Traveling to Belgium to Vist Brussels, Ghent, Bruge and Paris 11 days

Let's see here...

Brussels, Ghent, Bruges, Paris, also Blois, then back to Brussels.

That's 6 locations. You say you have 11 days (does that include the day you arrive in Europe and the day you fly out? If so, you have 9 days).

5 or 6 locations. 11 (maybe 9) days. Do the math.

Hint: You will be spending all your time leaving someplace, getting somewhere else, checking in and checking out, seeing mostly train stations, hotel desks, and a bit of countryside out the window as you zoom by. I suggest you save the Loire Valley for another trip.

Yikes.

Leave 10th arrive in Brussels 11th in am and fly out of Brussels on the 22nd .

Blois is relatively accessible by public transport by Loire chateau standards (within walking distance of Blois railway station), but that's still too far to go if you're mostly in Belgium, in my opinion, especially if you're flying into and out of Brussels. Is there any chance of flying out of Paris instead, or have you booked unchangeable tickets?

As far as the question of how much time to devote to each city goes, that depends on your taste. Pick one of Bruges, Brussels, or Gent to initially base yourself in, it's very quick and easy to travel between them by train on day-trips.

Brussels gets some very divided responses on this helpline, but I enjoy it. The big issue with Brussels is that the attractions are too widely spread for a day trip, so I would suggest at least two days. Major highlights, as far as I'm concerned, would be the Grand Place, the main Museums of Art (Old Art, Modern Art, and the specialist Magritte Museum, which are all in one large building complex and which you can easily spend most of a day in), the Horta Museum and other art nouveau buildings in the area. If you are into Atomic Age kitsch the Atomium is worth visiting.

Brugge (the local name, Bruges is used by French and English-speakers) is worth a day at least, more if you like medieval and renaissance-era art and architecture. There are some spectacular buildings and art galleries if you like things from pre-1700, less if your aesthetic tastes are later. If it sounds to your taste you might want to stay there, to experience the city outside the times when day-trippers are present.

Gent (local spelling, Ghent is English and the French call it Gand) is only slightly less picturesque than Brugge and is less tourist dominated. It also has some good art galleries which cover the post-1700 period as well.

Paris is a huge city with multiple attractions to suit all tastes - I would suggest at least three full days there.

You can travel between Brussels, Brugge and Gent by Belgian domestic trains which have no advance-booking discount on the fares. There are direct trains from Brussels airport to Brugge and Gent, as well as to central Brussels. There is, however, a "Belgian Rail Pass" which isn't strictly a pass, but entitles you to ten one-way train journeys within Belgium for 77 euros. You can share it between more than one person (but each person counts as one of the ten journeys) so it will be especially good value if there is more than one of you. For the Brussels-Paris trips it is best to use Thalys trains for which there are extremely significant discounts if you book in advance - tickets bought on the day are extremely expensive. The discount tickets go on sale 60-120 days before travel, but commit you to one specific train and if you miss it you're out of luck. Hence do NOT plan to travel to Paris as soon as you arrive in Belgium. (And if you're planning to fly out of Brussels because it's cheaper than Paris, the cost of the Thalys back to Brussels might outweigh the difference.)

akdenny, are you flying from the U.S.? You didn't fill out your home city in the public profile. I ask because bargain airlines in Europe sometimes use a very inconvenient secondary airport for Brussels. I agree that Open-Jaw Brussels-Paris might have been a better choice, but if you have bought the ticket, there's nothing to be done about that.

You might care to use the Search box top center, because so many people visit this part of Belgium. Particularly budget travelers like to stay in Gent and make unreserved train outings to Brugge and Brussels (and/or Antwerp). It's also possible to stay in one of the other cities and do this, but likely more expensive. You also want a hotel that's well situated for the train station.

The Belgian 10-trip doesn't save money for such short outings, but it does save time in line to buy tickets from a human if your credit card doesn't happen to work in the ticket machines. Recent posts indicate foreign credit cards do work in the machines, but I can't testify for myself.

The Loire is very inconvenient without a car, and would require prepaid van excursions to be booked, without one. It's also two hours from Paris by train, and not on the line to Brussels. Don't do it.

This is super helpful. Air Travel is set. We can enjoy a couple nights in Brussels a couple nights in brugges, a couple nights in Gent, and a few nights in Paris. The. Back to home base to leave. Just will have to figure out the order of places. Many thanks for the tips.

IMO...Skip Brussels except to fly in and out if that is your best airfare. Think about visiting Amsterdam or add a day in Paris. Ghent and Bruges are only 2 days apiece. Also, as someone else mentioned don't forget travel days in and out.

The airport mentioned by Tim is "Brussels South", which is actually near Charleroi, a depressed rustbelt town which is not recommended to tourists. If you've been unfortunate enough to be sold a ticket there, details of bus links between the airport and Brussels, Brugge or Gent are here

To reiterate, I would NOT stay in Brussels, Brugge and Gent separately. The trains between each pair of towns take an hour at most each way, and will be far less hassle than transferring between hotels with all your luggage.

Flying to BRU, these are good things to think about, not having to keep packing up is good.

Leave 10th arrive in Brussels 11th in am and fly out of Brussels on the 22nd

Not to beat a dead horse here, but you have 10 days to work with. You're flying in from North America, you will arrive tired and jetlagged, so you shouldn't count your arrival day as a real, usable day for much sightseeing (no matter what time your flight arrives). That arrival day will be a bit foggy and groggy so be realistic about what you can accomplish then. Moving on from BRU by train to your actual destination, OK. Your departure day will also be consumed by tasks around getting to your flight. So that leaves you with 10 full days.

With just 10 days, I think you have too much on your plate. It doesn't make sense to me to include Paris on this very short trip, never mind the Loire Valley. You're flying in and out of BRU, but Brussels is not high on your list of places to spend time. OK, so you arrive, move on by train then settle in. Be careful about getting back to BRU for your return flight - many people prefer to spend their last night near the departure city (just in case there's some transportation problems) but the Low Countries are well connected so you may not need to overnight at/near BRU - depends on the time of your departure and your risk tolerance (ie what happens if you miss your flight home?).

Things also depend on your interests and where you've been before. If it were me, and assuming I hadn't been to any of these places before, I'd stick to Bruges, Ghent and I'd include Amsterdam (all nearby and easy to get between) and I wouldn't entirely skip Brussels (yeah, it's not exactly Rome, but there's enough good stuff there it's worth spending a day or at least part of a day - consider getting to Brussels on the day before your flight, spend a few hours there, then head to the airport next day).

My horse has been dead a long time, Skipping Loire, but skip Paris too? I will have the 9 to 10 days that’s if I can recoup from jet lag. So just do home base and do day trips to Brugges and Gent. I figured a day and a half to the 2 day in Brussels, So I could make it home base. Now I’m just unsure of my itinerary. I will have to decide what it is I would like to see.

Denny, I'll be brutally honest? You can't do Brussels, Ghent, Bruges, Paris and Blois in 10 days and give them even a fraction of the attention they deserve. You'll spend more time checking in and out and dealing with transport than seeing much of anything. Really, something needs to go.

We've spent a full week just in Paris and wished we'd had more. 4 nights/3.5 days in Bruges (day trip to Gent) and wished we'd had more.

I think it is possible to say you saw Bruges, and Gent with one day in each. Antwerp or Brussels takes two days to get away with that statement. (I don't think the OP is seeking a romantic idyll in medieval Bruges with his/her life partner. It's just to see the place. We don't even know if the OP likes art.) That makes more time for Paris, but the Loire is still a bad idea.

What month is that the 10th and 22nd? Is budget important (i.e. long distance train discounts?) Lead time is critical for that. What are your main interests? History, beer, art, architecture? What are your must-sees in Paris? You can't plan a trip to Paris on a cellphone.

Edit: Sorry, the reason I wrote "romantic idyll" is because many posters here consider three nights to "soak" in Brugge to be a necessity. All I meant is that three nights in Brugge would be a bore for a solo traveler. Antwerp would not be. I have been to Brugge by myself.

Here’s one suggestion on how to split your days:

11- Arrive BRU, overnight in Brussels to get over jet lag and walk around the Grand Place. It’s been a few years but I liked the location of the Ibis Grand Place hotel.

12- 16 Take the train to Paris and stay there. That gives you 4 full days in Paris.

17- 20 return to Belgium, overnight in Bruges or Gent

21 overnight in Brussels, depending on your flight time

22 Depart BRU

The OP is not taking a romantic trip. This is a trip to look at Architecture and history mostly, yes I like art, food and culture and want to experience this. I am very uncertain of my itinerary now I do know I’m set on flights in and out of Brussels for certain , this will be during shoulder season. I just thought it would be nice to visit Paris a few days, and then what do I do the rest of the days? What about London? And a day in Brugges and a day in Gent. Which city should I start this trip out at? Like I said my flight is set in stone , in and out of Brussels BRU. So my last day in Europe has to be in Brussels, which is the 21st. to fly out 22. I am open to any suggestions of an itinerary. This is my first trip to Europe and definitely will not be last. Much appreciated!!!

OK, now we're getting somewhere. But STOP with London or adding anyplace else.

With the time you have, and given your stated interests, I'd do some combination of:
Brussels
Bruges
Ghent
One More Place that's nearby, easily connected, and unique, memorable. For me, that's Amsterdam. It "fits" with the "low country" theme.
(The exact order you do these in isn't critical right now - they're easily connected by rail don't worry about the exact order, first figure out the WHERE then you can string them together in a way that makes sense)

With 10 days, you can see these lovely old cities very nicely, and have a great trip. You'll still be covering a lot of ground, it will be a full 10 days, you will not get bored. Architecture, history, food, art, culture - oh yeah, this is a great combination. Each of the aforementioned cities is unique and offers plenty of those things. They are all world-class destinations. Save Paris, London, and beyond for future trips.

Yes, less is more. Ok this sounds like a good plan. I will stick with Belgium and maybe Amsterdam on this trip. Thanks for the travel input.

OP..........Don't get talked out of Paris, unless you have been there before. Ghent and Bruges are nice and enjoyable, but are not worthy of more than a couple of days each. You have 10 days. If Ghent and Bruges are 4 days, where do you want to spend the other 6? Paris or Amsterdam? That is your decision. You mentioned architecture, food, art and history.....sounds like Paris to me. Bon Voyage.

No! Don’t skip Paris! Last year, we spent 3 nights in Brussels which meant we had 1 evening and 1 full day to explore Brussels and 1 full day to see Gent and Brugges which wasn’t enough. Those gems deserve a day each. If I were you, I would follow Pam’s suggestion for the itinerary starting and ending your trip in Brussels and going to Paris in the middle. If you’ve never been to London and really really need to go, just do a daytrip from Paris via the Eurostar train. It’ll be a long day as it’s about a 2 hour plane ride each way but certainly doable.