Belgium itinerary questions UPDATE: TRAIN QUESTIONS

Ghent is more central, I think a bit more of a lived in feel than Bruges. Bruges is worth a day trip though.

Antwerp could be done as you pass through. Stash your bags at the train station, wander for a good part of the day, then onto your destination, either on the way to Ghent/Bruges, or on the way to Utrecht.

I was just in bruges for 5 nights and loved it!! So, that would be my choice.

You might find my trip report helpful as I visited many of the places you list.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/solo-in-the-netherlands-and-belgium-my-trip-report

Yes Carrie, your train information in particular has been very helpful. Thank you for a great report!

Does the itinerary with the last two nights in Utrecht seem reasonable?

Antwerp: As Paul mentioned, since many of the trains require a change in Antwerp anyway, it is easy to leave your bags in a locker in the Antwerp station and spend as much time as you want in Antwerp on your way to another destination. The lockers are right behind the Tourist Information office in the Antwerp train station. There is a choice of various size lockers. It is an easy walk from the Antwerp station, which is worth seeing for itself, to the Grote Markt and other historic squares; there are also trams. If you are interested in art, there are 4 paintings by Rubens in the Our Lady Cathedral in Antwerp. There are lots of other museums and churches too.

If you are interested in art, stopping tin Den Haag for the Mauritshuis museum before or after Delft is definitely rewarding. The Mauritshuis has several Vermeer paintings including Girl with the Pearl Earring. The Vermeer center in Delft has no actual paintings but provides background and context for the paintings in Den Haag and in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

People have different views on staying in Bruges versus Gent. I stayed in Gent and found Bruges to be perfect for a day trip but that was without the added attraction of the Christmas market. I think there is more to do and see in Gent but I'm sure that can be debated. Advanced tickets and time slot are highly recommended for the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb (Gent Alterpiece) in Gent. I found many restaurants closed on Sunday and Monday in Gent (in October) whereas that didn't seem to be the case in Bruges on a Monday. You may want to check which days any sights you are especially interested in are closed for the cities you will visit.

Does the itinerary with the last two nights in Utrecht seem
reasonable?

Seems reasonable to me. There’s really no wrong choices. It just depends on what interests you and what you like to do. I prefer to be outside all day walking around. I can stand about 1 hour in a museum before I want to get back outside. Others prefer to have actual “things to do” like my sister and brother-in-law. When I travel with them, I plan differently. For me, walking around is my things to do. 😊

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/belgium/day-trips-from-brussels-besides-bruges-and-ghent

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/belgium/day-trips-from-brussels-768c7c85-75b9-4374-ad13-ae36967bc521

I prefer to be outside all day walking around. I can stand about 1 hour in a museum before I want to get back outside. Others prefer to have actual “things to do” like my sister and brother-in-law. When I travel with them, I plan differently. For me, walking around is my things to do.

Us too!

Thanks for the info and links everyone!

Couple of quick train questions: (I have been reading the recent trip reports -Carrie, looking at you— and searching others) often I see people recommending avoiding “fast” trains so hence the questions. I'm sure this is much easier in person than reading on the forums but there are so many apps and options I just want to clarify, lol.

1. I’m thinking I read that I should purchase tickets in advance for travel BETWEEN NL and Belgium. So if we are leaving Delft to travel to Bruges on Dec 1st, should I go ahead and purchase now? In looking I see a couple that say “1st class full” and some that even say “2nd class full” leaving only the more expensive 1st class.

2. I see the IC trains, that take 3 hours between the two. OR, the ones with the Eurostar that take 2:40. IIRC, people suggest the IC trains, yes?

3. And should I go ahead and purchase return tickets now (travel from Bruges to Utrecht Dec 4th), or, in the interest of flexibility, can I wait until in Belgium to purchase, the week of?

TIA!

I'm not going back to reread but my memory is that the advice is to avoid the very expensive Thalys/Eurostar when you're just arriving because the less expensive tickets on that come with restrictions so you would have to either wait a long time so you don't miss it (and if flying you might miss the whole day). The slightly slower International train doesn't have those restrictions. You can travel without worry.

If you are settled and can predict with certainty which train you will catch then the more expensive and slightly faster Thalys/Eurostar is fine.

You still have to change in Antwerp or Brussels (Antwerp is easier) to get to Gent and Bruges.

I would purchase Delft to Bruges now. One less thing to worry about later. There’s no assigned seats, so I’m not sure why you are seeing “full.” Let me look. Oh, are you looking at the ones with the Eurostar? That leg of the journey does have assigned seats. I took the non Eurostar one that went through Breda then to Antwerp. They will give you a short connection in Breda, so take the earlier train there to make sure you catch the international train. [NOTE: you might be able to take any international train you want. I had a special early bird ticket that said I must take that specific train.] Once you make it to Antwerp, you can take the train with a connection in Gent that it gives you (I did), or you can take a different train. The non international legs are not train or time specific. I did 1st class as those cars are usually less crowded.

For Bruges to Utrecht (nice choice), if you buy earlier, it might be cheaper. But you can wait if that’s not an issue. If you want the Eurostar, that could sell out so I would buy earlier. For Bruges to Haarlem, I did the Eurostar, but I would not do that a second time. Very cramped and crowded even in 1st class; not impressed. My transfer was in Antwerp. I was avoiding a transfer in brussels. I think there was a non Eurostar option with a transfer at Schiphol. Being unfamiliar, I avoided that transfer, [EDITED my transfer was in rotterdam], but there was no need to avoid the schiphol transfer. Very easy. Looks like if you did the non Eurostar, you would transfer in Antwerp and then breda onward. Remember, if the ticket has you changing in ghent on the way to Antwerp, you can avoid that and take the option from bruges straight to Antwerp with no change. I did this to avoid the extra change.

I would do the non Eurostar for both journeys if the times work out. That way, there’s no worry about missing you Eurostar reservations.

I hope that helps. Let me know if I, or someone else, can help to clarify further if needed. We want to make sure you’re all straight on the trains so that’s one less thing to worry about.

My feeling was that the difference in travel time between the faster train and the IC was not enough to be worth (for me) the higher price and decreased flexibility. For me, flexibility is usually the priority.

The cheapest advance tickets for the train I took from Amsterdam to Antwerp (and on to Gent) on Friday Oct. 6 were already sold out / not available when I checked back in August. For the next level price, there was no savings in booking early. In contrast, for the IC train I took from Antwerp to Leiden on Tue Oct 10, I was able to get an advance discount price by purchasing online only 3 days in advance. As Carrie (or someone) said, the discounted advance tickets limit your to a specific train at least for the international segment. My impression is that the popularity of the route and of the day or date affects the availability of the discount advance tickets.

Thank you all, I have purchased some tickets ahead.

All the help is very appreciated- we added on the extra days to be able to see a tiny bit of Belgium. Our Romania trip didn't work out. We left on October 11 and my mom passed away on October 12, so we turned around the next morning and flew home. I think she would be glad I'm going to celebrate her birthday hopefully at the Bruges Christmas market.

My condolences on the loss of your mother.

I will look for a trip report from you as this is an area we would like to explore more! ;)