Brugge for young solo female traveler

Brugge is charming and safe. She'll fall in love immediately!
When is this trip? Brugge might get crowded with day trippers, on a beautiful day, but around 3:30pm they all seem to leave.
Wishing her a great trip!

Thanks for the reply. Her trip will be in early June.

Nothing wrong with Bruges or Ghent. Is she traveling around the Netherlands with the Amsterdam group?

Bruges and Ghent are great cities to visit; small and charming and easy to navigate. Ghent is is also a college town, so lots of young people. It would make a great day trip from Bruges.

I suggest she watch George Clooney's movie The Monuments Men. It's based on a true story and will be interesting for seeing Michaelangelo's Madonna in Bruges and The Ghent Altarpiece in Ghent.

Ghent is even smaller than Bruges,

In terms of population, Ghent is actually more than twice the size of Bruges. I also think it is larger in area. But I agree that it is still a very manageable size and the historic center feels small. Either would be a good place to stay or visit on a daytrip.

From the description of your daughter, I would absolutely suggest Bruges! It's safe, smaller in size, absolutely lovely and not overwhelming. It's also an easy train ride from Amsterdam!

With 4-5 days, I'd maybe split the time between Bruges and Ghent. Both are safe, very pretty, and easy to get around: we walked everywhere. For a lover of art I'd recommend the Groeningemuseum in Bruges and the Memling collection at Museum Sint-Janshospitaal. That one also has a very interesting history as one of Europe's oldest preserved hospitals. The Gruuthusemuseum was closed for some renovation work back when we were there so we didn't get to see that one but she should give it a go. Anyway, lots of interesting churches, canals, squares and historic architecture to see, and a fun, pedestrian-friendly little city to explore on foot. Crowds seemed to stay mostly around the Markt and Burg; she'll find some very nice corners (and breathing room) away from those areas. Oh, and early mornings are great times for playing shutterbug! Bruges is not a party town so no worries there.

As she likes the outdoors, here's a recommended walk: https://www.visitbruges.be/en/things-to-do/culture-and-heritage/de-vesten-city-ramparts
https://www.eghn.org/en/ramparts-bruges/

Our time in Ghent was too short (did it as a day trip from Bruges) but as already mentioned it's a college town so there will be lots of folks her age around. Yep, another fun one to walk, The Ghent Altarpiece (Saint Bavo’s Cathedral) will be a must for your art lover!

Has your daughter been to Delft? She may want to consider it for a day and overnight.

I am in the minority. I disliked Bruges: twee; touristy; overpriced. Worth half a day, to me. Ghent is livelier, younger. Brussels and Antwerp were also fascinating, but cities.

Bruges May Berthe safest, if that is your main concern.

I am in the minority. I disliked Bruges: twee; touristy; overpriced.
Worth half a day, to me.

We had 4 nights (1 day to Ghent), didn't run out of interesting places to explore, and not much at all I'd personally call 'twee' unless one hasn't read up on the history, maybe. I'll note that we did skip attractions that didn't appeal such as Choco-Story and climbing the belfry. A young woman, especially, may find a visit to the beguinage of Ten Wijngaerde especially interesting with advance reading about these Medieval enclaves for single women that were alternatives to marriage, servitude or monastic institutions (no binding vows required.)

We had the Jerusalem Chapel at the Adornesdomein amazingly all to ourselves: another 15th-century jewel, and full of symbolism related to the Passion. A pilgrim unable to make the journey to Jerusalem themselves could experience the spiritual idea of it by, say, climbing the chapel's steps to elevated 'Calvary' on their knees, and being in proximity to a relic said to be of the 'True Cross.' (I'm not religious; was just interested in the cultural background of this family chapel.). The Adornes Estate is still owned by the 17th generation of that family; an important surname in the story of Bruges!

Just a few reasons to go? :O)

(Edited)

I'm with NYCMOM and while I thought that Bruges was fine and I enjoyed my day trip there, I really, really loved Ghent. It was just so much more alive and seemed like a real place, as opposed to a tourist attraction. Don't get me wrong, Bruges is beautiful but it was very, very crowded when I was there (yes, it's during the day, but it still doesn't make it easier to get around) and I think your daughter might have more fun in Ghent. At the very least, she should go to both places and not just limit herself to one city.

And for what it's worth, you'll be surprised at how resourceful college students are when it comes to travel. My daughter spent two separate semesters abroad when she was in college. Her first semester abroad was when she was a sophomore, so she would have been 19. They had classes four days a week, and then some of them would travel on the long weekends. This was her first time overseas.

So on her first available weekend, she decided to go to Prague. She went on her own and spent 3 days enjoying the city. What was so funny is that she met a couple of Czech students at the train station when she got into Prague, hit it off with them and they invited her to stay with them that weekend (she accepted). I admit that I panicked when I heard about it, although it was after the fact and I knew that she was okay, but she was fine. She's a good judge of character, and everything worked out. I'm sure your daughter will be just fine, too, especially since she has already been to Europe. Even if she wasn't by herself, it still makes a difference being exposed to that different culture. 😊

One more thing, just out of curiosity, has your daughter expressed any interest in any places? If she has friends over there, she might want to talk to them. Just keep in mind that all of us here are older travelers and relatively affluent. Our tastes in travel are going to be much different than a 22-year-old's. I would definitely try and get her to contribute and do some research on her own (Instagram and YouTube have lots of ideas). There are a lot of wonderful places in Europe.