CHRISTY: Vancouver & Seattle Lifestyle, Travel, Fashion, Beauty, Business, & Food Blogger ❀

Last November, I visited Europe for the first time ever! I don’t know anyone from there and it also feels quite far away from Canada so I haven’t gone until then. This time I went to explore multiple places and also make it a mini honeymoon trip!

Amsterdam turned out so beautiful (though it was rainy), Brussels had delicious chocolate and Belgian waffles, and shopping in Paris was so fun. I got to see so many museums and historic monuments!

Some things to bring: sunscreen, cash/ credit cards, wifi, umbrella (in case it rains), comfortable shoes – lots of walking! Get museum passes or train tickets in advance if you plan to travel between cities.

Some food to try:

• Amsterdam – bitter batter, stroopwafel, stamppot, snert pea soup (wasn’t a big fan but interesting)
• Brussels – Belgian waffles, chocolate, beer
• Paris – Croissant, pastries!, crepes, fine dining, steak, escargot (can’t believe I tried one), foie gras (had a bite of this too), macarons, baguette, Paris Brest, onion soup, eclairs, oyster

Quick tips: A lot of people spoke English which was nice, in Amsterdam most of the buses you can pay for transit with Apple pay, don’t pack too much for museums, in most of the cities we went to we had to pay for water! Some restaurants you can look up and book on Google Maps.

Here’s a brief summary of my recommended itinerary:

DAY 1-3: AMSTERDAM 🇳🇱 (3 DAYS)

🗓 DAY 1 – Arrival, Museums (Van Gogh Museum, Rijksmuseum) & Parks

• Morning
  • Arrived at airport and explored it a bit (saw Heineken!)
  • Caught the bus to go straight to our hotel and explored a bit
  • Breakfast: Omelegg – I was looking up breakfast spots and saw this really cute restaurant that opened early and had omelettes. I got a Dutch omelette!
  • We then walked around HEMA and made a stop at Corner Bakery to grab a croissant and latte

• Afternoon:
  • Van Gogh Museum ($20/person) (Opens 9AM-6PM)
    • We managed to go there for the Pokemon x Van Gogh collaboration! They had a scavenger hunt and if you complete it you get a Pikachu postcard!
  • Lunch: Café Loetje
  • Rijksmuseum ($22/person) (3m walk) (800 years of history, Van Gogh)
  • Food Places To Try Nearby: The Pantry or De Blauwe

• Evening
  • Dinner Options: Heemelrijck or Hollands Hap Hmm
  • We missed last call for dinner at 10pm so ended up grabbing FEBO which you can pay for at the self-serve machine and the food box opens up – it was pretty cool

🗓 DAY 2 – Cafes & Jordaan

• Morning/ Afternoon
  • Brunch: Café de Jaren for latte – got a seat by the water and it was nice watching the ducks and feeling the breeze
  • Get stroopwaffels! We tried Van Wonderen Stroopwafels – you can pick what toppings to put and they make it fresh. We got a blueberry chocolate one and also picked up some souvenirs.
  • Optional: Vlaams Frites, olliebollen, ontbit ginger cake
  • Afternoon Dessert: Pancakehouse Upstairs – you have to try Dutch pancakes! They were thin and chewy and not too sweet, Dam
  • Walk around Jordaan > De Negen Straajes (Instagram-famous streets)
  • If you have time: Adam Lookout ($15/person, there’s a swing you can sit on and see the city!), Anne Frank House

• Evening
  • Dinner: Grand Cafe Restaurant – A restaurant by the train station and we tried their beef stir loin, tiramisu, and breton fish soup

DAY 3: BRUSSELS 🇧🇪

🗓 DAY 3 – Catch Train To Belgium

• Morning
  • Took the train at Schiphol Amsterdam Airport to Brussels

• Afternoon
  • Lunch: Le Plattesteen – Very authentic Belgian food restaurant, lots of delicious and filling dishes and close to the La Grand-Place and a few other famous shops
  • Dessert: Get waffles as Maison Dandoy (multiple locations)
  • Get chocolate at Leonidas
  • Walk around the Grand-Place

• Evening
  • Took the train to Paris!

DAY 3-10: PARIS 🇫🇷 (7.5 DAYS)

🗓 DAY 3: Arrival in Paris!

• Evening
  • Stayed near Saint-Lazare Station
  • Galeries Lafeyette: Iconic department store in Paris with multiple locations
  • Dinner: le Vert Tulipe – Loved the beef & risotto dish they had! The meat was super juicy and the risotto was cheesy and filling enough. The desserts, mainly the tiramisu and creme brûlée were also amazing!
  • Dessert: Lucette fait des crêpes – very delicious, long lineups

🗓 DAY 4 – Shopping & Museums

• Morning
  • Breakfast: Pastries (croissants) at Boulangerie Midoré (multiple locations) – favourite croissants so far in Paris (super soft inside, crispy outside)
  • Macaron & coffee at Laduree (We have this in Vancouver and I wanted to try out the main location in Paris!)
  • Brunch: Angelina: Very long lineups, we decided to get a hot chocolate instead to-go, you can also get cakes!
  • Optional: Cédric Grolet Opéra, nicest Starbucks in Paris, Pierre Hermes

• Afternoon
  • Lunch: Café de Tuileries – Had an onion soup there!
  • Visit Petit Palais, Tuileres Garden, Palace de la Concorde nearby
  • Tried to go to Louvre ($16/person) though it was a very long lineup (go before 4:30PM, closed Tuesdays)
  • Stop by Stohrer (oldest bakery) to try the Baba Au Rhum (rum dessert) – the alcohol flavour was too strong for me
  • Optional: Macaron Lessons @ Galeries Lafayette Haussmann and rooftop, walk around

• Evening
  • Dinner: Try fine dining or a restaurant with escargot!

🗓 DAY 5 – Arc de Triomphe & Eiffel Tower

• Morning
  • Brunch: Café de Paris – Right beside Arc de Triomphe, had their eggs benedict
  • Visited Arc de Triomphe for a photo

• Afternoon
  • Headed towards Eiffel Tower!
  • Drinks at Francette: Highly recommend coming here! It’s got a very nice view of the Eiffel Tower and not too many people. You can make reservations online easily.
  • Eiffel Tower photoshoot
    • Optional: picnic in front at Champs de Mars before sunset (lights every hour), Carette for hot chocolate
  • Rue University (Instagram-worthy street with Eiffel Tower in the background)
  • Pantheon, Luxembourg, notre dame, Medici Fountain
  • Back to Eiffel Tower area

• Evening
  • Dinner around Eiffel Tower
    • Had steak and lamb
  • See Eiffel Tower at night! It lights up for 5 minutes on every hour

🗓 DAY 6 – Montmartre & Sacre Coeur

Went up north where there are lots of hills and visited Montmartre. It was a very traditional looking part of Paris and there were so many cute souvenirs!

• Morning
  • Sacre coeur point (free entrance)
  • Sinking house

• Afternoon
  • Lunch: Bobby – It was raining really hard so we stopped by this pizza spot nearby.

• Evening
  • Dinner: Le Carpaccio – Stopped by this place and had their famous beef carpaccio. It was good but my favourite part was actually the dessert – it has yogurt ice cream, tiramisu, and chocolate.

🗓 DAY 7 – Shop, shop, shop!

• Morning/ Afternoon
  • If you’re craving bubble tea, Xing Fu Tang Paris has crème brûlée drinks!
  • When in Paris, you need to dedicate a day or more for shopping. You can save a lot on luxury goods here! (ie., Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Van Cleef, Goyard, Chanel, and so much more..)
    • Shopping at Galeries Lafeyette and Champs-Élysées shopping street

• Evening
  • Dinner: Le Florentin – Tried escargot and duck!

🗓 DAY 8 – Versailles

This day we made a trip down to Versailles. It was about an hour transit there. When we arrived, the city felt very peaceful and the palace was beautiful! 

• Morning
  • Lunch: La Flottille – Saw a restaurant close to the palace. The prices were so much more lesser than in Paris!

• Afternoon
  • Palace of Versailles
  • Jardins de Versailles (Garden of Versailles) – super beautiful!
  • Other Places:
    • The Trianons & The Hamlet
    • Jardins du Chateau de Versailles
    • Grand Canal
    • The Royal Chapel
    • La Potager Du Roi (King’s Garden)
    • Marche Notre Dame

• Evening
  • We wanted to see the Eiffel Tower again at night so decided to stop by and also eat in the area!
    • Dinner: La Petite Tour – Fine dining restaurant – the fish dishes were so good!

🗓 DAY 10 – Shopping & Louvre Museum

• Morning
  • Breakfast: BO&MIE – Very popular bakery with lineup

• Afternoon
  • Louvre Museum
    • We got a museum pass online beforehand. Finally got to see the Mona Lisa in person! There were so many people.
• Evening
  • Dinner: Comptoir de la Gastronomie – Famous for their foie gras! I also purchased a few cans of foie gras as souvenirs for family
  • Back to hotel to pack!
  • Train back to Amsterdam to catch the flight!

Other Notable Areas

• Other Activities
  • Amsterdam
    • Anne Frank House
    • Taking some tours out to Holland
  • Paris
    • Versailles
      • The Trianons & The Hamlet
      • Jardins du Chateau de Versailles
      • Grand Canal
      • The Royal Chapel
      • La Potager Du Roi (King’s Garden)
      • Marche Notre Dame
  • More to be added!

• Food (Including some fine dining restaurants suggested by friends)
  • Paris
    • Le Comptoir de la Gastronomie
    • Frenchie
    • L’entrecote Comice
    • Prunier
    • La bistro Flaubert
    • Arnaud Nicolas
    • Le Comptoir
    • Les Arlots
    • Chez Michel
    • L’Entrecôte de Paris (line up for steak)
    • Septime
    • Automne

Other Links:

• 🍴Check out my foodie account @christyenjoys for more! 
• Stay tuned for my next trip on Hong Kong and Seoul