Brussels vs Brugge

Pretty common question. Dig deep in past topics here. The short answer is that Brussles' "Grand Place" and the few blocks surrounding it are worth a full day, but that the rest of Brussles is pretty ordinary compared to other European cities. Bruges (or Brugge) is great if you like "cute" and is worth a full day if you like to be on the move and two days if you like to linger. Many others here are fans of other nearby cities (Those were the only two that I saw) that they claim to be are just as lovely, but less touristy. I'll let them chime in for those.

Brian, You might consider spending about two days in each (but weighted more towards Bruges). You shouldn't have any trouble finding good Beer in either location. Happy travels!

Most of crowd here will probably vote for Brugge, so I'll go ahead and give my contrary opinion before I get run over by the Ricknik herd... Brugge is a more immediately appealing city, but scratch the surface, and I think Brussels has much more to offer. The area of interest in Brugge is fairly small and packed with tourists. Brussels, though, has some wonderful neighborhoods that are dispersed throughout the city, so it takes a little more effort to appreciate. I've been to both cities several times. I saw all Brugge had to offer on my first trip, but I keep discovering new gems in Brussels. Architecture-wise, the old center of Brugge is more of a consistent whole, mostly late Gothic and Flemish Golden Age. Brussels is more diverse, with everything from Gothic to hypermodern. Brussels is also particularly known for it's many Art Noveau treasures. A third option that gets overlooked (it's not in the Blue Book, so therefore most of the cult ignores it)- Ghent! This is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen, and while the old center of Brugge has mostly surrendered to the tourist trade, Ghent's is still a functioning city. When you get off at the train station, you have to go through several blocks of a fairly uninteresting modern city, but the center is amazing. The Graslei is, in my opinion, the single most gorgeous street in Europe. You'll get good food and beer anywhere in Belgium. Brugge has one of the few breweries open for touring, De Halve Maan (although this is mostly for show, the company's main brewery is a modern facility outside of town). My personal favorite chocolatier is Brugge's Moeder Babelutte, but you can get excellent chocolate anywhere.

I expected to like Bruges more, but I liked Brussels more. It may be because my expectations were lower for Brussels or it may be because we liked where stayed in Brussels better. The Grand Place blew me away, and I just loved all the store windows and narrow alleys and neighborhoods. Bruges is lovely, but somehow less interesting. Both have great food and beer. We took a day trip to Ghent and loved that too. I feel like I can't really compare it to Brussels and Bruges because we were only there for the day vs. four nights each in Brussels and Bruges. I don't think you can go wrong with any combination of days and nights in these three cities.

What about Leuven? Nice college town, not as touristy as some spots. I'll add a vote for Ghent. If you are interested in WWI, Ypres has many interesting sites to see.

Last summer, we spent 1 day in Brussels and 3 in Brugge. We should have done the opposite, or spent 2 days in each. We left Brussels feeling that we wanted to see more, Brugge in our opinion could be done in 2 days. Both are very nice and we really enjoyed Belgium's residents, have fun!

Both have everything you're looking for. I love them both though they have distinctively different feels. When will you be traveling? Brugges is charming, colorful and more quaint. A great place for canal cruising, strolling and hanging out in the Markt with a beer and some delicious frites. Brussels being the big city that it is, has it all including more hustle and bustle. The Grand Place is fantastic and it's easy to spend at least a day wandering around it and its surrounding streets. Of course, chocolate, chocolate and chocolate!! (Though Brugges has its share too.) If you base yourself in Brussels the whole time, it's easy to day trip if you've done all you need to do the first day. Brugge is about an hour and 15 minutes. Ghent and Dinant are also great little historic towns worth exploring. Whatever you choose, you won't be disappointed. I wish I had more time in both places! Bon voyage!!

with 4 days, I would do 1 night in Brussels and 3 in Bruges with one of those Bruges days going on a day trip, like Ghent or Antwerp

Does anyone have an opinion on Liege?

Yes- ugly, depressing city. It reminds me of Pittsburgh in the 1970 and 80s, but without the pride of winning sports franchises. EDIT: I take that back, I forgot that Liege Standard is one of the best teams in the Belgian league. So, I guess the comparison to Pittsburgh is even more apt. PS- And lest I arouse the wrath of my western PA counterparts, I fully admit that my home town, Philadelphia, was every bit as much of a hellhole during that same period, if not worse. And our teams weren't nearly as good...

Tom, You must only have visited Pittsburgh in the winter, when even to this day it can be ugly and depressing. Unless, of course, you are attending a Steelers or Pens game. ;) Pittsburgh is quite beautiful in the warmer months. Even if you are attending a Pirates game. :) The ugly, depressing days were before the first renaissance in the early 60s. I wasn't here then, but I've seen the pictures. Now back to the Steelers game.

Architecture, ambiance, and definitely the beer and food ... GHENT! In Brussels (for beer) go to Mort Subite and Deliriums. Deliriums is a sort of backpacker bar with hundreds of beers - my sister and I are in our 40's and were definitely old enough to be parents of most patrons but we had a blast in Brugge: http://www.brugsbeertje.be/ in Ghent we ended up at Den Trollekelder the end of each night: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1231/?view=beerfly We drank a LOT of beer during our 4 days in Belgium. We did 2 nights in Ghent, 1 in Brugges and 1 in Brussels.

Thanks everyone for the great advice! I've decided to stay in Brussels as my home base for the 4 days, using 2 days to see Brussels, and then making side trips to Brugge and Ghent for 1 day each. This is part of a Paris - Brussels - Amsterdam trip, and May can't get here fast enough! (Only 130 days to go woooohoooo!)