We will be taking the RS tour starting in Ghent on a Wednesday, but will arrive in Brussels on Sunday morning. What would you do with the pre-days? Looking for ideas.
Posted by
Virginia
837 posts
I don’t know what’s on your tour but will assume it covers Ghent and Bruges. There are many other things you can do in Brussels or with daytrips, including:
Brussels museums (art, military history, African culture, etc) but check closure days for these.
Antwerp for more Flemish art and architecture.
Ypres (Ieper) for First World War history.
Waterloo for older military history.
Namur for a picturesque town in the French speaking part of Belgium, with citadel overlooking a river.
Posted by
SE Pennsylvania
3342 posts
I did this tour last year, but I didn't arrive early.
I assume you have checked your tour account to see what isn't included on your tour, and the pre-tour recommendations.
I also recommend looking at the AT A GLANCE sections for Belgium, and the individual cities here:
https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/belgium
to see what appeals to you.
Posted by
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA
17331 posts
I'd spend Sunday night in Brussels. If there are not museum closures on Monday you could do some of the Brussels Museums then. It's been a number of years since I stayed in Brussels but I stayed at the Ibis Brussels off Grand Place which is a convenient location and a nice hotel. Be sure to book via the Accor app as I got tangled up booking an Ibis in Edinburgh and somehow got on one of the sites that "look official" but are not. Hereafter when I am booking an Accor hotel, I'll use the app.
I'd go out to Ghent on Monday afternoon, staying Monday and Tuesday nights ahead of the tour at the tour hotel. Is Hotel Harmony the tour hotel? I enjoyed seeing the Van Eyck altarpiece at Saint Bavo's twice. I did the Augmented Reality program twice as well. Not sure if that is included on the Rick tour or not (I was also there with a Road Scholar tour) as I did the Rick tour in 2019 before they had the new location for the altarpiece. I also liked the MSK museum and enjoyed watching the restorers work on the panels for the altarpiece. It looks like from the MSK site this is ongoing until 12/31/2026 if you are touring this year.
To me there is a lot in Ghent that the tour does not have time for plus it's a cool place to catch your breath before a busy tour!
Posted by
Sydney, Australia
360 posts
Hi Wendy in MD, I would start Sunday morning in Brussels in a slow way with a brunch, so you can get your bearings. There are plenty of places that will do a brunch / late breakfast - Le Pain Quotidien is a chain café that does breakfasts well in a nice setting (think massive raw pine tables and lots of different breads and spreads on the tables, including chocolate spread in milk, white and dark). There is one in Place du Grand Sablon and you usually just walk-in. In the square there will be an antiques market next to the church, and at the other end there are high-end chocolate shops. If you want an alternative there is Au Vieux Saint-Martin just nearby, but they are not so breakfast / brunch focussed, although perhaps by that stage you will be starting to think about lunch anyway. If you stay in the same location (there is an NH hotel there, very nice), then you have your time all sewn up. I don't know your budget but the hotel Le Dixseptième is near Central Station and would also be a lovely stay.
Lavandula
EDIT: added the city Brussels
Posted by
Sydney, Australia
360 posts
Oh, and if you want to do the African museum as Slate suggested, you would do so by taking Brussels' prettiest tram ride (line 44) out to Tervuren, where it terminates. There is a massive park there and the museum, which has just been renovated. It's not necessarily a first-timer visit, but if you have seen Grand' Place, Manneken Pis and the Galeries Royales de St.-Hubert (which are the essentials) then you could take yourself off to Tervuren. The 44 leaves from Montgomery metro.
Lavandula