Actual Train Station distance from three key cities in Brussels?

I use the map App/button on my phone to look at walking distances in places I will be before every trip. I check the distance from my lodging to anyplace I plan to visit on my trip.

As stated above, Google Maps is your friend. If you are a slower walker, plan additional time. For many people a 30 minute walk is nothing, for others it requires a taxi.

Many cities have a bus that runs a circuit to various points.

For the cities in Belgium you mention, I would base in Bruges or Ghent for my entire stay and do day trips to the other places.

Bruges has a Centrum shuttle minibus that has a circular route from the train station thru the Old Town. Previously it was free, but based reports here , it's now charging a few euros. We found it quite handy from our lodging.
For a day trip to Ghent, we used the P4 bus to the center of town from the train station. Check the current bus # as I believe construction may have affected the routes.
The above routes took 10-15 minutes on the various buses.
Public transportation is so easy to use in these areas, no reason to worry about walking distances. Save your legs for the actual exploring.
Have a great trip.

Hi Eddie! From the train station(s) Bruges is an easy 15 min walk, Ghent is about a 30 min walk. I can't speak to Antwerp. And for perspective, it was me (mid-50's) and my 23 yo son, both very fit. Enjoy your visit!

Thanks for the insights. We are torn between choosing Antwerp, Ghent, or Bruges, and the RS Forum members bring up so many good pros to each of these locations. I will scan through some more posts and then will go ahead and make a choice.

So far, it seems like Bruges is the most mystical/fairy tale-like, Ghent has half of that mystical feel but is also a bit more like a liveable everyday town, Antwerp surprises most and is the cleanest and a bit modern while still looking historic in some places. How is that for a good 30 minutes of RS forum reading - HA?

I haven't been to Antwerp yet, but in the last month I visited Brussels, Bruges and Ghent. My policy is to stay in the city with the most sightseeing of interest to me but not to plan two day-trips to the same city. There was enough of interest to me that I decided to stay in all three cities, but I had to contort my itinerary to avoid an expensive hotel stay during the Ghent Festival.

In Bruges you're walking past historic buildings much of the way from the station to the center of the old town. However, you are likely to encounter multipIe tour groups following pennant-waving guides along the way. If you stay in Bruges, you may need dinner reservations. However,
by that time of the day, the sidewalks are devoid of tour groups.

Ghent-St. Peters is a long way from the historic center. Part of that walk is through a rather unattractive commercial area. Just east of the train station (not on the way to the historic center) is some stunning Art Nouveau architecture.

Brussels has multiple train stations, but Brussels Central is the most centrally located. However, the city's major sites are not concentrated in a single area. Construction work outside Central Station has messed up a bunch of bus stops and also affected pedestrian paths (the latter primarily to the northeast). And that station is annoying if you are deaing with luggage or have mobility issues. It's hard to find an elevator or fully useful escalator. Signage is not good. I expected better from the capital of Belgium. Really liked the city; hated every trip through Central Station.

In Europe there always seems to be good transportation heading in all directions from the main train station. Frequency of that transportation is key, as is a willingness to pay the price for a hotel in a practical location, given your personal sightseeing plans. Checking out transit times to your points of interest is a good idea. When it came time to plan my movement around Brussels (often to odd locations not of interest to the typical US tourist), I found coverng relatively short distances took longer than I would have guessed. I hate standing around at bus stops and transfer points, so I ended up walking rather than riding most of the time.

In Brussels, Central is already almost in the historic centre. It's about 10 minutes' walk downhill to the Grand' Place and on the way there are many businesses, waffle shops, etc (acraven's reports about street works notwithstanding). If you make Brussels your base, there are many hotels between the station and the Grand' Place, so there is easy access to the trains.

Lavandula

Only in Ghent and Antwerp you need public transport for going to the main square area. However in Antwerp you can stroll through it's main shopping street Meir, takes some 20 minutes and fun to do.

The historical part of Bruges starts as soon as you cross the main road in front of the train station there. But you can take like Pat already remarks a minibus if you are looking for convenience. Or don’t want to drag your luggage all the way to your hotel in case you stay there.

In Brussels I would only walk from the central station, the area around the two other stations have drug related issues and therefore not so safe.

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In Brussels I would only walk from the central station, the area around the two other stations have drug related issues and therefore not so safe.

Maybe your experience is different, but in my experience of cities, people that are out their nut on drugs being around doesn't necessarily make somewhere dangerous.

From the train stations it’s about a mile to the historic center in both Bruges and Antwerp. It’s further from Ghent-St. Peters so we took the tram that dropped us off by the castle.

Distance to the centers played no part in our decision. Our itinerary was train to Bruges (3 nights) upon arrival, then the Ghent (2N), then Antwerp (2N), and back to Brussels for a night before flying out