Travelling to Europe, need some advices

Thank you so much for more information for Netherlands.

We have 2 nights stay in Amsterdam ( near Centraal Station ). Arriving Friday afternoon, so we will have a walk in the city center ( canals/palace/RLD at night). Next day, saturday will be Woerden Cheese Market (11:00-13:00) then train to Zaanse Schans, more city walks if have energy. 3rd day, morning will visit Van Gogh Museum, afternoon leaving for Brussels.

Travelling to the places shouldn't be too bad, we could take trains/bus/tram and lots of walking. Nowadays with google, is so much easier. we can see bus/tram numbers at the stops/stations on google map. Just need to figure out what transit pass is the best value to buy

I know we won't be able to see it all in "3 days", just going to see some that interest us. Amsterdam, we could come again because there is a direct flight from vancouver, makes it easier.

addy landzaat wrote: Interesting fact: You know Vancouver is named after the (not that interesting) Dutch city of Coevorden?

It is very interesting that there is an article today in "Vancouver Is Awesome" facebook page talking about Vancouver and the dutch town Coevorden. George Vancouver's ancestor was from Coevorden (they were the van Coevodens). And Coevorden means Cow Crossing in dutch word.

Time to report back about my Europe Trip.

So we spent near two weeks in Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels from mid to end of August, it was not super crowded except a few touristy places. There was no safety/theft issue because we used beltpack/backpack/etc that are hard for them to access.

We been to most Paris places that I planned to see and take pictures, but I think not much spectacular photos because there are always unwanted people in the photos. Many times I tried to take a photo and timing the people would walk out of my frame, but they usually will suddenly stop and standing in the middle of the frame, very frustrating. There was one time I was waiting to take my picture, and some woman would just walkup in front of my camera and take a 360 on her phone, it was like I was not there, how rude.

As for Amsterdam, I basically skipped it because I was sick with Gastroenteritis. I probably drank too much Paris tap water. Was felling not well on the travel day from Paris to Amsterdam. I Was staying in the hotel room recovering for the 1.5 days. By the time we travel to Brussels, I was better with less need to go to washroom after food.

In Brussels, we only visited places around the Grand Place. We managed to visit Bruges and Ghent on 2 day trips. We were not rushed and just seeing the places at leisure. Bruges and Ghent are quite beautiful.

Finally we went back to Paris for another day before we flew home.

It will take me some time to process some photos, and when done I will share some with you. Also, from this trip, I was having some thoughts about travel/landscape photography for me, I probably will share my thoughts in another post.

Thank you so much for sharing your tips and suggestions before my trip, it was really helpful in planning to places that I am not familiar with.

Edited by coyote1086 - 01 September 2022 at 05:22

glad you made it home safely, James, glad to 'hear' from you! THX for reporting.
thought of you often, 1st of all if I should -be the one to- add some Belgian/(Luxembourg / should you have had more time + the Ardennes) info -as NON!-local, although quite familiar, since it's close to us-, but figured you might miss it, months later. and more than once, twice, during recent heat-waves, and when the public transportation people went on strike.

really sorry about the probs you experienced, the things you missed! -bummer!!- the time it took you to recover. (whether you 'believe' in it or not ;), a homeopathic remedy could have solved it right away, immediately!).
quite surprised about the french water actually (unless there was a 'eau non potable' sign, like on a ferry for instance). afaik it sh/b safe (unlike Spain!).
rude woman sounds like a tourist to me? perhaps we should have warned you. the Canadian(-friend)s I know must be the most polite-, most considerate people on the planet. -no offense! should others see this. -
(familiar with the long exposure-trick + xtreme filter that miraculously erases tourists? ).

although it was a tight schedule, truly hope you & yours/wife? enjoyed your stay! that it was a great holiday after all.
glad you have been to Ghent, very nice, (visited the castle?), and, -highly recommanded- lovely Bruges, a gem.
no windmills for you this time? nor cheese? ;) seen Place du Tertre, -tourist trap-? -fave- Quartier Latin?
(as a kid I spent numerous weeks in Paris, every year, usually around easter, and never in summer when asphalt melted and Parisiens would flee the city. and the more we discovered the 'real' city and its hidden gems, the more enjoyable it got. but that pres. goes for any place. it takes time to become a seasoned tourist ;)).   

really looking FW to seeing the pics! and 'hearing' your stories!

neilt3 wrote: Sounds like you had a good time , I look forward to seeing the pictures . Next time remember what the European medieval monks learnt all those years ago , Don't drink water , DRINK BEER ! it works for me

Beer? Paris in France! So, it is wine! But then he would have a hangover in Amsterdam

Other than the tap water, we ( my wife/my son/me ) mostly ate the same thing except some salad at the hotel's breakfast, and a 2 days old almond croissant. I also saw flies was standing on some fruit in the breakfast buffet. Well, very hard to figure out exactly what it was, but I do think it is caused by virus as I was having fever for 2 days. Just lucky I did not vomit as that would feel much worst.

We really enjoyed the trip, walked a lot, seeing many old buildings/architectures, old streets, every place is like history ( compare to Vancouver ). Place du Tertre, we passed by, the square is filled with restaurants' tables now, and the artists were working on the streets. There were so many people there in the afternoon, so we had to go back early next morning (because of jetlag) to experience a different Montmartre.

Latin Quarter, we went there on the first day (we arrived at CDG at 7am without much sleep on the flight), the Pantheon, Luxemburg garden, we walked 24000+ steps on that day

I bought 2 bottles of wine (from Bordeaux) in Paris, I was cheap they were less than 10 Euro, and they don't taste very good, one was bitter and I needed to add orange juice to make it like Sangria. I remember I drank some cheap wine in some cafeteria in Italy and they were pretty good. May be French wine is different, it is very hard to find some cheap French wine that is good, but I can find good cheap ones from Chile/Spain/Portugual

Edited by coyote1086 - 01 September 2022 at 17:05