Train travel through Europe can't get any better than this..

Travelling by train across Europe is possible, all you need is patience, a good reference guide and a bit of luck. For example: Take Brussels, Paris, Amsterdam, these three cities can easily be done with an average train travel time of under two hours between them. Of course, there are also coaches that cover a large network of European cities and are extremely popular with young people as the tickets are cheap. And I mean very cheap. I've scored 11 euros for a coach ticket from Brussels to Amsterdam on Flixbus. Ticket prices fluctuate just like with any international trains and flights, so book early! Departing Brussels Midi Train Station (Zuid Station), we boarded the high speed train, Eurostar (formerly Thalys), with destination Paris. Because this is an intra - european journey, the train departs from the normal platform as like any local train. Since UK is no longer a part of EU (Brexit), Eurostar train departures are located in a separate lobby where passengers will clear both the Belgium and UK immigration before boarding the train. Seats on train are mostly pre-allocated and you just have to make sure that you're on the correct coach and seat number. I usually travel light as baggage storage on the trains are rather limited. In anycase, hotels have laundry service for a reason.

PARIS We arrived in the Gare du Nord (North Train station) in 1 hr 22mins. From there, we took a taxi to our hotel, Ibis Paris Opéra La Fayette 9ème. The hotel is simple, fuss-free with clean but basic rooms. The breakfast spread was quite decent and apart from the location being fairly central and close to a metro and bus stop, there was not much else. Granted this is Paris and prices you pay for hotel rooms are steep the closer you get to the center. We took the Hop-on-Hop-off bus as that was the easiest way to tour the city of Paris without walking for miles. If there is one thing about Paris, it is that the distances between monuments, galleries and parks are far and spread out. Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Avenue des Champs-Élysées, La Louvre museum are some of the more popular stops. There are different routes you can choose from. This route didn't include the Sacré Coeur Church and Montmarte area. Still, we got a very good feel of the city and took plenty of photos! What about the world renown French cuisine? If food is your thing, avoid the touristy ones especially those that receive an overwhelming number of reviews and likes. Even though it says value-for-money because this means: long wait, squeezy tables with hardly any elbow room and run-of-the- mill meals. You're better off either going to an upmarket bistro or content with Mac-do (pronounced Mac-doe as the French call Macdonald's) What about shopping? Plenty of that to burn your credit cards. From the flagship Louis Vuitton store to Chanel to street fashion like AMI Paris, Morgen and more.. Also not to miss is the iconic Galeries Lafayette with the gorgeous dome ceiling.

AMSTERDAM Saying au-revoir to Paris, we boarded the Eurostar train for Amsterdam. Leaving Gare du Nord, we were saddled with souvenir mugs, tote bags, tee-shirts, baseball caps, whiskey shot glass, fridge magnets and more. We arrived at the Central station in Amsterdam around 8pm and ordered an Uber to take us to the Mercure Amsterdam City Hotel. Taxis are expensive so if you plan an earlier arrival, the metro might do nicely. The hotel is modern with a grand lobby, lounge/bar area where you can sit out on the terrace in nice weather, next to the riverbank. The rooms are modern and spacious with full room amenities including slippers and an Nespresso coffee machine. The Overamstel metro station is only a short 10 minutes stroll along the Amstel canal. If you want a quiet location away from the hustle and bustle, then this is a good choice. All throughout our stay, we used the public transport network. Amsterdam has one of the best public transport system in Europe and it is really easy to get around. Tip: it is cheaper to tap your credit card than to purchase a ticket when riding the metro. In general, Dutch people are friendly and helpful but are dangerous on their bicycles! Apart from these cyclists, Amsterdam is a walkable city with lots of instagrammable spots. The city is laid out in a concentric circuit of canals (grachten) linked by many bridges, prettily adorn with pots of flowers. This is surely a paradise for gardeners. My highlight of this visit was to take the canal boat ride and to eat Indonesian / Suriname cuisines. The imposing Sea Palace Restaurant for its chinese Dim Sum, is also worth mentioning. And how about Dutch cuisine? Err... not exactly world class but their Apple Turnovers (Appel Flaps) at the AH supermarkets are very good pick-me ups. Museums are another big attraction in Amsterdam with the likes of the Van Gogh Museum, Rijksmuseum, Stedelijk Museum and Anne Frank house. Amsterdam is also known for their designs and there are many quirky shops to browse around. Watch out for shops selling Cannabis cakes... that will definitely get you buzzing.

BRUSSELS We boarded the regular train from Central Station to Antwerp which turned out to be a bad choice, even though it was only a few stops. It is definitely worth to pay extra and ride the Eurostar simply because rail strikes are less frequent on international trains than on local railways. What was supposed to be a 2h ride from Amsterdam to Antwerp became a 6 hour ordeal because of delays and whatnot.. Hands-down food in Belgium is the best. Hence, it is no secret to serious gourmands that Belgium is known as the secret gastronomic capital of Europe. No wonder the Dutch cross over to Belgium to eat.. and the French? Well, they have lots of nice restaurants away from tourist traps but you'll need to be in the know. Happy to settle down to feast on mussels and fries, robust Westmalle beer and Dame Blanc ice cream as dessert, all our travel woes were quickly forgotten.

The next few days were spent visiting the magnificent Grand Place in Brussels, the European Parliament quarter, the iconic Manneken Pis and the comic strip museum of Smurfs, Asterix and Tintin. Not to be missed is the beautiful medievel city of Bruges and Ghent. And when diamonds are a girl's best friend, take a trip to diamond quarter of Antwerp. Antwerp has been the heart of the global diamond trade for over five centuries, with the first recorded diamond trade in the city dating back to 1447. Over 80% of the world's rough diamonds pass through Antwerp, and it's known for its skilled diamond cutters and jewelers (AI generated and fact checked) Last but not least, don't leave for home without Belgian chocolates! Especially pralines - filled chocolates that come in all sorts of flavor from ganache, hazelnut paste, passion fruit cream, pistachio etc. and sold by the weight. You can make your own assortment of milk, dark or white chocolates and have them nicely gift wrapped. Just say it is for a gift. "-)