Five days in Belgium - Brussels or Antwerp for a day

Antwerp is one European city Americans too often miss out on—though Europeans find Antwerp to be among their favorite cities to visit. Antwerp has an incredible Grote Markt that rivals Brussels’ Grand Place. a beautiful, pedestrianized medieval center with its massive cathedral the centerpiece. Antwerp definitely would fulfill your desire to “spend the day wandering and looking at architecture.”

I’ve been to Antwerp many times and recommend spending an entire day ( or two) there because splitting one day between two large cities doesn’t give you enough time in either.

It also makes logistical sense to visit Antwerp just before the Netherlands as it’s just 80 minutes by train from Antwerp to Amsterdam.and one hour from Ghent to Antwerp.

I made repeat visits to Antwerp and Brussels this week, and I prefer a full day in Antwerp. Antwerp does require a lot of walking, because it is a much larger city than Ghent. However, it seemed like 65% of the transit escalators in Antwerp were broken, a real issue with heavy bags. Even the railroad platform escalators at the BRU station often shut down. Locals (including mothers with children) frequently picked up my bag for me because of my grey hair! (age 74).

I personally would stay in one hotel and day trip by cheap unreserved trains. Because there is more to do in Antwerp, I like stayiing there.

I would go to Antwerp. Brussels is not so good for a day trip as the rewarding sites are very spread out.

I'm having difficulty figuring out what were the "rewarding sights" in Brussels. I don't remember much about the Grand Place, so clearly I didn't think it was "pretty spectacular". I have not been to Antwerp, so can't compare the two.

I don't remember much about the Grand Place, so clearly I didn't think it was "pretty spectacular".

Victor Hugo is, after Voltaire, France’s most famous poet and novelist. His prose and poetry bear witness to a passionate commitment to social, political and philosophical causes.

Everyone should know him because of his famous works: Notre-Dame de Paris (The Hunchback of Notre-Dame) (1831) and Les Misérables (1862).

Victor Hugo stayed in Brussels’ Grand-Place in 1852 during his exile, living at the 'Maison du Moulin à Vent' (number 16) for a short period and mainly at the ‘Maison du Pigeon’ (numbers 26–27). He described the Grand-Place as ‘the most beautiful square in the world’.

Number 26-27 Grand-Place, situated between the Maison de la Chaloupe d'Or and the Maison de l'Ange, still bears the commemorative plaque.

Brussels' Grand Place was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1998.

Thank you all for your insights. Very helpful. We wouldn't be in either Antwerp or Brussels with luggage, just a day trip then back to Ghent for the night before heading to the Netherlands. I need to talk about the options with my daughter, perhaps we could take the train to Brussels for an evening during the week and have dinner at the Grand Place and go to Antwerp on our last day in Belgium.

"His (Victor Hugo) prose and poetry bear witness to a passionate commitment to social, political and philosophical causes." How true !!

His works span both the Romantic and Realist periods in French lit. Re: Brussels and its geographic proximity Victor Hugo in "Les Misérables " offers his description in page after page on the battle of Waterloo, asserting the wish If only it had not rained the night before.

In Arras a large square ca. 40 min walk from the train station through the centre-ville is named after him. Likewise, you'll come across streets "Rue Victor Hugo" in towns across France

Victor Hugo arrived in Mont-Saint-Jean on 7 May 1860 and stayed for two months at the Hôtel des Colonnes, in a room located above the main entrance door. It was there that he finished writing Les Misérables.

This building — situated at the junction of the N5 and N27 roads — was demolished in 1963. The balustrade from the balcony of his bedroom is preserved at the Musée du Caillou, Napoleon’s final headquarters.

Take note of the name Mont-Saint-Jean. This village lies 1 km south of Waterloo. What ‘The Battle of Waterloo’ was to Wellington, ‘The Battle of Mont-Saint-Jean’ was to Napoleon.

To mark the 50th anniversary of Victor Hugo’s arrival, a monument (colonne) was erected which you can still visit today.

In 2021, a statue will be erected in his honour opposite the town hall.

That dramatic event on 18 June goes by different names to different persons as evidenced by the name to Napoleon and that to Wellington.

This also applies to the third participant present , Blücher on whose Prussians Wellington counted to arrive.

In German historiography the battle of Waterloo is known as "Belle Alliance. " German monuments (the two I've seen) attesting to the final victory over Napoleon such as that in Kelheim/Bayern and Berlin-Kreuzberg list Waterloo as Belle Alliance.

Something you may want to keep an eye on is that because of recent antisemitism events that the Belgium Interior Minister Bernard Quintin said Tuesday that rather than waiting for someone to be injured in another antisemitic attack, he was deploying soldiers across Belgium to protect Jewish communities. It’s not something I would be concerned about, unless you are discernibly Jewish, just keep an awareness and if you can read and determine where the troops are, maybe try and be someplace else. Of course if you follow it a bit you might determine that this has all goes away before you trip in late April.

If you are heading to the Netherlands from Ghent by train, you will probably change trains in Antwerp. I spent 6+ hours visiting Antwerp on my way from Ghent to Leiden, leaving my back in a locker in the Antwerp train station. Just another option to consider.

That whole thing about deploying troops in Belgium also has to do with the drugs war. There are suburbs in Brussels where people have automatic weapons and use them against each other. No tourist would ever need to set foot in those places. There is also a drugs problem in Antwerp as this is where drugs enter the country. I read that troops are being deployed in Brussels, Antwerp and later Liège. I don't think any Jewish tourists would be vulnerable. The troops are supposed to keep them safe, anyway.

Lavandula

Would it make any sense to do a half day in Brussels and then take the train the Antwerp and spend a half day there?

Yes of course. You could limit your Brussels adventure to the Grand Place and Les Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert (King, Queen, Princes), the first covered shopping arcade in Europe.
It's in the immediate vicinity of Brussels Central Station. A train trip to Antwerp takes 40-50 minutes.

And Antwerp is in the top ten of most walkable cities of Europe, according to a study by Radical Storage https://radicalstorage.com/travel/most-walkable-cities/

If you’ve been to a major American transit terminal lately, you are likely to have seen the National Guard. Otherwise known as “troops.” BTW, street crime is much higher in the US than in Europe.

I read that troops are being deployed in Brussels, Antwerp and later Liège.

Just a symbolic action, nothing else. For the whole country a maximum of 200 soldiers will be deployed at any one time, for a period of three months. After that, the number will be reduced to 90 soldiers.
Better to talk about 'a few soldiers' instead op 'troops'.

Let’s please put everything into perspective a little and cut down on the fake news.

Thank you for the replies! My daughter and I discussed our options a little more and decided that after the Ghent flower show, we will take the train to Brussels and have booked a food tour for the late afternoon. That will give us an overview of Brussels and the Grand Place.

Then on our fifth day, the one in question, we will take the train to Antwerp and spend the full day there. I haven't decided yet if we will try to take an introductory walking tour or just follow the map in the RS book.

"Better to talk about 'a few soldiers' instead of 'troops'."

I think this is a dialect difference. Our news broadcasts talk about any soldiers as 'troops' irrespective of number (implication: one soldier = a troop). I think I grew up with a different understanding of troop (a larger number, like a cohort, perhaps like Fr. 'troupe'), but this seems to have faded away in Australia. So I don't mean to give the impression that the scene is crawling with soldiers on every street corner. I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing, if it gives the optics that the gang wars in Brussels are being addressed, because it will make individuals feel better. But I don't think this is a solution to every problem, it can only really address perceptions.

Lavandula

"Thank you for the replies! My daughter and I discussed our options a little more and decided that after the Ghent flower show, we will take the train to Brussels and have booked a food tour for the late afternoon. That will give us an overview of Brussels and the Grand Place.

Then on our fifth day, the one in question, we will take the train to Antwerp and spend the full day there. I haven't decided yet if we will try to take an introductory walking tour or just follow the map in the RS book."

Ninhar, I hope you have a wonderful time in Belgium. I think you are doing the right thing by dividing your time in this way. A food tour sounds wonderful and you will see the best of both Brussels and Antwerp. I do support the idea of a walking tour. You get a lot more out of a city when they interpret the sights for you to start with, and then you can freestyle in the afternoon.

Lavandula