Trip Report: 3 Days in Ghent, Bruges, and Brussels

From there, I went to St. Bavo's Cathedral, which had these stone-brick walls and some beautiful stained glass on the upper floors and a glossy, black-and-white marble altar below it. Of course, the most famous part of the church: the Ghent Altarpiece was hidden just behind it, though I didn’t know about it until I looked it up, so I decided to check it out. I opted for the AR (Alternate Reality) tour, which was a bit finicky at times but still quite interesting, though the only information I remembered from it was that one of the panels in the altarpiece is not the original; it has a slightly different color scheme that is quite noticeable. After that, I checked out the altarpiece, and it was both bigger than I had expected, compared to many altarpieces found within museums, and smaller, the famed lamb with the oddly humanoid eyes being this tiny figure barely visible behind the glass. Because of how absurdly expensive the ticket was to see this, I sat myself down and gazed at that painting for a solid 30 minutes, trying to notice the small details pointed out in the AR tour and checking out the backside of the altar, which was slightly hidden. From there, I wandered around Ghent’s canals, as the sky turned golden and the weather alternated between sunny to pouring rain to, even at one point, small pellets of hail, but amidst the chaotic weather, I caught a picture of a rare double rainbow. I had spotted one before in the Netherlands, but I wasn’t in a good location to snap a photo, but I managed to position myself correctly and finally got a double rainbow picture. As I was walking alongside the canals, I noticed the sky becoming increasingly vibrant, turning bright shades of orange, and had a good feeling that, for the first time since Paris, that there would be an amazing sunset and afterglow, so I rushed to the Gravesteen. And my intuition was correct as the clouds turned a gorgeous shade of coralline pink-orange, tinting the castle and buildings with its lovely glow, as the clouds reflecting these colors swept across the sky like a wave, stopping just short of the other side unfortunately. After that, I just walked around town at night since the areas around the canals and main cathedrals were all brightly lit and very pretty, especially when the full moon peeked out from behind the clouds, ending a wonderful day in Ghent.

Mile Count: 9.5

Day 2: Bruges

I began my day with a mid-morning train from Ghent to Bruges, mostly because I was just too tired to make it to the early morning one. First stop was Begijnhof, a collection of plain, white-washed homes encircling a large plaza, which was, admittedly, a bit different than what I had envisioned reading online. From there, I decided to just wander alongside one of the central canals that cuts through the center of the town, gazing at all of the buildings around me. People weren’t kidding that it feels like Bruges was this medieval town emerged out of a fairy tale, from the taller, adobe roofed and cream walled buildings that occasionally popped up and glowed whenever the mid-morning sun popped out from behind the clouds to the charming and vivid assortment of blocky-roofed homes bordering the twisting streets. After aimlessly wandering across every single bridge that I could find, taking pictures of the spires and towers rising from the tangle of buildings below, I grabbed from waffles and then made my way to OLV-kerk Museum. The initial exhibition was free, and it was a cool but forgettable mixture of paintings and sculptures located within a pretty church, though seeing the famed Madonna of Bruges meant coughing up money, so I decided to pass on the museum. From there, I continued criss-crossing across the bridges alongside the canals, making my way to a gorgeous viewpoint, where the autumn foliage perfectly complemented the warm tones of the brick buildings and golden colored towers in the background. As I wandered around, I stumbled onto the central plaza in front of the town hall, wonderfully decorated with statues stacked atop each other, separated by some fancier windows and colorful seals, and my next destination: the Basilica of the Holy Blood, an ominous building from the outside, with ornate basalt-colored stone walls and arches, accentuated with splashes of crimson red and gold statues. The interior, though, is much more vibrant and colorful, with vivid wall frescos and stained glass that gave the room a kaleidoscopic quality, a real burst of color despite the darker exteriors. I even got to witness some sort of ceremony when it came to the relic stored there: the Holy Blood. Also, like many tourists, I decided to take the opportunity to get a closer look at the relic (somewhat un-memorable since I wasn’t able to take a closer look at it), awkwardly following instructions by clasping my hands together and bowing in front of it, as the priest was furiously praying (emphasis on furious). From there, I hung out in the Christmas market plaza, surrounded by a combination of a variety of historical looking Dutch-esque buildings and fancier larger ones around the Province Court, dark stone and stark, gothic spires of one contrasted nicely with the warmer beige of the other one.

After wandering outwards towards the controversial monstrosity that is the concert hall, I made my way back into the center of the town, passing my the domed backside of the cathedral museum, which looked like a cuter version of the St. Nicholas cathedral in Ghent, and decided to impulsively do a canal tour. Even though sitting in the back meant that I had to look backwards to get the best pictures (and kinda ignore what the guide was pointing out), I got a lovely overview of the town, from a beautiful church located at the end of the canal, surrounded by orderly lines of homes to the more organic and chaotic overgrown cottages and brick buildings on the outskirts of town, with willows and vines spilling into the water. And of course, just amazing views of the church and bell towers scattered about throughout the town, especially as the sun began to set and slowly washed the buildings in a pretty golden color. From there, I headed out to check out the windmills (since I’m a bit of a windmill fanatic), which were pretty but a bit obscured by an abundance of vegetation. It was no Zaanse Schans, and I decided to head back to the town center to climb the bell tower as dusk began to set in.

It was then when a near disaster struck. I noticed that I wasn’t getting any connection on my phone, which wasn’t too unusual because I was close to the outskirts but became increasingly worrying as I got closer to the city center and saw no improvement. After shutting off my phone and seeing nothing change, I thought about what was happening more, and realized what I might be misremembering how long my eSIM lasted for, and surely, after connecting with a museum’s WiFi, I had, indeed, badly botched my eSIM length. For some reason, I thought it lasted 99 days and not 90 days, which explained why I lost connection in the afternoon (because I had arrived in London in the afternoon 90 days prior). Thank goodness that I decided to buy a new one a couple days prior and somehow was able to download and activate it using the slightly unstable museum WiFi. Dodged a massive bullet here! I was much better able to enjoy Bruges after that as I hung out at the top of the bell tower. Although the thick rain clouds blocked the light from the sunset from extending across the sky, the sliver of orange that was still visible provided a great and dramatic backdrop for the church tower that rose out of the labyrinth of abode roofed buildings sprawled around it. As the sky turned pink and the moon began slowly glowing, the temperature began getting significantly colder, so I headed down a floor to warm up and check out how the bell tower works as I stalled time until nightfall. When I headed back up, I got another set of stunning photos, from the brightly lit up church towers to the radiant Christmas tree in front of the town hall, and one of my favorite photos of my trips as I was descending the tower, an overhead shot of the central Christmas market, capturing all the shimmer lights wrapped around the trees, the bustling crowds of people, and the gorgeous buildings surrounding the area, as if it came right out of a fairytale. Wandering around Bruges at night and eating waffles was a wonderful experience since there was this great atmosphere, lots of great smelling foods tempting me, and tons of little Easter eggs scattered around the town: a foggy-Halloween esque lights show down one canal, though the creepier colors were replaced by bright turquoises and magentas, or a fancier fountain lights show, with some gorgeous swan animations, or a street where all of the lamplights had been turned blue instead of the typical orange. From the shimmering lights shows to the celebratory atmosphere to the charming town and gorgeous monuments encircling the market areas, maybe I’m a bit biased and more enchanted than others would be since this was my first Christmas market, but I had a wonderful time in Bruges and was sad to leave.

Mile Count: 13.4

Day 3: Brussels

After leaving a bit later than Ghent that I had wanted to, I arrived in Brussels at noon. While I knew that Bruges had begun their Christmas markets, I didn’t know that Brussels had also started theirs (Ghent, I guess, must’ve been the exception when it comes to Christmas markets, beginning a week later than those two cities). I began at the St Michael and Gudula Cathedral near the train station, which has a pretty grand exterior but a plain interior. Afterwards, I headed to the Grand Place, which is this small but gorgeous central plaza surrounded by very opulent buildings, with golden ornamentation swirling alongside the windows and balconies, along with some fancier larger buildings, like the City Hall, with its swooping spires and abundance is statues clinging to its walls, or the museum across from it, which had these detailed, patterned arches. Because I knew that the city would be much more beautiful at night, once the lights turn on and the Christmas markets swing into full force, I decided to just do a quick walk through a Christmas market pathway that I found online that seemingly passes through all the major ones in the city center before heading out to the outskirts of the city to explore the other major landmarks while there was still light. First stop was the Brussels Royal Palace, which was pretty but a bit underwhelming from the outside, probably because part of it was under renovation hidden under scaffolding and the park surrounding it was muddy and brown. The European Parliament, on the other hand, was much more exciting. It is this sleek, very modern collection of buildings composed of gray pillars and an abundance of dark blue tinted but very reflective glass layered onto the various buildings. Compared to the much more historical look of the places that I have visited just prior, especially Bruges, this building was definitely a change of pace to say the least but an appreciated one since it was quite topical to what I was learning in a course I am taking abroad. Next to it is a lovely little garden with beautiful autumn foliage so late into the season, and the attached park has lots of pretty views of willows and other foliage, along with the various museums scattered about. The last stop I made was at Cinquantenaire Park, which had this beautiful plaza surrounded by a semi-circle of buildings with a central set of arches topped with a turquoise statue of chariots, with museums on both sides of the plaza. Because it was slowly getting dark, and I didn’t have much time, I didn’t enter any of the museums, and decided to make my way back at that point.

From there, I wandered some creepily empty streets, minus the cars zooming past, as I detoured out towards the Palace of Justice. On the way there, I stopped by a pretty park in front of the lovely Church of Our Blessed Lady, with manicured hedges and a beautiful fountain, briefly checking out the nearby Christmas market there. The Palace of Justice, unfortunately, was under renovation, so much of it was covered in scaffolding, and the views from the platform there weren't that amazing, just because of the hazy skies, though I'm sure that the views from the ferris wheel there would’ve been amazing. As the sky darkened, I made my way to the city center, now vibrant and bustling as the Christmas lights flickered on and people flocked to the packed stalls, making a quick stop to check out the Manneken-Pis, an amusing fountain featuring a boy letting out a stream of, well, it’s in the name. Doing the initial Christmas market walk during the daytime, just to get a feel of the route, proved to be extremely helpful since I had some familiarity with where everything was located and didn’t have to attempt to navigate this route for the first in the dark, which really allowed me to maximize my enjoyment. I began at the Brussels Stock Exchange, where the markets in the main plaza in front of it sprawled out organically into the nearby roads, before heading down to the plaza around the Eglise Sainte-Catherine, which was cloaked in a bright neon blue. From there, I walked down the busy park on the on the other side of the church, filled with cute, snow-topped stalls, and a Ferris wheel at the end, flashing patterns of red and white, before looping around through a variety of smaller attractions: a Santa-themed carousel, an outdoors ice-skating rink, a warmly lit corridor, adorned with stone statues and globes of light. After wandering aimlessly for a bit longer, grabbing a sizzling sausage dish and some reasonably priced waffles that were so delicious plain, I ended my day in the Grand Place, which was even more beautiful at night than the day, the lighting emphasizing the gorgeous architecture of the town hall, with a now-glistening Christmas tree in the center. But then the lights dimmed as the clock struck half-past seven, and I got unexpectedly treated to a gorgeous lights and music show, the surrounding buildings covered in bright bursts of flowers and leaves, occasionally interspersed with thumping ominous reds, as we followed a determined princess’ journey, capping off my trip to Belgium.

Mile Count: 16.1

Final Ratings:

Ghent: 9/10
Bruges: 9.25/10
Brussels: 8.25/10

Overall Thoughts:

It was definitely the most ambitious itinerary that I’ve had so far for my weekend trips, and considering the number of transportation debacles that had plagued me throughout my weekend trips in the weeks prior (and weeks to come), I was honestly a bit surprised how well that it ran. Although it could be a bit rushed for some, especially for museum lovers since there were quite a few that I just brushed over, I would say that I was able to get a great feel of each place during my relatively brief stays there, and had a pretty solid time in each city, though I particularly enjoyed the more historical Ghent and Bruges, especially the latter, instead of the more modern Brussels, which was still pleasant, especially at night. While Ghent is in the middle of Bruges and Brussels, which made is pretty convenient to get around via train, one minor annoyance I had with using Ghent as a home base was that the train station was not a walkable distance away from the city center, unlike both Brussels and Bruges, and pretty much mandates the use of trams. Although there were no particularly close calls, it’s always a bit stressful to be dependent on trams / buses since these are the forms of public transport that give me the most anxiety. Trains were fairly easy to use, though because much of the station in Ghent was under construction, which made it a bit tricky to navigate, and ticket-checking was somewhat common, even for very short trips between Brussels train stations, though much less consistent than somewhere like Poland. As for hostelling, as I had predicted in a prior trip report, my hostel in Belgium was pretty quiet and comfortable, and I really don’t have much to say about it (in contrast to Prague’s hostel, which was… not the most pleasant experience, to put it generously).

As mentioned before, I’m pretty behind on trip reports and posted this one after coming back from the Baltics. Prague should come soon since I have gotten a significant amount done with it, but expect the Baltics to take a while, probably posted after New Years. In the meantime, I’m a bit sad to announce that I’ve finished my final solo trip of my study abroad in Europe (originally, this said that I was on my final trip but uploading Belgium pictures took so long due to poor internet connection at the places that I was staying at that I finished it up as I was heading to Vienna), ending it in a pretty similar manner that I started it, taking trains criss-crossing the continent, as I head to Strasbourg, Munich, Nuremberg, Innsbruck, and Salzburg before meeting with my family in Vienna. Although I’ll have more details when I write my winter travels report, I’ll just briefly mention that while the trip started off pretty rough, it got much better with each passing day, and I’m happy with all that I’ve accomplished on my solo adventures. See you all whenever I find time to finish up my Prague trip report, and happy holidays!

Pics: https://www.canva.com/design/DAF3FHxGdNI/SnNN5UW7e4tO0fQwv6Fo2Q/edit?utm_content=DAF3FHxGdNI&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

Thanks for another great report!!! I wondered if the swans were out in Bruges in the winter and I’m happy to see from your pictures that they are. 😊

I’ll have to take a closer look at this later as I’m just taking a quick lunch break and happened to see this.

Are you sure you can’t extend your school program? 😊

Thank you for your brave effort describing and photographing your scholarly adventures. Perhaps you should consider having your own website so we all can follow your future expeditions. Are these collections going to be used as part of your studies? loved the Swan pics and houses with lights coming thru the windows. Good Luck!

Perhaps you should consider having your own website so we all can follow your future expeditions.

I second this!

Thanks for a well- written report. We will be there in April, so I found your insights quite helpful.
Safe travels!

Hey Solo! Was wondering when we would hear from you again. Was really fascinated by your Belgium trip report and photos. I don't feel like I have ever seen a lot of photos of Belgium during my life, so it was interesting to see what the cities looked like. I think I said in my last response to you that the only time i have been in Belgium was on a trip to Paris and I took the train right over the Belgian border on a day trip to see the town my ancestors came from, Tournai. It was a lovely town with a charming main square and belfry, in the pouring rain. I really loved your Christmas market photos, too, since I have yet to go to one. Looking forward to your Prague report (people always seem to have definite opinions about Prague), and the Germany/Austria report. Have always wanted to see Austria.

Like everyone else, I was delighted to read this trip report! Belgium will be our second trip to Europe, in 2025, so I was especially looking forward to this one. (I'm already figuring out my itinerary, how many days in each city).

I had great laughs at your 30 min of alterpiece gazing because of the ticket price, crossing every Bruges bridge you could find, and the furious (furious!) praying.

Your photos are always so great but oh my word CHRISTMAS MARKETS! ✨✨✨

It's a really bittersweet moment because I'm so looking forward to your upcoming reports, while also feeling so sad your solo travels have ended (for now). I'm twice as old as you but beginning to embark upon international travel starting next year, and I have been really inspired not just by your trips but also the bravery, resilience, and spirit you've shown of yourself in them. I hope to be able to say the same for myself.

Also, quick final note: as a detail-oriented person, your city rankings down to the decimal point in your reports have absolutely charmed me. 🤩

You have a fabulous writing style. Very descriptive with all the details. I am heading to Bruges in May and glad to see you rated it pretty high. Yes, a website to blog your adventures would be great.

@Carrie - Thank you! I was also surprised that the swans were still out and about. I know that where I live in the US, the Canada geese that frequent our parks often migrate southwards as the weather chills. As for extending my time abroad, unfortunately, my degree program is extremely strict about studying abroad, with sophomore spring or junior fall being the only times allowed, but even with my limited time, I've been able to see so much, and it's just been this incredible adventure!

@Kathleen and @Mary - Thanks! Happy you enjoyed the pictures. About the website, to be honest, I think it's going to be quite a while before I'm going to have an opportunity to travel as extensively as I did this semester abroad, which is why I'm a bit more hesitant about making one since it'll probably remain pretty dormant.

@Pat - Thank you! Glad you found it useful and hope your trip goes well!

@Pete - Thanks! I was also on the same boat when it comes to Belgium. I knew what France and the Netherlands looked like (well, what their capital cities looked like) from movies but didn't know much about Belgium, which made it a pretty cool adventure. I just looked up Tournai, and it looks like a very charming city, definitely reminds me a bit of Ghent. Glad you enjoyed the Christmas market pics (with tons more to come) and hope you'll have an opportunity to check them out sometime in the future!

@Hannah - Thank you! Haha, there were definitely some funny moments in Belgium (my brief interaction with the priest still cracks me up a bit), and I'm glad you enjoyed the pics of the Christmas markets! While I'm super flattered by your complements, I'm sure that you've got these traits within yourself already and will be able to navigate whatever challenges you will encounter. Wishing you the best on your upcoming trip!

@mpaulynsettle - Thanks! Happy you enjoyed the writing and hope your trip to Bruges in May goes well, especially with the much nicer spring weather and lush spring foliage!