My most recent family vacation with my wife and two kids landed us in Brussels, Belgium for five nights. We stayed at the Hilton Brussels Grand Place, and enjoyed this hotel. As the de facto family travel agent, I took the liberty to use Brussels as our main focal point, but took a couple of day trips to Bruges and Amsterdam. I should start by pointing out the obvious. A few hours in Bruges, and especially in Amsterdam, is not nearly enough time. Yeah, I know. But, I planned it anyway, and had no regrets in the end.
Even though my kids are now young adults, I find that they still get bored rather easily in terms of site seeing and being in one location for an extended period of time. Secondly, there are a few locations where I booked a full week stay, and regretted spending all the time there. It is not often that I am disappointed in a destination, but it happens. When I visit a location for a really short period of time, like a cruise port or day trip, the intention is to sample it like an appetizer. I can always go back again and make it the main course.
How We Got There
I booked a package deal, including four business class tickets from New York’s JFK and the car rental, through the British Airways website. I find that I could get some really good deals booking packages from BA, and I have booked many trips this way. The total cost was $9,030–a very good price for business class during peak season.
I have a British Airways Chase Visa Signature Card ($95 annual fee) which gave me 10% off the flight portion and saved me roughly $750. This transaction alone paid for the annual fee and then some. By using the card, not only did I save the 10%, but I also racked up 3X Avios for each dollar spent. The purchase alone netted me just over 27,000 Avios. By flying the premium cabin of business class, each one of us received just under 17,000 Avios.
British Airways allows you to set up a household account whereby all the Avios (BA’s points system) are pooled together and can be used by anyone in the household. Pretty unique system, and that is why BA is my primary carrier when flying overseas. BA is part of the Oneworld alliance, so those Avios can be used to fly any of the airlines in the group. In the end, the household accounted added almost 95,000 Avios from this vacation.
Brussels, Belgium
We arrived late in the afternoon and we were fairly tired from the day of travel. We settled into the rooms for awhile before heading out for dinner at Aux Armes de Bruxelles which was recommended by the hotel concierge. It was a 10 minute walk from the hotel.
I don’t eat seafood. Never did. It’s a texture thing. But, it is during trips to new places like Brussels where I really feel I miss out on great culinary experiences. Brussels, like many places, does seafood well. Mussels are the thing to eat here, and someone in my family ordered them for every meal. Apparently, they were amazing.
We spent three of our five days in Brussels. Most of our time was spent right in the heart of the city near the main square, the Grand Place.
Our second day we went on a Chocolate Tasting Tour which I set up with Viator. The cost was about $30 (USD) per person. We visited five of the best chocolate shops in the city. We learned the history and importance of Belgium chocolate, and sampled pieces from each shop. It was one of the highlights of the entire trip.
Some other highlights…
Brussels Bottom Line
Brussels was awesome. The city was vibrant, the people were friendly, and the prices were reasonable. We spent three days in the center of the city, but I wish we had a couple more days to venture out. Mussels, waffles, and chocolate were consumed in large quantities.
Bruges, Belgium
Bruges was a 90 minute drive from Brussels. The main reason for visiting was to see the Madonna of Bruges, a sculpture by Michelangelo. It was the main focus in the 2014 movie, Monuments Men, and was saved from destruction by Hitler. The Madonna of Bruges is the only sculpture by Michelangelo located outside of Italy.
I was concerned that there would be a long queue and crowds to see this piece, but it was surprisingly stress-free. The Madonna is located in the Church of Our Lady Bruges. You simply buy a ticket from a counter next to the church for a few euros. No line. No fanfare.
Although we only had a few hours in Bruges, we got the general vibe of this amazing place.
Bruges is known for its canals, cobblestone streets and medieval buildings. The canals here were much like those in Venice, but on a much smaller scale. This city is definitely worth exploring further.
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Our second to last day we drove to Amsterdam. It took us about 2:45 minutes from Brussels. I anticipated parking to be a nightmare, so I pre-booked a parking spot in a garage just on the outskirts of the canals. I used the Qpark website and chose Amsterdam Museumplein. It was expensive. I paid over $80 (USD) for just over five hours.
I had high expectations for Amsterdam. It’s a unique place, and to be honest, I was a little apprehensive to take my kids there with all the adult activities for which Amsterdam is known. Yes, we did walk by the red light district which wasn’t the hedonism I was expecting. As it turns out the city is gorgeous and, other than the prevalent smell of marijuana, you have to go out of your way to find those places where young people should’t go.
Among other things, Amsterdam is know for the stroopwafel. Basically it is two thin wafer cookies joined by a thin layer of caramel.
Amsterdam is a walkable city. The main mode of transportation other than your feet is a bicycle. Everyone who lives there owns one. It is said that there are more bicycles in Amsterdam than residents. I believe it. There are bikes everywhere. Really–everywhere.
What I found to be most interesting about Amsterdam is that each time you crossed over a canal, you seemed to enter a new neighborhood. For such a walkable city, the unique feel of each district was unlike anything I’ve experienced. This city warrants a dedicated visit for a longer period of time, so I will be back for sure.
Bottom Line
Although this vacation was only five days, we experienced a lot. Despite the fact that each one of these three cities deserve much longer attention, we had a great time. Each location was very different from the other, and that is what made this trip so special.
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