I'm going to Belgium & Netherlands: need advice, Money exchange and things to see

[gotsmack]

Ok, so I'm going to Belgium and the Netherlands. I've never been and have a few questions on what is recommended. I've already seen the about.com and trip advisor web pages but want your opinions on what to see and eat.

Was there anything really cool that stood out for you when you went?

I will have a car.

I have no interest in riding a bike.

Also is it cheaper to exchange money at the airport, at my local bank, or at the ATM at the airport? I have an ATM card for Bank of America and Fidelity.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Demo24]

a)bring some money with you, I usually start off with 100 euros. BOA will order you some, you can do so online and get it mailed to you

b)with BOA you can get cost free money withdrawals at several international banks. I go to Germany and use Deutsche Bank, I don't know how many are in those areas but I'd suspect a few. Go look online and see which ones are in those two countries. Thus, when you go to an ATM you are only charged the conversion, so 1.2eur to 1 dollar, charged 120 dollars from your account for 100 euros in your hand. Best to pay for most things with cash, except of course larger items but remember you'll be charged 3% on those purchases.

 

[poncherelli2]

If you have BofA, look for Deutsche Bank or Barclay's ATMs. You'll pay the spot rate plus about a 1% exchange fee. ATMs are the easiest and best way to get money. Schwab and capital one have no forex fee credit cards, most others will charge 2-3% on top of the spot rate.

I only spent a few days in Belgium, but Bruges is worth a day trip to just walk around, eat, and drink. They have a decent little brewery there and the city is beautiful.

 

[buffaloe420]

been to Netherlands 3 times. for me best deal on money is using my credit union Visa debit card. just take out whatever the max for ATM or bank allow, saves on use charges and the exchange rate was way better than doing exchanges at airport.

For where to go loved Kinderdijk is near Rotterdam area and is where the most windmill are located in a small walkable area. there is one there that you can take tour of the inside. what is nice about Kinderdijk is not many people there at a time and is nice place to enjoy nature. Had it to ourselves for about 2 and half hours, was there when it open at 9AM. Madurodam is in Den Haag. It is Holland in miniature ( scale of 1:25) the details is amazing and can easy spend half a day still not see it all. It is a bit crowded but not too bad. I took some pictures at street level there and then at the real location and is hard to tell the difference. Zaanse Schans is near Amsterdam and is a small village. It is made of old house that have been moved there because space is needed for whatever where they was. So kind of a grave yard for old windmills, houses and shops but they are being used. One shop can see wooden shoes being made and can buy there for cheap. Catharina Hoeve is an authentic 17th century dairy farm. Can see cheese being made can also sample and buy there.

 

[jeanclaude]

Greetings from Flanders.

First question - how long is your trip? What sort of time frame are you looking at?

Car - the train and public transportation system in both counties is quite good. A car can be an annoyance. Again - depends on how much time you have to work with.

Money - visa and mastercard are accepted everywhere. I would see which card has a lower foreign exchange currency conversion surcharge and go with that one. Withdraw larger chunks of euros when you get here to avoid the surcharges. Safety is not an issue.

As for guides. I like to use the the lonelyplanet books when I travel. Reasonable info, useful maps, etc.

https://shop.lonelyplanet.com/index.jsp

check out the country pages. might help set an itinerary.

you may even decide to buy the books.

Brussels, Ghent, Brugge and Antwerp are on most visitors lists. Amsterdam.. lots to see and again a very good public transport city.

Hope this helps.

 

[Patt]

Also hit Luxembourg when you're in the area. I lived in Wiltz for a while, and love the capital as well.

 

[LTC8K6]

http://www.travelex.com/

 

[HardcoreRobot]

id get a capitol one card (no foreign transaction fee) and use it everywhere.

for the remaining spending cash id just hit an atm somewhere. not gonna need to get much so not worth worrying about % fee on that.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Sweet, Are you going to visit any Trappist monasteries to get some delicious Trappist Ale?

 

[SKORPI0]

Things to see, look for this guy... :hmm: Looks like "jeanclaude" has given a nice guide to follow.

 

[scott916]

Another vote for Brugges. Amazing city.

 

[Rumpltzer]

I alwys pull money out of the ATM when I'm international, but I also have a Schwab checking account so there's no exchange fee. Most other banks will charge you an extra 3% on top of the ATM fee. It's the same with credit cards as others have pointed out unless you have the Capital One card or a Schwab Visa. It might also work with Fidelity.

Whatever you do, don't use the money exchange in a U.S. airport. You'll get reamed.

 

[zinfamous]

as told to me by a belgie whilst in Brussels, Belgians are some crazy drivers. Try not to get yourself killed....

That being said, the car will get you to the trappist monasteries all over the country. This is how you should be spending your time.

 

[zinfamous]

Also hit Luxembourg when you're in the area. I lived in Wiltz for a while, and love the capital as well.

yeah, Luxembourg City is worth a day trip, at least. cool place, known as "The Gibraltar of the North."

The American cemetery is just outside, wherein you will find the grave of General George S. Patton.

 

[gotsmack]

I'm going to be in Belgium from July 2-5 and in the Netherlands from July 5-10.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm not too interested in cemeteries. But a Trappist monastery sounds cool.

 

[speg]

Let me know how it goes, I just booked my flight to Amsterdam!

 

[jeanclaude]

as told to me by a belgie whilst in Brussels, Belgians are some crazy drivers. Try not to get yourself killed....

That being said, the car will get you to the trappist monasteries all over the country. This is how you should be spending your time.

Just checked in.

Jeanclaude can dance!!! And yes, he is an embarrassment here as well.

Driving in Brussels is a nightmare. Agreed and avoid at all costs. Outside and in the smaller towns - not a problem at all. Gat a car with GPS and you will have not problem.

The Ardennes are quite beautiful this time of year and would combine well with a trip to Luxemburg. Good suggestion btw.

The southern 1/2 of Belgium, French speaking Wallonia is less traveled, but also nice. More rural. Check out Waterloo. Easy day trip from Brussels.

Look at the guides and see what they say re Trappist breweries. Visiting them is not something I would normally do (my local pub has what I am looking for without the hassles ) but 1 would be a good experience. Just beware of the hours - the orders call the shots and dont really need the traffic.

what else?

Avoid driving in Brussels, Amsterdam - get a gps - beware the drinking and driving. Beers are stronger here and the limits lower. And have a good trip.

cheers.

 

[ZaneNBK]

Make sure to visit the Grand Place in Brussels, Belgium. That square and the area surrounding it is just amazing. Avoid any Greek restaurants there, worst Greek food I've ever had. Definitely enjoy some real Belgium waffles and pomme frittes (french fries). There's a waffle place just off the square that made delicious waffles with bananas and melted chocolate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Place

 

[Skyclad1uhm1]

When going by car note that the speed is shown in km/h on rentals, not in mph. If your car shows it in mph you may want to watch the speed even more closely, they check heavily on speeding.

A lot of the cities here are old compared to US cities. This makes for nice sightseeing, but you may discover that travelling around cities by car can be a pain due to the layout of the inner city being designed before the invention of cars. Both parking (often have to pay for it) as well as traffic regulations (one way streets, bus lanes, etc) can make it hard to go there if you do not have an up to date routeplanner in the car.

Now what your interests are and what budget you have will determine where to go. There's for example a music festival in Belgium while you are there (Rock Werchter) which could be interesting in between visiting 'tourist attractions'. Visit at least some of the smaller touristic towns to see some of the history of both countries as well as the bigger cities. Check which musea might be interesting for you, there's quite a few interesting ones (Amsterdam: Stedelijk museum, Rijks musem, Anne Frank museum, but also for example the torture museum and the sex museum).

Both countries have lots of old churches and cathedrals too if you are interested in those.

 

[Skyclad1uhm1]

Make sure to visit the Grand Place in Brussels, Belgium. That square and the area surrounding it is just amazing. Avoid any Greek restaurants there, worst Greek food I've ever had. Definitely enjoy some real Belgium waffles and pomme frittes (french fries). There's a waffle place just off the square that made delicious waffles with bananas and melted chocolate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Place

Ah yes, don't miss the Belgian chocolates and beers, and 'pomme frites'. 'French' fries originated from Belgium.

In the Netherlands make sure you pick up 'stroopwafels'.

 

[JEDI]

a)bring some money with you, I usually start off with 100 euros. BOA will order you some, you can do so online and get it mailed to you

b)with BOA you can get cost free money withdrawals at several international banks. I go to Germany and use Deutsche Bank, I don't know how many are in those areas but I'd suspect a few. Go look online and see which ones are in those two countries. Thus, when you go to an ATM you are only charged the conversion, so 1.2eur to 1 dollar, charged 120 dollars from your account for 100 euros in your hand. Best to pay for most things with cash, except of course larger items but remember you'll be charged 3% on those purchases.

get credit card that dont charge 3% overseas transaction fees.

i think schwab 2% rewards credit card dont charge u the fee. i forget what the other popular one was.

hsbc 1% rewards only charges 1% fee.