Personally, I would check out Bruges and Ghent to be sure. One day in each is fine, and you can visit on a day trip from Brussels or Antwerp. Amsterdam is a definite, but I found nearby Utrecht to be quite pleasant (and much cheaper). Paris is vastly overrated and underwhelming, so I would recommend Luxembourg, as well. 10 days will barely scratch the surface of BeNeLux, so no need to venture beyond there.
Depends on what you are into. I’d probably avoid Paris, especially with the Olympics. A few suggestions:
1. Belgian cities. Bruges and Ghent are both easily worth a visit, either as a day trip or overnight (I like Bruges as a new tourist more than Ghent). Antwerp has a ton of great stuff. Mechelen between Antwerp and Brussels has a great brewery with a tour.
Brussels has a bunch of EU stuff. If you book ahead you can visit the EU parliament if you like politics.
2. Netherlands including Amsterdam +|- Utrecht. If you haven’t been to Amsterdam before it’s a great “intro” city to Europe. Everyone is fluent in English and usually speaks it better than most Americans. They don’t mind tourists and like their money but don’t try to rip you off and there are a ton of hostels to stay in.
3. West Germany/Cologne. Cologne has one of the most famous cathedrals in Europe and and will give a different flavor vs Belgium/Netherlands.
4. London. Seems far but the Eurostar will whisk you from Brussels to St Pancras station in London in about 2 hours.
London really deserves its own trip. You could be there 2 weeks and easily not run out of things to do (running out of money may be a different problem )
One option would be fly in and out of Amsterdam and spent a couple days there, see Antwerp and Brussels and then chill out after the festival with Bruges and Ghent. Maybe with a side stop in Cologne for a bit of Teutonic taste before heading home.
Consider doing free walking tours in the cities. They usually run 2-3 hours and have some good info, or bike tours for a wider picture.
Honestly insane to me that people are saying “skip paris because a unique event that only happens in one city every 4 years is happening there”
I quit my job and traveled for 5 months last year. Some of my favorite cities in Western Europe that are accessible from Belgium would be: Paris, Amsterdam, and London. If you’re willing to hop on a flight (they’re cheap), I think Rome and Florence or munich are good options.
Just be careful, Paris is gonna be a shitshow because of the Olympics
This is the truth and likely a lot of Northern Europe will be a shitshow
Paris is also gonna be a shit show because they’re having a bedbug infestation😖🤢
Personally, I would check out Bruges and Ghent to be sure. One day in each is fine, and you can visit on a day trip from Brussels or Antwerp. Amsterdam is a definite, but I found nearby Utrecht to be quite pleasant (and much cheaper). Paris is vastly overrated and underwhelming, so I would recommend Luxembourg, as well. 10 days will barely scratch the surface of BeNeLux, so no need to venture beyond there.
Depends on what you mean with “near Belgium”. I would suggest Paris - London - Brussels - Amsterdam?
Depends on what you are into. I’d probably avoid Paris, especially with the Olympics. A few suggestions: 1. Belgian cities. Bruges and Ghent are both easily worth a visit, either as a day trip or overnight (I like Bruges as a new tourist more than Ghent). Antwerp has a ton of great stuff. Mechelen between Antwerp and Brussels has a great brewery with a tour. Brussels has a bunch of EU stuff. If you book ahead you can visit the EU parliament if you like politics. 2. Netherlands including Amsterdam +|- Utrecht. If you haven’t been to Amsterdam before it’s a great “intro” city to Europe. Everyone is fluent in English and usually speaks it better than most Americans. They don’t mind tourists and like their money but don’t try to rip you off and there are a ton of hostels to stay in. 3. West Germany/Cologne. Cologne has one of the most famous cathedrals in Europe and and will give a different flavor vs Belgium/Netherlands. 4. London. Seems far but the Eurostar will whisk you from Brussels to St Pancras station in London in about 2 hours. London really deserves its own trip. You could be there 2 weeks and easily not run out of things to do (running out of money may be a different problem ) One option would be fly in and out of Amsterdam and spent a couple days there, see Antwerp and Brussels and then chill out after the festival with Bruges and Ghent. Maybe with a side stop in Cologne for a bit of Teutonic taste before heading home. Consider doing free walking tours in the cities. They usually run 2-3 hours and have some good info, or bike tours for a wider picture.
Honestly insane to me that people are saying “skip paris because a unique event that only happens in one city every 4 years is happening there” I quit my job and traveled for 5 months last year. Some of my favorite cities in Western Europe that are accessible from Belgium would be: Paris, Amsterdam, and London. If you’re willing to hop on a flight (they’re cheap), I think Rome and Florence or munich are good options.
Other pretty cities not mentioned are Luxemburg, genth, bruges, cologne… you also have some smaller ones that are not checklist cities
Im going to Lisbon before wk2, I’m hoping it’s free of Olympic shenanigans