Thanks. Makes sense on just staying in one to save having to switch where we are staying. My wife grew up near DisneyWorld and is just a huge Disney fan, so I don't think any other park will change her mind. I suppose I will survive.

If you have quite a few days, you can venture to smaller attractions in nearby places, not just the capital cities. For example, Utrecht and Brugge are nice to visit. 12 days could easily be split with 2 areas, instead of 4 (CDG. BRU, AMS, CPH)

To get to Amsterdam from Belgium, Antwerp is a stop on the line whether you come from Bruges or Brussels. If you were to visit Bruges, you could also get there via Lille from Paris, which may be an interesting approach if you wanted to check out the sites there on the way. Unless your aim is to see all the capital cities.

Since Disney is a must, you might consider having a car for a day or two and do that from/back to CDG as it’s in that direction anyway. This way, you have an easy way to check out some of the sites and communes outside of Paris, which may be more relaxing if it happens to be too hot in the summer. Like, Chateau de Fontainebleau, La Ferté, Provins, etc.

I second this. Utrecht is worth a visit. So are Rotterdam and Gouda.

I made the mistake (or wisdom) of visiting 10 cities in 15 days on my first trip to Europe. This was not a tour. Since then, I've traveled at a slightly slower pace, usually no more than 2 cities at a time, not including visiting Amsterdam for a few hours between connections.

This is the way I would do it. Just skip Brussels altogether. It's a filthy hovel. Bruges and Antwerp are both much nicer.

I don’t think most people would call Brussels a filthy hovel.
but less interesting than the other choices.

Here’s some filth we found in Brussels.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...96d29e718.jpeg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...fafab4df3.jpeg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...c348b7620.jpeg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...5e7a50af5.jpeg

Thanks for posting those. Brussels also seems to me to be the best option to stay because of its central location making it easy to visit the other areas. I am going to start researching the day trip tours that can be purchased and comparing to just taking the train and touring around on our own. That will help me decide if we want to stay near train station or closer to where the tour pickup points are.

We did the train and then grabbed a tour guide there - Easy enough to schedule in advance. We had guides in Ghent and Brussels. Did Antwerp and Bruges on our own. But we did the boat ride in Bruges (BTW, if you haven't seen it, In Bruges movie is required before visiting, though not for the faint of heart).
Personally, I liked Ghent, then Antwerp, more than Brussels and Bruges.
Bruges strikes me as a not real place, kind of like Venice.

In fairness you can find nice (and bad) anywhere if you know where to look. Brussels is no different. You've sought out the best spots IMO ... if you were to provide balance and post a handful of the worst, which some is very close to where those pictures were took Brussels would look entirely different.

It's a filthy, dangerous city.

It's still worth visiting though especially if you've never been before - but one afternoon is plenty. As others have said, there's much much nicer places in Belgium - Bruges being one.

I would just spend the days in Paris and Amsterdam.

There is enough to see and do in Paris for one whole week.
Louvre museum, musee d'orsay, disney, versaillles etc
There are also day trips to small french towns if u want.

Same for Amsterdam.
Nice city and plenty of daytrips too.

Brussels...no one ever said they go to Europe just to visit Brussels.
basically there is nothing much there.
can just totally skip

Bruxelles is worth a couple days.

We went to Brugges as a day side trip from Bruxelles, felt too touristy to be worth it if you're short on time, but sometimes that's what people like I guess. Anvers is also quite popular but I haven't been personally.

Amsterdam reminds me of Barcelone in the sense it's touristy and expensive.

With 12 days, it comes to down to what your/your wife‘s travel preferences are regarding:
- visiting places road-trip style, moving along every x days between Paris and Amsterdam vs minimizing lodging moves
- tolerance for crowds. Sometimes it‘s worth overnighting at some destinations to see a place after day trippers have left/before they get there.
- big cities vs smaller/mid-size towns/cities

It sounds like you may be wanting to visit Bruges, Ghent, Bruxelles, and Antwerp while minimizing train connections. You could also consider basing out of Ghent or Antwerp, depending on which approach you get there from Paris. From Antwerp, you could even base out of there for NL destinations.

As others have mentioned, Bruges is touristy (not sure if it‘s Venice level), but it quiets down in the evening and early morning. Also, Damme nearby may be a nice summer excursion if you head up there.

Or wing it - decide after Disney and getting to Paris to see if it‘s a place you want to spend a week in or leave after a few days.

I am making this trip myself next month, doing 2 nights Paris, 4 nights Antwerp and 7 nights Amsterdam. But I have been to Paris many times. In your case, assuming you haven’t been to Paris before, if you have 10 nights split them between Paris and Amsterdam. If you have 12 nights, you could consider spending 2 of them in Belgium.

Damme is a charming small seaside town very close to the Dutch border.

Let's not forget Leuven. It's a historic old university town in the Dutch speaking part of Belgium, probably about an hour by train from Brussels.

In the Netherlands, the Hague and Rotterdam are also worth visiting.

Thanks. I was looking yesterday about staying in Antwerp instead of Brussels, but it looked like it was easier to get to places like Bruges from Brussels.