Help Me Decide

It would help to know when this trip is taking place, what your interests are etc etc etc. Also, I get why you want to spend at least one night in Antwerp, but why is Brussels the only alternative you’re considering? Why not Ghent or Bruges for example?

Have you been to Belgium before? Asking to see if you have been to Ghent or Bruges or if they are on your tour?

IF you've not been and they're not on your river cruise, I'd probably opt to spend Sunday and Monday nights in either Ghent or Bruges, go to Antwerp on Tuesday night before you board on Wednesday.

I know some on this forum love Antwerp. I found it too "big city" for me and did not enjoy it. The outdoor sculpture park is interesting. I also enjoyed the Reubenshuis but that is currently closed for a refurb.

It would help to know when this trip is taking place, what your interests are etc etc etc. Also, I get why you want to spend at least one night in Antwerp, but why is Brussels the only alternative you’re considering? Why not Ghent or Bruges for example?

When? I don't want to be too specific. I'm a bit paranoid about people finding out when I'm going to be out of the country and robbing my house. It will be during heavy tourist season.

What are we interested in? History, architecture, wandering around aimlessly, and sitting with a cup of coffee and watching people walk by. With only a few days I am excluding art museums. We love beautiful cathedrals.

I want to decide between Brussels and Antwerp because we land in Brussels and get on the boat in Antwerp. It's not enough time to go to some other place. Bruges sounds like it would be full of tourists anyway. I don't know anything about Ghent. And I don't want to spend all my time on trains traveling to multiple places in a 3-day span.

NOT trying to be argumentative but Ghent is less than an hour by train and you can catch the train at the airport.

The Belgium train site is here:

https://www.belgiantrain.be/en/

The Brussels airport is listed as Brussels Airport Zavantem

Ghent is Gent Sint Pieters.

Otherwise, if you don't want to stay in a smaller town for you adjustment time, I'd stay in Brussels for Sunday and Monday and go up to Antwerp on Tuesday morning. Last time I stayed in Brussels I stayed near the Centraal Station at the Hotel Ibis Brussels off Grand Place (that is the actual name of the hotel). It was clean, reasonably priced and located steps away from the Grand Place. Lots of restaurants nearby.

“ What are we interested in? History, architecture, wandering around aimlessly, and sitting with a cup of coffee and watching people walk by. With only a few days I am excluding art museums. We love beautiful cathedrals.”

To me this has written both Ghent and Bruges all over it. Both cities are compact, have beautiful architecture and are ideal to people watch right next to the water that runs through the cities. Brussels and Antwerp are much less ideal for what you’re looking for. Especially since you have no desire to visit the excellent art museums that both these cities have.

I also think you’re overestimating the distances in Belgium. It’s only a 55 minute direct train ride from Brussels Airport to Ghent. And you can get from Ghent to Antwerp in just one hour.

ETA; I see that Pam already posted about the train times.

My vote is with Pam and Dutch_traveler's choices. Although I would actually narrow it down and vote for Ghent over Bruges. Pam is correct in that Bruges gets all the tourists, and it can get crowded. It's fun to visit, but Ghent is definitely my favorite place in Belgium, and one of my top favorites of all the places I visited. It has a really charming medieval city center, a lot of historic character and there is a lot to see and do. It's very walkable, and has a really great vibe—I liked it a lot. I was there for three or four nights and would go back in a heartbeat.

And it's worth an hour by train.

Wow, Ghent looks really beautiful. I will strongly consider that. Thanks.

Usually I'm a lot more informed about places I'm going to, but in this case, the main thing is the river boat tour, and the extra days before we get on the boat were mostly a scheduling mistake on my part.

When? I don't want to be too specific. I'm a bit paranoid about people
finding out when I'm going to be out of the country and robbing my
house. It will be during heavy tourist season.

A comment on this: Marty, providing us the more exact "when" for this trip shouldn't be a safety concern. We don't even know your last name and you live in a big city. Heck, for all we know 'Marty' isn't your real first name! If TRULY worried, then edit your home city out of your profile and just provide the state. Really, you'll be ok. :O)

Worth mention is that exact dates can be helpful if someone sees, say, a big event in city ___ on one of those days that might be either best to avoid or fun to be in town for.

I was in Ghent for the first time in May and it is drop-dead gorgeous. Don't miss it!

Compromise: why not see some of Brussels and do a day trip to Ghent? If you stay near Central Station in Brussels it is easy (don't stay near Bruxelles-Midi). There are a lot of accommodation choices there and mostly good ones. Another area you might stay in is Place du Grand Sablon - there is an NH hotel there which is very nice, and the area is generally quite upmarket with antique shops, an antique market on the weekends and chocolate shops. I also recommend the Royal Museums of Fine Arts, particularly Magritte and the Old Masters (the Wiertz museum is being upgraded currently). And be prepared to spend a lot of time investigating restaurants and historic bars in Brussels. Brussels is more of a 'lifestyle' city and eating and drinking are what the city is about. I recommend to you Le Marmiton in the Galeries Royales de St.-Hubert (restaurant) and Maison Dandoy (several locations, also in the same arcade). The one in Rue Charles Buls has an upstairs and although the specialty is cookies, you can get waffles there and some interesting milkshake things. If you think you might be up for bar-hopping, I would recommend Le Cirio and À La Mort Subite as historic bars. Brussels is charming if you know where to go. See the Grand' Place, but don't think you have to dwell in the area of Manneken Pis, it's all tourist shops (except for the bar Poechenellekelder and the Garde-Robe for Manneken Pis, a museum of his clothing).
Good luck and hope you enjoy Brussels and Ghent.

Lavandula

EDIT: Will just add the church Notre Dame des Sablons, which is across from the hotel - very pretty church!

I am far from as knowledgeable as some of the replies you have received. But if you aren’t a big art lover, or a big city person, I vote with the “go straight to Ghent from the airport “ group, then go Antwerp the day before you board (or I would be tempted to just go to Antwerp the morning of the day you board). Pam had the plan I like.

That being said, I have only been once (April this year) and saw a small part of Brussels (stayed where Pam did but lavandula’s suggestion was where I found it) - found it much more charming than i expected. And I stayed in Bruges, with a day trip to Ghent. Ghent could easily keep you occupied and if not, pop on the train for a day in Bruges to see the Church of Our Lady.

But I think you are right that there isn’t really a bad choice.

But if you aren’t a big art lover, or a big city person...

It's not that I'm not a big art lover, it's that with so little time, I don't want to spend it inside an art gallery that could be anywhere in the world.
My latest thinking is that, since we land in Brussels in mid-afternoon, spend the night in a hotel close to Grand Place, see that and the surrounding area, and the next morning, maybe 10:00, take the train to Ghent. Then spend the next 2 nights in Ghent and then take the train to Antwerp to board the boat.

Gosh I REALLY want to thank everyone for their suggestions. I'm glad you changed my thinking on this. Like I said before, usually I am extremely well-informed about the places we are headed to, but this time I made a mistake scheduling the plane flight and wound up with 2 extra days. Not a bad thing, of course, but usually I'm not floundering around figuring out what to do like this.

"but this time I made a mistake scheduling the plane flight and wound up with 2 extra days."

I think you will thank yourself in the end for this "goof"!!

Ghent is just such a cool place (as is Bruges). Brussels is a cosmopolitan big city but I think you'll get more of a feel for Belgium and the Flemish culture with some time in Ghent.

IF you are looking for a Ghent hotel, many of us have stayed at Hotel Harmony. It's where most of the Rick Steves tour groups stay and it's in a great location on a canal. I usually take a taxi from the station but it's accessible via the tram system. You KNOW any place that has chocolates and prosecco on the breakfast buffet is awesome, hahahaha!

DO look at getting timed entries for the Ghent Altarpiece at Saint Bavo's Cathedral. Get the Augmented Reality tickets to get the history of the artists, the Van Eyck brothers and the development of the altarpiece.

https://www.sintbaafskathedraal.be

AND can I say...thank you so much for considering suggestions from forum members! I am so glad you were open to change and I am sure you will enjoy it!

I’m so glad that you found a place to visit, Marty, and I think that you will really enjoy Ghent. Have a great trip!

Once again I second what Pam said! I think you will be happy with the extra days. :)

Glad you found a solution that suits you, you will love Brussels and Ghent!

Lavandula