May or August

My daughter and I are planning a trip to Belgium for either early

May or early August. I believe they are both in the high season, so are there any advantages for choosing one month over the other?

I%26#39;m not sure if it makes a difference but we plan on visiting Brugge, Ghent, Antwerp, Dinant and taking sidetrips to Amsterdam and Paris. Thanks for any help you can provide.

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May! Without any doubt. August can be (I don%26#39;t say it will be, but it can) extremely hot in Europe and big cities like Amsterdam or Paris are to be avoided at all price.

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I agree with Amboseli - and as far as Paris is concerned, most of its inhabitants take their own holidays in August which changes the atmosphere of the city. Also, although 1 May and (in Brussels) 8 May are public holidays here, May is not as %26quot;high season%26quot; as July and August, because children are still at school: the only holiday they have in May, in the French community, at least, is on 17-18 May, for Ascension.

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@ qaminari

May 17 and 18 are off-days in the Flemish community as well.

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Thanks for your quick replies. We will definitely try to make arrangements for May instead of August. Is it necessary to make hotel reservations now, or do you think we will be able to get reservations if we wait until 3-4 weeks before we leave? We%26#39;ve never been to Belgium and are really looking forward to our visit.

Thanks again.

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Your adivsors here are right...August is a CRUSH in Bruges, even the weekends can be a bit crowded any time of year since Bruges is one of the most beautiful places anywhere. (Can you guess I fell for it?)

So May is the time to go. If you can, work the Bruges stay for mid-week to get more of a sense that you have it to yourself.

If you haven%26#39;t worked out accomodations yet, check Number 11, just google it, you%26#39;ll find it. It%26#39;s not cheap, but NOT expensive given the extremely high quality of the place and the terrific host and hostess, Pavel and Annie. They are tops. They also run a second and even more (I hear, it was under renovation when I was there in Sept) elegant place, Goose House. I stayed at another FINE B%26amp;B there, but Number 11 was truly wonderful. Go on this site and check the reviews..you%26#39;ll see mine among them.

I stayed at the River Inn Hotel in Ghent. Just ok, not terrific..but the city is WONDERFUL...not all of it is as picture postcard pretty as Bruges, but it%26#39;s got a wonderful feel all its own. I was invited to a concert at St. Baaf%26#39;s while in an internet cafe just around the corner, an adorable spot called the Coffee Lounge. Friendly spot, cool meeting place; for young hip college kids and for a couple from the hinterlands who came to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. It%26#39;s that kind of town.

Both are VERY safe...I also liked Brussels, which to my mind, gets a bad rap..but then again, I was raised outside of NYC and live near DC, both of which have been dubbed the murder capitals of the US in any given year...so maybe my view is off. You WILL want to watch for pickpockets around ANY train station, but that%26#39;s anywhere you go.

I traveled by train and visited Antwerp, Ghent, Oostende, Bruges, Amdsterdam, and Brussels. Never had a problem, always managed to find a train. Most everyone%26#39;s very helpful...toss out a Merci in Brussels and a Dank u in Flanders, and you%26#39;ll find most folks really accomodating. If you can manage more, all the better, but I found people very helpful.

Best of luck to you, have a great trip.

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