Overnight in Antwerp or Ghent?

Bruges and Ghent are only 30 mins apart. No reason to change accommodation.
I had once Mechelen (Malines) as a base for Antwerp and Brussels. Amazingly attractive historical city, totally overshadowed by its neighbours to the north and south, which are both some 20 mins away on very frequent trains.

As a personal opinion, having day tripped to Ghent and spent two nights in Antwerp, I would overnight in Ghent or elsewhere. Didn't care for Antwerp much at all, though it certainly has museums that are worth seeing. For "charm" and overall appeal, Ghent would win hands down.

I also day tripped to Leuven for half a day - really liked the town too, would not have minded an overnight there. There's a direct train between Antwerp, the Brussels Airport, and Leuven (or at least there used to be).

However, given how many nights you have elsewhere, I don't think a few nights in Antwerp is a mistake - it's not an awful place at all, just not the favorite place I visited in Belgium.

Consider basing in Ghent, spending some time there as well as Bruges. Can easily access by trains that run every 30 minutes.
Recommend the Carlton Hotel in Ghent. The proprietors were a big help to us when we needed advice on local pubs and cafes and sightseeing. They also arranged for city bus tickets which were good in both Ghent and Bruges and they also offer a fantastic breakfast to start the day.
Bruges is a great browsing town; you will enjoy your trip.
Have fun!

Was there in the spring and we spent 3 nights in Bruges, 2 in each Ghent and Antwerp, and the last night in Brussels. To my wife and I, that was plenty of time to see the main sights. We had been to Brussels previously, that’s why only one night there. The train was easy to use. The Quasimodo tour was well worth the money.

We spent four nights in Antwerp and four in Gent. We took day-trips from both and also liked both cities. But, I preferred Gent as a more attractive city, especially in the evenings, when they light up the centre, so if you want to choose just one for accommodation, then that was my preference. However, it's simple to get between the two so I wouldn't rule out two nights in each.

Four nights in Brussels seems a lot given its remarkable lack of attractions; an obvious day-trip is to Waterloo to celebrate the great victory over the odious Napoleon.

No hotel change is needed, but Gent or Antwerp might be more central. Key factor is hotel access to train station if you stay in one place. Gent and Leuven might be cheaper hotels. Same transit (tram, bus) card in all these EXCEPT Brussels. Except for the art museums, Brussels deserves less time.

Don’t forget Monday closures. Check each museum separately. Antwerp is my personal favorite. Remember that Rick’s books have to leave out a lot.

As you're learning, everyone has varying opinions about the Belgian "big four" (Brussels, Bruges, Antwerp, and Ghent).

Personally, I loved Antwerp, liked Bruges a lot (despite the tourists), was slow to warm up to Ghent but enjoyed it enough by the end of my day there, and didn't care for Brussels at all except for my wonderful Art Nouveau tour with ARAU: https://arau.org/en.

I don't think you can go wrong with 4 nights in either Ghent or Antwerp with day trips, or 2 nights in each.

I enjoyed my day trip to Tournai; as a French smaller city, it was a nice contrast to the Flemish cities and Brussels.

We recently stayed in or day tripped to the destinations you mention, and agree with the posters who point out that Bruge and Ghent are only 30 minutes from each other by rail, therefore 4 nights home basing in Bruges and 4 nights in Ghent probably doesn't make the most sense. 1

Thank you all for your responses! I have a lot of think about, but am slowly moving away from overnighting in Ghent for a lot of reasons people mentioned. I will look into some other options, like Leuven, before making any final decisions.

Leuven is nice, I've daytripped from Antwerp twice. But it's not a rich enough destination to sleep there eight nights. The city had a disastrous fire about 100 years ago, so it's not as antique as the other listed places. Highlights: Very lovely small Beguinage, Sunday-only tour of town hall interior, city art museum, rebuilt university library (look up the story), parks. Beguinage church has an unusual contemporary, abstract Stations of the Cross. Excellent cathedral across from town hall.

What is there to see in Ghent? is it worth a day trip from bruges?