tingadingling

I live in Amsterdam, and often head to London. Do Bruges this trip as you can easily do Ams-Par-Bru. London is one of my favourite cities and you can easily dedicate an entire trip to it for food, sightseeing, museums, parks, day trips to adjoining towns. If you only have a day or two and it rains the entire time, you'll enjoy it alot less and go away with a negative impression.

I think Paris and Amsterdam alone should provide many highlights. In Ams, strong suggestion: avoid the touristy centraal area and try to get lodging in Jordaan or around Vondelpark. Walk around Brouwersgracht and Harlemmerdijk, and ride the tram or walk everywhere.

barte

To be honest I would skip Amsterdam, as it's the least interesting city of the 4.
I would go for London - Brugge - Paris.

Aviatrix

Personally, I hate London and only go there if it can't be avoided. And I always breathe a sigh of relief when my train pulls out of Liverpool Street Station.

barte

Wow, first person I ever heard saying this.
Probably because you link work with London in your head?
Soo many nice places to go to, each time I go, I still discover new fun things to do.

BadgerBoi

I feel pretty much the same, and I've never worked there. agree there's much to see and do, but overall I find London dull and depressing. I hate Rome as well, so I realise that I'm an aberration

Aviatrix

I'm surprised you've never come across anyone else who dislikes London... it's quite a common sentiment with people who live in other parts of England, especially (I think) with those who live within a 100-150 mile radius of London. There are certainly lots of people in my part of the world (East Anglia) who don't like London. For some this may be associated with commuting to London, for others (including me) it's just a general thing. I only worked in London for two very brief periods (a temp job as a student, and a short-term lecturing assignment not long after), and both very pretty painless as they were within walking distance of Liverpool Street...

I just don't like the crowds, and the hectic atmosphere, and being squashed on the Tube like a sardine.... and while London has some good attractions I don't think it's a particularly pretty place (compared with - say - Amsterdam). I know lots of people like it, I was just responding to the person who was suggesting that everybody would agree that London is a million times better than Bruges. Give me Bruges any time!

JBord

I think that was my original comment, and your sentiment is fair. I was simply making the point that there is a lot more to do as a tourist in London. But I tend to agree with you on some points, especially having been squashed on the tube several times myself!

barte

I meant as a traveler, not as a commuter @Aviatrix

lhrsfo

Be aware that the weather in Amsterdam, Bruges and London is broadly similar, so do plan for anything - rain, cloud, sun, cold, heat etc. The key is to have some back ups to do inside if it's wet outside. I live in London and know that, currently, it's the most exciting city on the planet, but I wouldn't recommend "doing" Paris, Amsterdam and London in eight days. I'd do 4 + days Paris, one day Bruges and 3- days Amsterdam. Then come back and visit London when you have enough time to do it justice.

JMR1223

I did Brussels, Ghent, Bruges as part of a larger trip this summer and Ghent was by far my favorite stop in Belgium. I thought the old city was much prettier than Bruges and enjoyed the attractions much more. If you like history the Ghent altarpiece has a very cool story and a cruise along the canals (you can also do this in Bruges) will provide quite a bit of historical information. We also stayed in Ghent and did Bruges as a day trip. Things close early there so you can definitely go in the morning and head back to Ghent for dinner if you wanted to do both. Not that I think they're both necessary as there are a lot of similarities.

I prefer London to Bruges/Ghent, bug once you've seen Bruges/Ghent you likely won't need to go back. I think you could do the three big cities, but agree it would be less enjoyable. For your 7 nights, consider 3 in Paris with a late train to Ghent, one night in Ghent with a late train to AMS. I think that would maximize your time in each location, you should definitely maximize Paris. Keep in mind the area around train stations can be a little unsavory, but I stayed in a hotel right across from the station in Ghent (my brother's apt had a view of the station) and it was fine. Less touristy, but convenient. Just keep your wits about you and know where to head when you leave the station.

Enjoy your trip!

Koja78

I always say.. Ghent is a living university city... Bruges is a museum. I live in Bruges (was born there.. didn't grew up there)... and I always wonder what tourist who spend more then one day do. Bruges is very compact.

Anyway.. you can travel from one to the other in 25~30 minutes by train.. so you can actually have a taste of both.