Projekt NeBelFra – On Tour With Fit Elderly People | August 2026

My beloved auntie and uncle came to visit us in Germany. I stayed at their place in Vietnam for around three months in 2023, and this time it was them staying with me and my family (mostly with my family though).

To entertain them, we had already visited several German cities together. But to finish their short trip to Europe, we also wanted to show them a little more of Europe and not just Germany. My parents suggested the Netherlands, and I think every Asian wants to see Paris at least once.

So we compromised and included Belgium for a little roundtrip.

To my misery, we had to spontaneously adapt our plans and decided to go in August, a month where I already had plans every weekend.

And thus, with just one week of preparation and trying to find the ideal balance between budget and comfort, we came up with the following itinerary:

Day 1 – 3: Start in Dresden and travel by train to Amsterdam
- City sightseeing
- Zaanse Schans windmill village half-day trip, boat tour in Amsterdam
Day 4 -5: From Amsterdam, take a FlixBus to Ghent
- Explore the inner city of Ghent: Belfry of Ghent, St. Nicholas’ Church, St. Michael’s Bridge, Gravensteen Castle and Graffiti Street
Day 6 – 7: My family travels from Ghent to Paris by FlixBus, while I take a night bus back to Dresden to mind my business over the weekend.
Day 8 – 12: After finishing my business, I travel to Prague by FlixBus to catch a flight to Paris and meet up with my family.
- Jardin du Luxembourg, Notre-Dame, Panthéon, Sacré-Cœur
- Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe
- Chill day, followed by the Eiffel Tower and the eclipse in the evening
Day 13: Fly from Paris to Prague, from where we take the train back to Dresden.

Originally, I even wanted to include Luxembourg, but that would have been a bit too much of a detour.

To Amsterdam

Fun anecdote: The real DB experience

We intended to travel by ICE from Dresden to Amsterdam with a single transfer in Hannover. The connection itself was super comfortable, and since we were six people, we even got a discounted Europe family ticket which was surprisingly affordable and included seat reservations.
We departed from Dresden at 1 PM, which in hindsight was a little bit optimistic. At first, everything went smoothly, but then the inevitable happened: a train ahead of us had a malfunction, which made our train arrive too late in Hannover to catch our connection. We would have just barely made the train after that, which was also the last direct train to Amsterdam that day, but we needed a reservation and could only get one through a service employee.
And thus, the authentic DB experience began.
We had to stay overnight, but there was no hotel left for six people, at least none registered with DB in the near vicinity. So, pragmatically, they sent us to Duisburg instead, from where we could continue to Amsterdam the next day. Unfortunately, the train to Duisburg, which would normally take roughly two hours, was also delayed. We eventually caught one of the very last trains of the day at half past nine and arrived in Duisburg just before midnight. However, the hotel had not been informed of our arrival, so we had to wait yet again before we could finally get to our rooms.
Interestingly enough, the taxi driver there told us that he regularly drives DB passengers who miss their train from Duisburg all the way to Amsterdam, which is roughly 200 km. I wonder why we did not get that offer, but maybe it was because the ride would have gotten us to Amsterdam well past midnight, which might have been a no-no?

Finally, after around 24 hours of travelling, we arrived in Amsterdam on Tuesday, with just a small delay of half a day.

Our hostel room for six people was at Amsterdam Sloterdijk. I would probably not recommend that area if you are bound by public transport, as it is quite far away from the city center, but I can imagine it being very convenient if you travel around by bike.

After some unpacking and napping, we started exploring and strolling through the inner city. For my auntie and uncle, who are on a somewhat stricter diet, finding suitable food was not that simple. Luckily, we came across Chinatown right around dinner time, where many restaurants offered food that could be shared and was familiar to their stomachs.

A little bit ironic that we, as a Vietnamese family, especially with two people coming all the way from Vietnam, travelled to Amsterdam just to end up in a Chinese restaurant.

Anyhow, even though we did not walk that much, everyone was exhausted, so we ended the day early and prepared ourselves for the next day.

The following day, we did a half-day tour to Zaanse Schans with GetYourGuide, which started quite early in the morning. Interestingly enough, there were a lot of Spanish-speaking tourists in our group, and our guides even spoke Spanish. Apparently, Spanish-speaking tourists are quite common here.

Fun Fact Windmills:

* Windmills helped drive early industrialization, long before coal and steam engines became widespread. They powered sawmills, ground grain, produced oil from seeds and much more.
* They helped the Dutch reclaim land from water. Windmills powered pumps that moved water from low-lying areas into canals and rivers.
Windmills also helped build ships. Wind-powered sawmills could turn logs into planks much faster, providing the large amounts of timber needed for Dutch shipbuilding.
* Russian Tsar Peter the Great travelled to the Netherlands in the late 17th century and worked at Dutch shipyards to learn techniques that he later used to modernize the Russian navy.
* Windmills can turn towards the wind. Depending on the type, either the entire upper part or just the cap can rotate so that the blades face the wind.
* Windmills did not originate in the Netherlands. Early windmills already existed in Persia, modern-day Iran, centuries earlier. The Dutch later developed the technology further and adapted it for many different purposes.
* Dutch windmills were often made largely from wood, while many traditional Spanish windmills were built from stone.
* At its peak, around 600 windmills operated in the Zaan region. Many were built close to the water, making it easy to transport raw materials and finished products by ship.

After that, the gang was surprisingly still nimble, so we decided to go for another stroll, did some grocery shopping and even took a boat tour through the canals of Amsterdam before calling it a day.

Fun Fact Amsterdam

* The Netherlands literally means “the low lands”, referring to the country’s low and flat geography.

* Around one quarter of the Netherlands lies below sea level, with about 21% of its population living there. Overall, the country ranges from almost 7 metres below sea level to just 322 metres above it at its highest natural point.

* Amsterdam has more than 100 km of canals and around 1,500 bridges crossing them.

* The small wooden beams on many Amsterdam houses were used with pulleys to lift heavy objects and furniture directly through the windows.

Fun anecdote: Apparently forgetfulness is hereditary

I always thought I was just really forgetful. As a kid, and still to this day, I sometimes just lose my keys. But apparently that trait is hereditary.
On our first day in Amsterdam, after going to a supermarket, my mother forgot her tablet at the cashier. Luckily, they had kept it for us. Just the next day, after we finished our day and got off the bus, several minutes passed until my mum noticed that my tripod was missing. And indeed, my father had been carrying it and forgot it on the bus.
Talk about blood relatives.

Ghent

We departed early on Thursday morning and arrived after around four hours at the eastern FlixBus station in Ghent at around 1 PM. I had a medical situation and needed to see a doctor, and since we couldn’t check in yet anyway, we took our time and chatted away the afternoon.

When we finally checked into our Airbnb, we realized that it was just smack dab in the middle of the city center. Then again, Ghent is so small that almost everything feels like it is in the city center.

Our Airbnb was on a street just across from Ghent City Hall. From there, it was very easy to reach all the main sightseeing spots, such as the Belfry of Ghent, St. Nicholas’ Church, St. Michael’s Bridge and Gravensteen Castle. Even the Graffiti Street (Werregarenstraat) was literally next door. Perfect for a 1.5-day stay.

I liked this small city a lot. It had a lot of charm and many authentic-looking old buildings, and apparently my father liked it as well. Gravensteen Castle was especially impressive, and the audio guide was surprisingly informative.

On Saturday afternoon, my family then departed for Paris by FlixBus, which again took just around four hours. They would arrive in Paris relaxed and have Sunday off to get organized and recover. I, on the other hand, had other plans.

Fun anecdote: My little side quest

Now begins my little side quest. A friend of mine was celebrating her birthday on Saturday, which I did not want to miss, especially because a lot of friends who had moved away would come back home for it.
Luckily for me, there is literally a night bus from Ghent to Berlin, from where I could catch another FlixBus to Dresden. The night bus took around nine hours, and I slept surprisingly well. Well rested, I participated in the gathering, slept in my own bed for one night and departed by FlixBus to Prague Airport the very next day at 11 in the morning.
Getting from Prague city center to the airport was a bit bothersome, but mostly just a matter of time. Luckily, there were no delays, and I arrived in Paris at around 8 PM, where my family was already waiting for me after spending a relaxed day recovering from the previous days of travelling.
After arriving, I also bought Navigo Découverte cards for my mum and auntie as they do not own a smartphone, so we could use the weekly pass for the following days.

Paris

Now that I had rejoined my family, there was no holding back and we went full throttle into sightseeing. This also worked out perfectly with the Navigo weekly pass, which is only valid from Monday to Sunday.

For Monday and Tuesday, we planned to cover all the famous sightseeing spots you would typically see on a Paris magnet.

Since our apartment was in the 12th district (east side), we started with the Panthéon and took a stroll through the Jardin des Plantes along the way. Surprisingly, my family especially liked the garden because of all the different plants and information boards. After a quick snap of the Panthéon, we headed to the Jardin du Luxembourg before going back home for a short siesta. In the evening, we went to Sacré-Cœur to watch the sunset.

This mode of operation, especially trying to fit in our siesta time, was however not optimal, as we ended up spending a lot of time going back and forth. So the next day, we spontaneously decided to just power through the entire day. Our route went from Notre-Dame to the Louvre, then along the southern side of the Seine to the Eiffel Tower and finally to the Arc de Triomphe. The 36 °C heat did not exactly make things easier, but we finished our sightseeing in the late afternoon, bought some groceries and enjoyed some nice homemade food. In fact, during our entire stay in Paris, thanks to my mum and our Airbnb, we did not eat out even once.

I was a bit surprised that we managed to finish all those sightseeing spots so quickly. Then again, we did not really go inside any of them, but mostly took some photos outside and strolled around (#any%speedrun).

Wednesday was our last day, and since we had already finished all the must-dos, we decided to take things slow. Incidentally, there was also a rather rare eclipse happening that day. So in the morning, I was hustling around four different opticians trying to get three pairs of eclipse glasses. Since the weather was scorchingly hot, we decided to stay inside for most of the day and only start exploring again in the evening. I had already looked up some hopefully interesting photo spots and took my auntie, uncle and mum with me. My father was really not in the mood to unnecessarily go out into the heat anymore, while my brother wanted to explore on his own.

Fun anecdote: The eclipse

The official eclipse viewing spot was at Parc André Citroën, and for some reason I thought it would be a good idea to go there to watch it. Obviously, the park was packed to the brim, and my poor elderly relatives had to endure standing in the middle of a crowded path just to watch some weird sun disappear halfway.
And to top it off, I accidentally found out that a distant friend was also in Paris, so we set out to meet up and watch the eclipse together in this very park. Well, that did not happen, but the whole experience was certainly interesting and something I will probably remember for a long time.

I think the actual highlight of that day was the glowing Eiffel Tower and seeing it sparkle every full hour. My uncle seemed to really enjoy it, and it was probably the first time in many years that my auntie and uncle went out just for fun and did not return home to sleep until after midnight.

The very next day, we had a comfortable flight from Paris to Prague. Travelling by train with six people and all our luggage afterwards was a little less enjoyable, but we eventually managed anyway. We finally arrived back in Dresden at 8 PM. Everyone was a bit tired and almost out of energy, but full of new memories.

Epilogue

When I was younger and we visited Vietnam, we always had some kind of weird trip where we had our own tour bus and travelled through the country. This time, it was me who had the responsibility of organizing that tour bus. It was a once-in-a-lifetime trip with my family, and I hope it was as special for them as it was for me.