Bruge to Amsterdam

[steve singh]

Hi Chaps,

Still finalising the details of my european trip in a week or so - quick question regarding one of our planned destinations - Amsterdam.

Looking at the route calculator it suggests a drive time of 2.5 hrs from Bruge to Amsterdam - does that sound realistic?

Also seems to be a mulitude of "motorways" I could take, any particular suggestions to give me the shortest driving time?

Thanks in advance.

[steve singh]

hora said:

Probably too late as from your original post you've been/gone?

Where did you stay in Brugge etc?

We went between the two a couple of years ago- from memory it was alot less than 2.5hrs and totally hassle free.

Thanks Hora and Lost Soul - yes I've been and gone - as it transpired I didn't have enough time to go to Amsterdam as we also elected to go to Ghent too.

Stayed in a self-catering apartment about 5-10 mins walk away from the main Belfry - free parking and lots of living space.

[steve singh]

hora said:

Love Bruge.

Never intended to stay there, just looked on the map and said 'lets have a look here'. Ended up staying for 3nights and visiting Ypres

It is a lovely place - went to Brussels too - on the way back we came down the N34 (IIRC) to see the coast so went to Oostende, Westende etc. Thought the Chocolate museum was over-hyped though !

Disappointingly I travelled to Dunkirk to give the kids a bit more context about a lucky escape in WWII and found the marina but couldn't find the beaches ! Only had 30 mins so didn't have a chance to try and find it but one to go back to sometime in the future.

[dumbfunk]

It's a very easy drive with one exception. You must avoid hitting the Antwerp ring road anywhere near the morning or evening rush hour.

I had an office in Amsterdam for a couple of years and spent many an unhappy hour parked on that piece of road listening to the thankfully awesome Studio Brussels radio station.

You'll have a fantastic time in Bruges and Amsterdam by the way!



df

[steve singh]

hora said:

I wanted to visit there as well. Pay my humble respects but we were also tied for time as well.

Ypres is a moving place. There is an endless monologue speaking reading out the names of the soldiers there. That cracked me.


Ps. If you have a long summer- I recommend a roadtrip to Berlin or the Black Forest but its a bloody long long way!!

I'll add those to my list for a future visit !

O/T I was watching youtube videos of old clips of dunkirk and how the situation was unfolding - harrowing times. We've got a lot of people, who made the greatest scarficies, to thank for our freedoom.

[steve singh]

hora said:

Slightly O/T. Did you hear about the Sikh community being all for the creation of a dedicated Sikh regiment in the British Army but it was dropped due to 'race sensitivity issues'?? Crackers.

Edit: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1555507/Sik...

O/T

My late grandfather was an Indian national at the time of WWII but fought proudly side-by-side with British & Allied troops (many of whom he has retained friendships with throughout his life) and he was proud of his Sikh heritage and also of his subsquently received British nationality/passport.

I don't think he would have felt there was a higher honour to be in a Sikh regiment fighting for the British army - it's a view I think many Sikhs would take so it's a shame they can't make it happen.

Cest la vie.

Edited by steve singh on Thursday 28th April 13:50

[steve singh]

hora said:

Agree. Bit of a tangent/off-topic there!

It's all good - might go back and tidy up the thread with a few deletes in case someone tries to reference the same question in the future and get's lost in our OT discussion !