A scarcely any days ago I well-informed this possible trip outline:
Dec.29, 2009 – Jan 3, 2010 = Amsterdam
Jan.3-5 = Brussels
Jan.5-7 = Luxembourg
Jan.7-11 = Paris
Jan.11-13 = Amsterdam (again)
Based in succession your advice, I’m revising that to this:
Dec.29, 2009 – Jan 3, 2010 = Amsterdam
Jan.3-5 = Brussels
Jan.5-7 = Bruges (Brugge)
Jan.7-9 = Luxembourg
Jan. 9-11 = Leiden
Jan.12-13 = Amsterdam (anew)
Obviously I’m saving Paris for next term. I bestow awe with reference to including Sharon’s instruction and hitting Antwerp as well, but I’m already worried about rushing things – I like to take my time so hitting 4 different cities in 2 weeks is pretty unusual for me.
Finding a good map and train schedule would help too. For example my friend said a train from Amsterdam to Brussels would stop in Ghent anyway so we should stop for the afternoon and get that the best hamburger in the world. Antwerp looks like it’session kind of in the middle of everything too so if the train is going right by I take for granted we could come to a dead lock in that place as well.
In fact, judging from the map stopping in Antwerp between Amsterdam and Brussels seems to make much more sense than stopping in Ghent. But my friend did live in Ghent for a year so he ought to know better than I. I must say though, that this aspect of the trip is no fun to plan. It’s very tempting to keep it simple – Amsterdam – Leiden – Amsterdam or something parallel that.
And oratory of trains, the Eurail Benelux Pass (€ 218 by person in first class, 139 through person in second class) seems probably an easy way to go.
Another point to be solved is packing. We don’t usually pack light but if we’re stopping somewhere for the day I guess it would be better if we did…
