Europe Suggestions!

[mbbored]

I just bought a ticket to Paris to visit family. I plan on taking a few days to travel a little more and get out of my relatives' hair. I'm thinking about Northern Italy, Amsterdam or Belgium.

What do you guys think of those places in terms of affordability and/or things to do?

Mods, if this post is not in correct folder, I apologize.

[BabylonSister]

If you're in Paris, Belgium isn't all that far. Brussels is a magnificent city and Belgians are some of the nicest people around. You could also go East and see Strasbourg and its beautiful cathedral, and after that visit a bit of Germany.

[starry diadem]

Actually, I'd say that Brussels is rather a boring city, but for the Grand Place.  But Bruges is wonderful and not that much farther to go: a quintessential Belgian city.

[Shotochick]

To make the most of your travelling time I would highly recommend Brussels. A side day trip (or even better overnight) would be Bruges - and amazingly beautiful city (and even better after dark when the day trippers go home and you get the gothic streets almost to yourself!)

[Amava]

Actually, I'd say that Brussels is rather a boring city, but for the Grand Place.  But Bruges is wonderful and not that much farther to go: a quintessential Belgian city.

Mhmmm.    I prefer Bruges, too. Ghent is lovely as well.

OP, what sort of things do you like or are you interested in?

[Ereine]

I liked Brussels more than I expected, though I only did a day trip there, so maybe it gets boring if you stay there longer. In Belgium I also visited Antwerp and Ghent and liked both of them. I didn't enjoy Amsterdam much, maybe because again all I did were day trips (I was studying in Southern Netherlands) and so only saw the city center, most people seem to love it. I liked what I saw of Leiden and really liked Utrecht, both are a short train trip from Amsterdam.

[Milash]

I loved our trip to Italy last year. It was easy to get from city to city by train, the food was delicious and the people lovely.

[Snooks]

Bruges is lovely, and fairly quick to get to from Paris.  Amsterdam is incredibly interesting, if you're going for more than one day get the iAmsterdam Card, it covers transport and free/discounted entry to lots of attractions.  We went to lots of museums for free that we wouldn't have gone to otherwise.

[bopper]

BARCELONA!!!!!!

[Kiara]

Another for Bruges and Amsterdam.  Can even give you the name of a great chocolate shop in Bruges.  (Where they had REALLY good sugar-free chocolate.  I was in heaven....)   

[Margo]

What sort of things do you enjoy doing/seeing?

Bruges and Amsterdam are both lovely cities. Amsterdam has a very compact, pedestrian/cyclist friendly centre and there are some lovely myuseums and art galleries (I particulalrly loved the 'Kattenkabinet' which is what happens when you have a very rich, cat;loving art-collector...)

You can get to either Brussells or Amsterdam fairly easily by train from Paris - it's about 3.5 hours to Amsterdam, 2.5hours from Paris to Bruges. Paris-Brussels is only about 1.5 hours so you could even do a day-trip if you wanted, and have a longer stay in Amsterdam separately.

Italy would take a lot longer - I think 7-8 hours by train, although of course there will be (fairly) cheap flights, too. Persioanlly, unless you are thinking of going for 3-4 days I think I'd focus on amsterdam/Bruges/Brussels rather than Italy, as you'll have more time for doigthing rather than spenind hours and hours on trains or in airports.

Enjoy your trip!

[ilrag]

Consider San Sebastian, Spain.  San Sebastian was one of my favorite places to vist. Spain is pretty cheap for that part of Europe and there's a Guggenheim about an hour train ride away.

[PastryGoddess]

BARCELONA!!!!!!

POD to the nth degree!

[workerbee]

What about the south of France? (or have you already covered that?). I spent a college semester in Avignon and LOVED the feel of the South....so different from Paris! Aix-en_Provence is a fun university town and Avignon is full of history. Or you could do a winery tour of Chateauneuf-du-Pape.....or any of the gorgeous villages! Just a 3-hour TGV ride from Paris....

[marcel]

I would personaly go for Belgium and/or Netherlands (I just do not understand why people are always so focused on the capital cities though)

One important piece of advice if you go north. If you get your tickets for the Thalys (fast train) to Amsterdam 3 months in advance it is only €35,- while a last minute ticket is over €100,-