Brussels:
We will be flying into Brussels, and we'll be spending 4 nights at a lovely B&B that is right in the middle of everything, and only a 5 minute walk to the train station. We're not really sure of many specific things we want to do in Brussels, but there are two things we know for sure: The Grand Place and the Cantillon Brewery.
The Cantillon Brewery is a family-run brewery that's been brewing beers since 1900.
The Grand Place is the central square of Brussels, and it's served as the town square since the 12th century.
We will be taking a train ride to Bruges while we are staying in Brussels, and we'll check-out the sites to see there. We're guessing one day will be enough to check out the sites in Bruges, but we could always head there for another partial day. In Bruges, there are a few things that we definitely want to do: the Halve Maan Brewery, the Belfry, the Markt, and Dumon Chocolatier.
The Halve Maan Brewery was first mentioned in the town's registry back in 1564! And the rooftop of the Brewery is supposed to have amazing views.
Dumon is a small family-run chocolatier that is supposed to have the best chocolate in Belgium!
The Markt has tons of shops and restaurants, and is the town center of Bruges.
The Belfry has 366 stairs, but is supposed to have some amazing views.
Paris: We are going to be taking a daytrip from Brussels to Paris via the Thalys train (it's only an hour each way!). I know most people will say that it's pretty impossible to see Paris in a day, but I think for the stuff we want to see it'll be quite do-able. We want to see the Eiffel Tower (of course), Notre Dame, and the Arc de Triomphe. And probably eat a croissant or baguette or something.
Antwerp: After our four nights in Brussels, we plan to take the short train-ride up to Antwerp and spend a night there (it's on the way to Amsterdam). We found another great B&B, and it's right in the heart of everything. I know of a few things I definitely want to see in Antwerp: Botanic Gardens, De Vagant, and the Central Station (where our trains will be, so this will be easy!).
Central Station - built between 1895 and 1905.
The Botanic Gardens!
De Vagant is a cafe with over 200 Belgian gins! Belgian gin is called "jenever".
Amsterdam: After our one night in Antwerp, we'll be heading up to Amsterdam for two nights. We found a really awesome apartment in the Jordaan area, which is near Anne Frank's House. It's still very walkable to the city center, but it's supposed to have a much cooler vibe and is part of the canal district. There's a canal right outside of the apartment we'll be staying in! We're still figuring out what we want to do in Amsterdam, but we know we want to see Anne Frank's House (super close to our apartment), the Van Gogh Museum, and the Rjikesmuseum (a large art museum). We're also toying with the idea of taking a train and bus to see the La Trappe trappist brewery. It isn't very convenient to get to, so we're trying to decide if it'll be worth it (trappist breweries don't really like visitors, but La Trappe allows visitors a few days per week). It sounds really cool though, so we'll have to see if we can make it work (and if they'll allow visitors on the days that will be convenient for us).
This is the shower at the apartment we'll be staying in. The owner is an artist (and she lives upstairs with her family), and she did a bunch of mosaics in the apartment as well as some art on the walls.
After our two nights in Amsterdam, we'll be catching a flight out of Amsterdam to head back home. We're sooooo excited for this trip!!
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