Usually, I do an inordinate amount of planning for a trip - easily spending upwards of 6 months to work on the details. For example, the trip to Central Asia was just over 7 months in planning! Same for Greece and Turkey. This trip has probably taken two weeks and most of that was spent reading up on the places to go and things to see.
This is the first trip for Z and I and the first overseas that he's been on without his mom and brother in tow. So, I want him to participate in deciding on what we do, see, and eat. That meant holding back on the planning. But, I still had to do some planning so I concentrated on reserving our accommodations, getting a general idea of train schedules and booking us on one tour. Other than that, we will be relying on Information and Visitors Centers to give us the information we need. - we're going to be on a constant lookout for the ubiquitous *i*.
The following is a list of a few of the resources that I used in putting this trip together.
General:
www.wikipedia.org
www.wikitravel.org
www.fodors.com
www.raileurope.com/en/index.html (trains)
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/
Accommodations:
http://www.airbnb.com
http://www.booking.com
Belgium:
http://www.visitbelgium.com/
Brussels:
http://visitbrussels.be/bitc/front/home/display/lg/en/section/visiteur.do
http://www.comicscenter.net/en/home
Bruges:
https://bezoekers.brugge.be/en
http://www.free-city-guides.com/bruges/
http://www.enchantingbruges.com/
http://www.damme-online.com/gb.htm (Damme)
Ghent:
http://www.visitgent.be/
Paris:
General:
http://en.parisinfo.com/
http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/best-family-trips/paris/
https://parisianfields.wordpress.com/guide-for-visitors-to-paris/ (good suggestions for budget traveler)
http://www.francetravelplanner.com
http://www.monuments-nationaux.fr/en/
Must-do's:
http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/city-guides/paris-must-dos/
Daytrip ideas:
http://www.getyourguide.com/
Food:
http://www.parisbymouth.com
http://www.foodandwine.com/paris-travel
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/paris/
Markets:
http://goparis.about.com/od/parisgourmetfoodshops/ss/street-markets-in-Paris.htm#showall
http://www.timeout.com/paris/en/shopping/la-grande-epicerie-de-paris
http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/international-foods/paris-patisseries/
Bistros:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-best-new-paris-bistros-1431624971
http://www.timeout.com/paris/en/food-and-drink/100-best-restaurants-bistros
Paris Catacombs:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/02/paris-underground/noe-text
http://www.localers.com
Versailles:
http://en.chateauversailles.fr/homepage
http://www.viator.com
Update: Oct 24, 2015. I wanted to add the name of the iPhone app that Z used to navigate us around. It was extremely useful and does not require data to use. It's called City Maps 2 Go and you can download it from iTunes.
