Stop-over Town between Munich and Bruges

I hope you are going by train, as it is quite the trek by car!
By train, the first option that comes to mind is 2 nights in the Rhine Gorge (Boppard, Bacharach, etc.). It would really be lovely I think. Not exactly a hidden gem, but it ticks the "outdoorsy" box.

We all like some outdoors activities (hiking and biking), great food, hidden gem sights and a good dose of history.

Spend some time in the Nahe River Valley. It's one of Germany's better known wine areas but remains mostly undiscovered by non-German tourists.

Hidden gems include the towns of Kirn, Idar-Oberstein (famous for its gems, actually) and the collection of historic buildings at Bad Sobernheim's Rheinland-Pfalz Open Air Museum.

https://www.freilichtmuseum-rlp.de/english/english/

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g494948-d1730834-Reviews-Rheinland_Pfalzisches_Freilichtmuseum_open_air_museum-Bad_Sobernheim_Rhineland_Pa.html

The valley is home to numerous wineries and several Michelin-guide-listed restaurants. Hiking and biking information, local culture/history, spa information and more is available here:

https://www.naheland.net/en/index.html

Near St. Wendel there's a row of WW II Dragon's teeth you can visit:
https://www.komoot.com/highlight/4438761

Not far from Saarbrücken:

Besseringen (Merzig) is home to a German WW II bunker that can be visited:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g12909179-d12863910-Reviews-German_War_Bunker_B_Werk-Besseringen_Saarland.html

The Völklinger-Hütte Iron Works facility is a UNESCO World Heritage site:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g1061612-d3590400-Reviews-Voelklinger_Huette-Voelklingen_Saarland.html

The scenic Nahe River railway (map shows only major stops) follows the Nahe River through vineyards and fields as it connects towns between Bingen and Saarbrücken.

https://image.jimcdn.com/app/cms/image/transf/none/path/s0fc84f4127f5730f/image/id58a090c82e02ef6/version/1618242357/image.jpg

This page includes a graphic of all the stops along the way:

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nahetalbahn

Russ - Thanks for the information about an interesting corner of Germany I knew nothing about. Would love to visit

By train that’s about 7 hours or more of actual time in the train. I would look at the middle Rhine but for something more unusual you could try one of the side rivers.

Welcome to this newsboard with your very first post. Has your family been to Europe before? What is your actual itinerary, including flight days?

It doesn't seem wise to make two cities so far apart as the principal focuses of a short vacation. But Cologne seems like a good middle point. Have you taken a K-D boat from Bingen to Boppard before? Would you want to see some of the medieval and half-timbered towns you are missing on your pilgrimage to a very old city center? You might even be able to leave Brugge for another trip. Remember that August is vacation month in Europe, and things will be very crowded, and probably, hot.

Thank you so much for the suggestions thus far! We are especially digging into the info on the Nahe River Valley - an area we hadn't known about before and looks like a great option!

We are planning for two weeks between Germany and Belgium. Our family is very accustomed to road trips by car - in fact, we often prefer them so that we can make spontaneous stops along the way in different towns, to check out sights and markers, etc.

I'm going to cycle tour the Nahe this summer, very much looking forward to it. Thanks for the links

OP the Mosel area is pretty special. Also Alsace, Burgundy, Eastern Belgium along the Meuse River between Namur and Charleville France.

Alsace area you also get Freiburg, Europa Park, the Galaxy waterslide park (it's bananas fun) up in the Black Forest near Titisee. Hike about and eat nice cakes.

Maybe go to awesome fun Den Bosch and "the Dutch Disneyland" Efteling, a joyously Dutch themed theme park.

If you need psycho gigantic majestic mountains where you can hike and gawk until your face falls off go to the Berner Oberland. It's truly epic. I know you are looking for less traveled by foreign tourists, but some places are worth the company.

So much fun to be had! Stoked for you.