ( take the usual precautions of course..as you would in any place you don't know).

As for how long in each place...I guess you have an idea of what you want to do in each one?

Of course,there is no need to book it all in advance if you don't want to.Why not leave it open and then move on to the next place when you feel like it?

Sounds like a decent amount of time (although in the end it all depends on your personal interests, of course). I wouldn't add any places except perhaps a day trip in the vicinity of London, Paris or Amsterdam.

Trains:
- London-Paris: take the Eurostar ([www.eurostar.com])
- Paris-Bruges (with change of trains in Brussels): [www.thalys.com]
- Bruges-Amsterdam: since the newly introduced Fyra high-speed trains between Belgium and the Netherlands started to fall apart within one month after they started running, connections between these countries are a mess. Either way, you would first need to take a Belgian domestic train ([www.b-rail.be]) to Antwerp or Brussels, and change there to either Thalys (which seems to be running normally and goes to Amsterdam Centraal) or to the temporary "Benelux train" that currently runs a couple of times per day from Antwerp to Den Haag (the Hague), from where there are several hourly trains to Amsterdam. Apparently the current plan is to schedule 8 trains per day from Antwerp to the Hague, but no one seems to know how the situation will be in May.
Anyway, you can find the latest schedules and fares on b-rail.be.

Safety is not really an issue, as long as you use common sense (don't accept drinks from strangers, don't walk into dark alleys in the middle of the night, don't get drunk and invite people into your hotel room and don't put your camera and wallet in plain sight when you sit down on a touristy outdoor terrace) and are aware of your surroundings, especially in places where you are easily distracted and therefore particularly vulnerable for pickpocketing - inside crowded train stations, around tourist attractions etc.

Hi Catrina,

if I undestand you correctly you want to add 5 more days to you trip, right? The trip so far seems great and I like that you do not rush it but take time in each city. If you want to add a destination, here is a few sugestions:

Have a look into Antwerps on your way from Brugge to Amsterdam. Beautiful town center!

Just outside Amsterdam there is a city called Harlem which I always enjoyed, so that might be an interesting option for a day trip (easy to get there by local train from Amsterdam).

Den Hague has a nice beach front which in Mai will not be too touristy, too cold to swim but nice for walks and some Dutch fried foods.

In the UK, if you have an extra few days either after being back from Amsterdam or before going to Paris think about adding the city Baths which is my favorite in England. Stonehenge is kinda nearby, too, even though I found it a little overrated.

Or if your are not fully commited to Brugge, you could go Paris-Reims (the capital of champagne in case you like bubbles)-Brussels-Amsterdam and thus adding a fw days to your itinerary....

Have a great trip!!!
N.
[www.trip2everywhere.com]

The itinerary seems fine. You do not try to squeeze to many places in it. But the trip has much focus on the Northern parts. If you want to add more days than I suggest southern Europe.

Rome is a wonderful city. You could spend 3-4 days there. Or some place at the mediterranena coast. Could be Spain, could be French or Italian riviera. Or Venice.

Edited by: surfnturf

Aribo, I have a friend who works for the Fyra and she says the current plan in a few months is to just reintroduce the old train that went Amsterdam-Brussels a few times a day. So things may well be more simple by the time May rolls around.

Regarding the post, I think it's a good amount of time for all the places you've listed- I've been to Bruges once and it was for a weekend and I thought that was just fine (great place just very small!). Definitely take an hour or two to walk around Antwerp too- the area around the station in Brussels where you'd also have to change is likewise quite nice.

#6 thanks for adding that. The only catch seems to be that Dutch Railways currently don't have any room in their timetables to let regular trains run directly from Brussels to Amsterdam v.v., so the last thing I heard is that the old train would be re-introduced but only run between Antwerpen Centraal and Den Haag HS.

For Paris, plan some time to visit Versailles (at least a 1/2 day)- it is very cool and easily accessible by public transportation (train) from downton Paris. You might want to add another day since there is so much to do in Paris, especially if you like museums and want to see a lot of the major sites.

I thought Brugges was a letdown- some cool architecture, but all you do is walk around and eat chocolate.

I second the previous post about visiting Haarlem from Amsterdam- there is an old church there with a lot of history.

You're welcome, catrina! Always nice when people show they read our replies.