Hello helpful Travelers: I have an itinerary question. Late April-early May: 11 days Netherlands (Amsterdam 4, Leiden/Kuekenhof 5, Rotterdam/Kinderdijk 2) , 8 days Belgium ( Brussels and Bruges). We are late 70s and active. We love walking tours, museums, architecture, history, culture. I had planned 5 nights Bruges and 3 nights Brussels. However, we want some time in Antwerp, and don't want to stay there. I am thinking to cut 1 day from Bruges and add 1 day to Brussels with a day trip to Antwerp. For those of you who have been in Belgium, what are your thoughts? Thank you in advance. Your input is always valuable during this planning process! Happy travels, Susan
Posted by
Vancouver, BC
776 posts
On our trip to Belgium we spent a few days in each: Antwerp, Bruges, and Ghent. Our day trip was to Brussels. We very much enjoyed Antwerp (you can easily spend more than a day there). I would agree that taking a day from Bruges is a reasonable option.
Posted by
Citizen of the World
2658 posts
Antwerp is a great city— a favorite weekend destination among Europeans. Five nights in Bruges can easily be trimmed to four nights added to Brussels. and you can Daytrip to ANTWERP I would even suggest staying in Antwerp and taking a daytrip to Brussels. ANTWERP’s old center surrounding the cathedral and the neighborhood called COGELS-OSYLEI are my two favorite neighborhoods to explore. COGELS--OSYLEI., located near Antwerp’s Berchem train station, is a five-minute ride from Antwerp’s Centraal train station ( an attraction in itself). COGELS--OSYLEI is where the wealthy built their mansions of every architectural style from 1881-1910. The “Golden Triangle” bordered by the streets of COGELS--OSYLEI, Waterloostraar, and Transvaalstraat contains 170 mansions that makes this neighborhood an unofficial open-air museum of architecture. GHENT is only 25 train minutes from Bruges and makes for a great daytrip from Bruges.
Posted by
OP
lake forest park, washington, usa
136 posts
Very helpful replies!! Thank you so much. Susan
Posted by
OP
lake forest park, washington, usa
136 posts
Also, wondering if people found Brussels not to be a favorite. I don't know much about it, but expect it to have great architecture and museums. Is it farther down the list from Ghent and especially Antwerp in this regard? susan
Posted by
Citizen of the World
2658 posts
Antwerp has a lot of great museums placed inside historic buildings going all the way back to the 1400’s
Antwerp also has its grand “Grote Markt” which is like Brussels’ Grand Place.
Brussels also has great museums—particularly its Royal Museums of Fine Arts. That and seeing the Grand Place— and Brussels is mostly a wrap. Brussels is a huge metropolitan area of 2 million where it was quite easy to get lost in the city’s Metro system. Brussels always seems to be under construction to me. It’s very busy, very spread out— so finding the Art Nouveau houses designed by Viktor Horta takes more time than you’d imagine.
Antwerp, on the other hand. Is a moderate size city of 500K that feels easier and is just more pleasant.
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
8233 posts
+1 for Antwerp. Takes several days of walking (or trams) to see it all. It is technically unecessary to stay in more than one of these towns, because of five trains an hour to the others. Unless you have been told that Bruges is the most romantic city in the entire world, and you must wake up there to escape the ... ... tourists. (Yogi said, "No one goes there anymore, it's too crowded.")
Brussels has some very good museums, but the city just doesn't deliver as much as Antwerp. I like the Coudenberg palace cellars museums, and the churches too. But Brussels does not have three days of attractions. Grand Place is good for 15 minutes. Actually, the squares in Antwerp are almost as nice, and there are more of them.
I can't imagine 5 nights in Bruges, even with daytrips. It's just not that big. And there are equally nice Beguinages (for instance) in Leuven, Turnhout, and a ghost of the Beguinage in Mechelen. It is does not have "Monuments Men" art, but you could argue that Lier is as attractive as Bruges, in a different way. Actually, I found the historic Bruges Beguinage to be shockingly "re-developed" as wealthy pied-a-terres, for a supposedly locked-in-amber UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Strange that you didn't mention the Gent Altarpiece (booking required) and that very attractive rival for Bruges.
Posted by
Chicago
3506 posts
I can't imagine 5 nights in Bruges, even with daytrips.
I spent 5 nights in Bruges last year and I can’t wait to go back for more. :-) It just goes to show that everyone is different and likes different things.
You might find my trip report helpful: