Belgium is such an underrated country! I don’t know why it’s skipped over! It was my first European country that I visited. Next year we’re going to France and I want to stop over in Belgium for a couple of days just to see it again🥰
Great summary, we did a similar itinerary starting in Frankfurt GE -> Cologne-> Haarlem -> Keulenhof/Amsterdam -> Brussels-> Bruge -> Paris and home. We really liked Belgium, beautiful country. Next time I want to drive and see more of the countryside.
There are a lot of nice small cities (or medium size cities) in the Netherlands and Belgium. Don't only focus on Amsterdam and Brussels. Haarlem, The Hague, Delft, Breda, Ghent, Bruges, Antwerp, Mechelen, there are many places to visit in both countries.
Een rijsttafel can be found in every Chinese-indonesian restaurant throughout the Netherlands, not just in Amsterdam. Foods you eat in Amsterdam can be found everywhere in the Netherlands. To bad you just went and visited places at the western part of Belgium and the Netherlands, the eastern part of Belgium has caves, nature area like the 'Hoge venen' (Hautes-Fagnes) in the Ardenne and also WWII sites and memorials like Bastogne (known for Battle of the Bulge) and US grave sites in Henry-Chapel (Belgium) and in the Netherlands Margraten. When you are in this part of Belgium you can go to Vaals in the Netherlands where we have the 3 countries point, where Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany border each other. From there on you can go to Maastricht, another old city with the river Maas. You can go to the amusement park Efteling in Kaatsheuvel. The Efteling is something unique and can only be found in the Netherlands. Another WWII site is Arnhem (A Bridge too far). In the vicinity of Arnhem is the Kröller-Müller Museum. Further north Apeldoorn with Palace Het Loo which you can visit. In this area you also find National park 'De hoge Veluwe' Zwolle, Groningen, Appingedam, the nature of the Province Drenthe, the seals center in this year still in Pieterburen but from next year in Lauwersoog, toy museum in Roden. You can go on a ferry from the Eemshaven to the German island Borkum. In Delfzijl is a hotel (Eemshotel) above sea water outside the dike and from here when the weather is good you can see Germany over water. So my plea to all tourists is DON'T JUST STAY IN THE WESTERN PART OF BELGIUM AND THE NETHERLANDS. Both countries have much more to offer then that.
My first plane ride was to the Netherlands. My 1st international travel and I was able to stay for a month with my step- mom's family. Best way to see most of the country. I was 19 and could not have asked for a better experience. I always tell people to get outside of Amsterdam. The city is lovely but there's so much more interesting places to go.Going to Leiden when the Keukenhof has all the tulips in bloom is a feast for your eyes. Scheveningen is another lovely city. From there you can easily go to Delft and The Hague. Plus if the weather is nice the beach at Scheveningen is great. Haven't been to Belgium yet. Will keep your recommendations in mind.
My husband loves Ghent & he took me there for 2 nights after our Norway cruise. I would love to go back & stay longer! We are leaving out of Amsterdam in November for a Spain/Portugal cruise. Yay for us!
Spent 2 weeks there June/July. We based ourselves in Delft for the Holland part and Brussels for Belgium. Time over again, Brussels and Ghent for Belgium , Leiden probably over Delft for day tripping to Amsterdam, Alkmaar and Haarlem with a day trip definitely to Delft which is comparable in many ways to Brugge but less touristy. Both great countries to visit with the nicest people!
I'm planning a tour to Amsterdam, Brussels and Luxembourg. Thanks for showing snips of these countries. And watching your daughter travel like a real pro was delightful. 😊
Great video! Norway and the Netherlands have been top on my Europe list for years when I finally make it over there!! A good friend recommended Belgium also and raves about Switzerland, so many great places I need to visit...
This video is perfect timing! I have an upcoming trip to Amsterdam, Brussels, Bruges, Ghent & Antwerp last week of September. Can’t wait! Thank you🙏🏻❤️
True story, I was wandering through the alley ways of Brussels and thought why is there a crowd looking at a garden ornament? Oh, after googling I found where the garden ornaments came from. Anyway I don't ever need to go back to Brussels, but I would highly recommend a WW1 tour around Ypres and Mennin Gate.
I loved Ghent in May last year, not so much when I returned for Christmas. The lovely students weren’t around because of the holiday break and that enormous Christmas Market was depressingly overcommercialized with zero charm. At least I could fight my way up to Frites Atelier for, well, the best frites I’ve ever had.
Im going to Amsterdam in the mid September and I will also go to Belgium, I have already booked hostels in the cities/ countries that im traveling through. Looking forward to hear how similar Norwegian and Flemish is.
Flanders an the Netherlands share the same Dutch dictionairy. Flemmish is Dutch with a bit of a french accent. Writing in dutch speaking Belgium and Dutch-dutch is the same. (Both countries seperated already at the end of the 15 hundreds and were joined together for only a few decades in the 19th-century, when they went apart after that again. The language is old....
Nice content,if you want to visit smaller town (Hainaut province) in Belgium and visit some brewery...experience local food and beers... It will be a pleasure to help :)
Hi, which month did you visit Amsterdam? Will be there next week and I only prepared summer clothes just want to know if the weather over there is still warm. Thank you
The statue is pronounced 'man-eh-kin pee'. In French, the final consonant is silent. That said, nice review. I visited Belgium and Amsterdam in 1989, when I was a travel writer for a Florida newspaper. I fell in love with Bruges.
I have a question about footwear in Europe in the winter. We are headed to Austria to the Christmas markets in December. Wondering what you would recommend to a middle aged guy?? Looking for good traction and warm dry feet. Thank you!
Yes I discovered that listing in Ghent on airbnb. We were actually the last stay before the owner and his family moved back in. I will often use airbnb for searching and then always try to book direct. I recently shared about a tool called Directo that makes finding the way to book direct easier. www.getdirecto.com/
You're right - in the intro I say this. Many travelers skip through the other parts of these awesome countries on their way to Amsterdam - but it's worth slowing down and exploring.
having lived in Amsterdam for a decade, I think you picked a fantastic itinerary. Most of those are things I took every visitor to.
Belgium is such an underrated country! I don’t know why it’s skipped over! It was my first European country that I visited. Next year we’re going to France and I want to stop over in Belgium for a couple of days just to see it again🥰
Great summary, we did a similar itinerary starting in Frankfurt GE -> Cologne-> Haarlem -> Keulenhof/Amsterdam -> Brussels-> Bruge -> Paris and home. We really liked Belgium, beautiful country. Next time I want to drive and see more of the countryside.
There are a lot of nice small cities (or medium size cities) in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Don't only focus on Amsterdam and Brussels.
Haarlem, The Hague, Delft, Breda, Ghent, Bruges, Antwerp, Mechelen, there are many places to visit in both countries.
Een rijsttafel can be found in every Chinese-indonesian restaurant throughout the Netherlands, not just in Amsterdam. Foods you eat in Amsterdam can be found everywhere in the Netherlands.
To bad you just went and visited places at the western part of Belgium and the Netherlands, the eastern part of Belgium has caves, nature area like the 'Hoge venen' (Hautes-Fagnes) in the Ardenne and also WWII sites and memorials like Bastogne (known for Battle of the Bulge) and US grave sites in Henry-Chapel (Belgium) and in the Netherlands Margraten.
When you are in this part of Belgium you can go to Vaals in the Netherlands where we have the 3 countries point, where Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany border each other.
From there on you can go to Maastricht, another old city with the river Maas.
You can go to the amusement park Efteling in Kaatsheuvel. The Efteling is something unique and can only be found in the Netherlands.
Another WWII site is Arnhem (A Bridge too far). In the vicinity of Arnhem is the Kröller-Müller Museum.
Further north Apeldoorn with Palace Het Loo which you can visit.
In this area you also find National park 'De hoge Veluwe'
Zwolle, Groningen, Appingedam, the nature of the Province Drenthe, the seals center in this year still in Pieterburen but from next year in Lauwersoog, toy museum in Roden.
You can go on a ferry from the Eemshaven to the German island Borkum.
In Delfzijl is a hotel (Eemshotel) above sea water outside the dike and from here when the weather is good you can see Germany over water.
So my plea to all tourists is DON'T JUST STAY IN THE WESTERN PART OF BELGIUM AND THE NETHERLANDS.
Both countries have much more to offer then that.
Belgium was my first foreign country visited (other than Canada). It’s such a BEAUTIFUL country and I can’t wait to go back.
My first plane ride was to the Netherlands. My 1st international travel and I was able to stay for a month with my step- mom's family. Best way to see most of the country. I was 19 and could not have asked for a better experience. I always tell people to get outside of Amsterdam. The city is lovely but there's so much more interesting places to go.Going to Leiden when the Keukenhof has all the tulips in bloom is a feast for your eyes. Scheveningen is another lovely city. From there you can easily go to Delft and The Hague. Plus if the weather is nice the beach at Scheveningen is great. Haven't been to Belgium yet. Will keep your recommendations in mind.
My husband loves Ghent & he took me there for 2 nights after our Norway cruise. I would love to go back & stay longer! We are leaving out of Amsterdam in November for a Spain/Portugal cruise. Yay for us!
Spent 2 weeks there June/July. We based ourselves in Delft for the Holland part and Brussels for Belgium. Time over again, Brussels and Ghent for Belgium , Leiden probably over Delft for day tripping to Amsterdam, Alkmaar and Haarlem with a day trip definitely to Delft which is comparable in many ways to Brugge but less touristy. Both great countries to visit with the nicest people!
Just visited here in June. Love both counties. SE region of Belgium was very beautiful…
I'm planning a tour to Amsterdam, Brussels and Luxembourg. Thanks for showing snips of these countries. And watching your daughter travel like a real pro was delightful. 😊
Great video! Norway and the Netherlands have been top on my Europe list for years when I finally make it over there!! A good friend recommended Belgium also and raves about Switzerland, so many great places I need to visit...
This video is perfect timing! I have an upcoming trip to Amsterdam, Brussels, Bruges, Ghent & Antwerp last week of September. Can’t wait! Thank you🙏🏻❤️
Lived in Belgium for 3 years and was fun to see again!
True story, I was wandering through the alley ways of Brussels and thought why is there a crowd looking at a garden ornament? Oh, after googling I found where the garden ornaments came from. Anyway I don't ever need to go back to Brussels, but I would highly recommend a WW1 tour around Ypres and Mennin Gate.
Thank you for visiting Ghent, the best city to live in or to visit
I loved Ghent in May last year, not so much when I returned for Christmas. The lovely students weren’t around because of the holiday break and that enormous Christmas Market was depressingly overcommercialized with zero charm. At least I could fight my way up to Frites Atelier for, well, the best frites I’ve ever had.
Nice to follow you. Love from the Netherlands.
Next time we go it will be in May or September, not early January!
You can take the Eurostar to Amsterdam or the train from Antwerp to Amsterdam via Rotterdam ( and it's cheaper)
Next time you should consider to do a dayout to the seaside. 😊
This was a great video, we're doing the same trip only in reverse, next year. Where did you stay in Bruges and did you like it?
Yes Nemo Science Museum is a must even without the kids.
We love Belgium specially Bruges! It is quaint.
Im going to Amsterdam in the mid September and I will also go to Belgium, I have already booked hostels in the cities/ countries that im traveling through. Looking forward to hear how similar Norwegian and Flemish is.
Flanders an the Netherlands share the same Dutch dictionairy.
Flemmish is Dutch with a bit of a french accent.
Writing in dutch speaking Belgium
and Dutch-dutch is the same.
(Both countries seperated already at the end of the 15 hundreds and were joined together for only a few decades in the 19th-century,
when they went apart after that again.
The language is old....
Thanks for making this video, voted in the poll
Nice content,if you want to visit smaller town (Hainaut province) in Belgium and visit some brewery...experience local food and beers... It will be a pleasure to help :)
You rent apartments from locals. What method do you use to find the apartments? Do you use things like airbnb or VRBO?
“Boom” as in Corrie Ten Boom is pronounced “Bohm,” by the way!
Ahhhhh good to know thank you
You mentioned De Pijp neighborhood in AMS but which specific place did you stay?
Hi, which month did you visit Amsterdam?
Will be there next week and I only prepared summer clothes just want to know if the weather over there is still warm. Thank you
My husband and I are traveling to the Dominic in December. Do you have a travel insurance company you recommend?
The statue is pronounced 'man-eh-kin pee'. In French, the final consonant is silent. That said, nice review. I visited Belgium and Amsterdam in 1989, when I was a travel writer for a Florida newspaper. I fell in love with Bruges.
Wow I really went for the hard “s” sound didn’t I? 😂😂😂 thanks for watching
@@awaytogether Typical Belgium ;-) but in Dutch you pronounced the s well :-D
It isn't french though. So the "s" definitely is pronounced
I have a question about footwear in Europe in the winter. We are headed to Austria to the Christmas markets in December. Wondering what you would recommend to a middle aged guy?? Looking for good traction and warm dry feet. Thank you!
Curious - when you say you stayed in a home owned by a local couple, was it an AirBnB? If not, how did you find apartments to rent for this trip?
Yes I discovered that listing in Ghent on airbnb. We were actually the last stay before the owner and his family moved back in. I will often use airbnb for searching and then always try to book direct. I recently shared about a tool called Directo that makes finding the way to book direct easier. www.getdirecto.com/
...more popular spots ?
Amsterdam is one of the top destinations in itself as well.....
You're right - in the intro I say this. Many travelers skip through the other parts of these awesome countries on their way to Amsterdam - but it's worth slowing down and exploring.
Do Paris
If your approach to travel is to 'do' a place (i.e., superficial Instagram experiences), please stay home in New Jersey or wherever your home is.
Nearby Utrecht is a great alternative to Amsterdam and the over-tourism there.
Thanks for making this video, voted in the poll