Bruges vs. Ghent excursions and Extra day in Amsterdam

Dixie Chick

1) On our riverboat cruise from Brussels to Amsterdam, we have the choice of an excursion to Bruges or Ghent. I am leaning towards Bruges. Any thoughts or ideas on this? It is too bad that we cannot see both.

2) When we end the cruise in Amsterdam, we will have one extra day before flying home to Dallas. The cruise take us to Keukenhof Gardens, the Rijksmuseum, and a canal cruise through the city. I want to go to the Van Gogh museum and to see the floating gardens. Also whatever castle or cathedral is there. I will try to get tickets for the Anne Frank house as soon as they are available, 60 days ahead of time. It is undergoing renovation now, so that may have an impact on the visit. What are some of your suggestions for not to miss sights in Amsterdam?
Thanks for your help.
Nancy

Kathy18

Dixie Chick wrote:

1) On our riverboat cruise from Brussels to Amsterdam, we have the choice of an excursion to Bruges or Ghent. I am leaning towards Bruges. Any thoughts or ideas on this? It is too bad that we cannot see both.

Nancy,

I did this basic tour (it has changed since I went) and was also torn between the two. Since I was arriving a day early, I did a local tour to Bruges and then did the Ghent part with Tauck. This way I was able to do both. If you can only do one, I would say go to Bruges. It is larger than Ghent.
Kathy

joycesw

Bruges...not to be missed!

AshvEd

Bruges or bust! That’s what a friend who lives in Brussels told us.

JohnBolduc

I've been to both Bruges and Ghent. I enjoyed both however, if you can only include one, Bruges is the definite choice. Far more to see and do in Bruges.
John

sherry_schare

Wetook a similar tour (Rhine river cruise Basel to Amsterdam,with Swiss Alps) with Tauck last spring and since it did not include Keukenhoff , Bruges or Ghent we opted to do the Garndens and Bruges with Viatours. Both were spectular and not to be missed. If you are open-minded and want to learn some of the less than polite things about the Netherlands I highly recommend the night-time walkiong tour of the red light district. It is safe, 3 hours long and highly entertaining as well as informative. Most of all Amsterdam is a very walkable city as long as you watch out for the bicycles Have fun.

Dixie Chick

To shescha
Thanks for the information. I could not get tickets for the Anne Frank house since they were sold out online by 8:00 a.m. on the first day they were available. Since we missed out on the literary educational option, we can take advantage of the more colorful educational option. We can check out the red light district and marvel at all we are missing back home in conservative Texas.
I would welcome other suggestions for things to do in Amsterdam on our extra day.
Nancy

sherry_schare

To all who read my previous post about Rhine river cruise, I apologize for the excessively large font and for the misspelled and ungrammatical text.

AshvEd

Dixie Chick wrote:

To shescha
Thanks for the information. I could not get tickets for the Anne Frank house since they were sold out online by 8:00 a.m. on the first day they were available. Since we missed out on the literary educational option, we can take advantage of the more colorful educational option. We can check out the red light district and marvel at all we are missing back home in conservative Texas.
I would welcome other suggestions for things to do in Amsterdam on our extra day.
Nancy

Dixie Chick. I think we are on this trip immediately following yours and we begin in Amsterdam. We arrive two days early and were lucky to get tickets to the Anne Frank House and Museum. Other things we have plannned are Van Gogh Museum, Canal Dinner Cruise, Floating Flower Market, Vondelpark, and a 3 hour walking tour. Have a great trip. Ed

mazalea

Spui Square in Amsterdam has an art market on Sundays. And the Purse museum is a little gem, if you've time for something quirky; its a canal away from the Rijksmuseum.

joycesw

Amsterdam...After Anne Frank house and Van Gogh Museum, get yourself on the on and off canal boats and just hop off when an area interests you...and then once explored, hop back on....did this for two days of great explorations!...Red Light district is a must...there is a great Dave Barry essay on his experience in Amsterdam...bet you can goggle it...so funny and spot on! Mayo on French fries? Say what? Bikes at breakneck speed with driver, two kids, grocery bags and smoking a cigarette, and only a small “ Cha Ching” bell to warn you?? Great times and fun memories! Love, love, love this city!

AlanS

shescha wrote:

We took a similar tour (Rhine river cruise Basel to Amsterdam,with Swiss Alps) with Tauck last spring and since it did not include Keukenhoff, Bruges, or Ghent we opted to do the Gardens and Bruges with Viatours. Both were spectacular and not to be missed. If you are open-minded and want to learn some of the less than polite things about the Netherlands, I highly recommend the night-time walking tour of the red light district. It is safe, 3 hours long and highly entertaining as well as informative. Most of all, Amsterdam is a very walkable city as long as you watch out for the bicycles. Have fun.

shescha- you can edit your post to fix the font- just remove the "size 8" and "size 9" in brackets at the beginning of your post and the two "/ size" in brackets after " . . . .as long as you" near the end of your post, like I did when I quoted your post. You can also correct typos, like I also did. : )

Click "EDIT" in the upper right of your post's text box.

AshvEd

@joycesw--Thanks for the Dave Barry heads up. It's true Dave Berry humor.

@Dixie Chick--It is my understanding that the Anne Frank House & Museum releases tickets over time, so you may want to go back and check a few times to see if any more become available.