a day in Bruges or Antwerp?

The train station in Antwerp is gorgeous. But if you went to Bruges you'd see it anyways.

In my opinion, Antwerp is a city. Bruges is a town.

Ghent is another option, and is worth considering as it is closer to Antwerp. It might allow
you to do both places in one day, at some level.

Bruges is lovely, that would be my choice. As the previous commenter stated as well, we changed trains in Antwerp. We had enough time to admire the station and take photos.

If your main focus is architecture and like Gothic architecture than Bruges is the place to go. There are a lot of neo-style buildings from later periods, but nevertheless enough original “stuf” to enjoy there.

Antwerp, especially around the main square is more Renaissance and further more a mixed bag with styles from later periods. Nevertheless there are Gothic style buildings too, but not so much like in Bruges. However the Gothic style Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp is the most impressive church anyway in Belgium, certainly worth to see. The Zurenborg district with it’s Cogels-Osylei street is very lovely and known for it’s turn of the century architecture. Easy to walk from Berchem train station, just one stop from Antwerp Central.

As shoeflyer already said Bruges is a town and Antwerp a city and means a different vibe. Ghent is a bit in the middle, but leans to my opinion more towards Bruges. So the cities offer a more intimate experience and that is actually my personal preference too. If this is what you prefer I would go to Bruges.

I like Bruges, in the spring it's a very attractive town and the local flea market is always worth a hour or two.

But I prefer Antwerp, because I've worked seaports and find them interesting, and there's more to see in Antwerp. Plus I can look for locations that were involved in the battle for the town during WWII.

If you only have one day Bruges is probably better. But take into account the time lost traveling.

It's unfortunate that no one at home will ask you if you saw Antwerp, but many will ask you if you saw Bruges. There is much more to see in Antwerp, but it takes much more effort (and on a river cruise, planning) to see it. But you would get 3+ more hours in Antwerp. You have to be sure you don't miss the ship departure.

I have spent many weeks in Antwerp (with my wife's business trips, so all my time was free-time), so it is unfair for me to answer the question for your circumstances. I happen to prefer the art in Antwerp to that in Bruges, but Bruges is very pretty. The medieval areas in Antwerp are smaller and scattered around. But it takes several days to "see" Antwerp fully. Antwerp is extremely popular with Europeans.

Bruges suffers immensely from tourist crowding, but it's also true that Antwerp has some of Amsterdam's big-city drawbacks.

Day of the week and museum closing days?

What time of year will this shake down?

You may have less time than you think with train transfers. Not sure when you have to board the boat.

Having been to Antwerp and Bruges (and Ghent and Brussels), I encourage you to research both. Antwerp will give off a larger city vibe but it has a lot to offer. It is a bit more spread out as stated by another poster. Bruges is more compact and it is more “atmospheric “ but it is also a bit more touristy feeling and it will be packed with more people. We were there in the offseason and were tripping over people everywhere we went.

Ghent was my favorite Belgium city. Nice mix between Antwerp and Bruges. A little smaller than Antwerp and a little more real than Bruges. Maybe not quite as “atmospheric “ as Bruges but more than Antwerp. Nice castle and a fine, fine piece of art ( that has been stolen many times for good reason).

You win no matter which you choose. Choose the one that, after some research, your heart tells you to go to. Rick says Bruges but the maestro has his opinions and is not always right, in my opinion.

To me, Bruges has more of a town feel to it while Antwerp has a small city feel. Both are worth visiting for different reasons depending on what you like to see.

I had a bad fall in the Antwerp Sint-Annatunnel occasioned by the bicycle traffic there. I really don't recommend the Sint-Annatunnel if you have mobility issues. We had heard flowery descriptions of the decorations within, but those really exist only in the escalator halls. The tunnel itself carries both pedestrian and bicycle traffic with no clear delineation of who is supposed to be where. Go, ride the escalator down from the ground to the tunnel level, then return to the surface. That's my recommendation.

As other posters have noted, Bruges and Antwerp are very different. Bruges is quite historic and Antwerp is very much a city. If you gravitate to the “old town” in European cities, I’m thinking you might like Bruges a lot, if you have to choose between the two.

We stayed in Brussels last August and did 1 day trip to Bruges and 2 trips to Antwerp. We loved Antwerp so much we went back a second time. When we were there, Bruges was very crowded, which made it more difficult to enjoy.

You didn't plan a trip to Belgium. You joined a cruise that is only stopping in Antwerp for fifteen hours. You should just stay in Antwerp and skip Bruges because Antwerp is a good city and it would take too much effort and time to try rushing to Bruges and back to Antwerp on the trains. Antwerp has better museums than Bruges. I know a lot of "drive by" tourists skip museums and sites and just walk through parts of a historic neighborhood and are happy enough. I spent 3 nights in Antwerp. I didn't give myself time for Bruges. I joined a guided "free" English walking tour in Antwerp. "Free" means you give the narrator a tip of ten to twenty euros at the end. There might have been a tourism office in Antwerp where the tour started just outside of. Search for this or a similar tour or find a guidebook that has a self-guided tour. Look up what is in Antwerp. If you still wish you had seen Bruges 2 weeks after you get home, see if you can plan another trip and spend at least 7 whole days in Belgium including Bruges.