Ghent or Brugge ?

Not a mistake to pick either one. They are both nice. But I would pick Brugge.

I would give exactly the same answer Andrew gives.

I just got back from our Europe trip and we stayed 2 days in Brugge. We loved it.

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I was lucky to have the opportunity to sleep in both on the same trip and preferred Ghent for night life

We stayed in Bruges four nights and could have stayed another night. Did a day trip to Ghent. Very happy we stayed in Bruges!

Spent two nights in each. Bruges has more of a small town feel while Ghent has more of a city feel. My wife and I preferred Bruges.

I too like them both but we stayed in Ghent.
They are so close together you can visit both
If you like quiet and romantic, Bruges it is.
If you want a little more liveliness, go with Ghent.
Either way, you can't miss - they are both charming

Each city can, respectably, be seen in a day, and the train between is frequent and cheap. You can do both. Do you have other plans, like Antwerp or Brussels that will take up the second day? Note that Bruges is very crowded in the daytime. And trains are crowded in work and school rush hours.

We stayed in Bruges and daytripped to Bruges. You can’t go wrong either way but I left wishing we would have done the reverse and stayed in Ghent.

(unless somebody convinces me otherwise), On my last day in Belgium I will take a day or part day trip to Ghent, or go back to Antwerp. My trip is in July. On page 269 of Rick Steve's Belgium, 4 of the 5 sites Rick lists are open on Mondays. If I was not going to care about museums, than for all I know Bruges has the best scenery and monuments I could walk past. There probably isn't a right or wrong answer about where to go on my last day of my trip. I am vaguely aware that some opinions seem to say that Bruges is the best city in Belgium.