Brussels to Normandy

Paris is possible as a daytrip by train from Brussels, but probably not Normandy. Without seeing a French railmap, I'm going to guess that most rail links would route through Paris first.

Tom is correct about your having to go via Paris. The earliest you could get to Bayeux is 12:46. You'd have to leave by 16:39 to get back to Brussels by 23:17. In short, it won't work.

Why not take a day trip to Bruges?

Tim, Thanks for the info and you are right it would be too much. We plan a day trip to Bruges the second day in Brussels. We just don't know
if we should go it alone or take a tour. Any suggestions. Again, Thanks

I have an aversion to tours so I'm not the one to comment on them. I haven't been to Bruges, but I've read that it is easy to explore the city on foot. I'll leave it to those who have been there to give you specific recommendations.

Bruges is ideal to tour on a bicycle. Bike rental shops (of which there are as least a few well advertised at the TI in the train station) have suggested tour itineraries you can follow. You can also check out the city from the canals on a boat tour, which are easy to locate.

Definitely don't do a tour to Brugge. I just ended my 2 week trip there last Saturday and it is a completely charming town. My husband and I were actually laughing at people cooped up on the cheesy tour bus as we enjoyed our beer at a cafe on the main square.

It's an easy 1 hour train ride from Brussels and can be explored easily by foot or bike (highly reccomend) as metioned. The train station is about a 20 minute walk from town center but nearly all the buses leaving from the train station will get you there in no time for just over a euro.