jcooldude

Hi All,

I land in Brussels at 5pm, so I want to spend the night there then leave for Either Bruges or Ghent the next morning, so please let me know which you feel is the better place to base myself in.

I'm looking at arriving 31st March in Brussels itself - if I arrive at 5pm, it makes more sense to settle in for a night in Brussels or continue spending another 2 hours reaching Bruges/Ghent?

I'm travelling alone - but I will have a big suitcase with me. My original plan was to spend one night in Bruges, one night in Ghent, one night + one night in Brussels, for a total of 4-5 days - is that too rushed or no?

I'll then head back to Brussels and catch the train back to Frankfurt.

JBord

A few thoughts for you:

- The train to Ghent is about 45 minutes from the center, or a little over an hour from the airport (with a transfer), if I remember correctly. I'd probably keep going rather than spend the night in Brussels just to take the train in the morning.

- In my opinion, there are more hotel options in Ghent, and it will typically be more affordable. Bruges has some quaint boutique hotels if you prefer that however. I would personally just stay in Ghent, although a night in Bruges could be nice as well.

- If your interests are simply sightseeing and enjoying some wonderful Belgian beer and moules frites (and maybe a chocolate ), I think your time is not too rushed. Lovely cities but can be seen in a day each. Day and a half each would be about perfect for me.

Giggleswick

Unless you have a reason to want to change hotels or have a very early flight out of Brussels, there's really no reason to change locations every day. Trains are frequent and cheap, and the distances are short. It's less than 1/2 hour between Ghent and Bruges. Ghent would be the most central, and also allow you an easy train ride to Antwerp if you decide to sightsee there instead of in Brussels.

dimramon

Bruges is my home town, so I am biased

I know a good bed and breakfast in town.

JBord

Ha! That looks like a challenge for Ghentleman, to defend his home!

Seriously though, I think if one is interested in a bed and breakfast or a quaint old hotel with a handful of rooms, Bruges may be the better choice. Neither choice is bad and a short train ride away from one another.

dutchgirlDH

Between Bruges and Ghent then Ghent anytime. One day in Bruges is plenty, whereas Ghent has more to offer IMHO.

As pointed out before, you can easily travel by train between the cities. Brussels has really cheap hotels on Fri and Sat nights, maybe that will help? Also, Antwerp is a really nice city to visit if you wanted to add a fourth.

dimramon

I did go to college in Ghent, so I lived there for 4 years

jcooldude

So I've had a look at my options - I'll land about 6:30pm, and keep heading straight to Ghent to the train station (then tram to city center I guess?), and spend 2 nights there (and 2 days since I arrive so late at night!) - making day trips to Bruges and maybe Antwerp if time, without forgetting Ghent as well

I've always wanted to see Bruges so I'll do that on day one since it's only 30 mins away! If it ends up this way I might just end up skipping Brussels completely!

dimramon

You really will not miss much by skipping brussels.

You can take a tram to the city center. The tram stops are right outside the train station.

jcooldude

Ok great! Final question - is it better to take breakfast from the hotel and pay extra, or is it fine to wander the streets to get breakfast - being Europe I know this depends on country to country.

JBord

This is probably more hotel-specific. It's not unusual for European hotels to now include breakfast in the room rate. However, if it's not included, it's usually expensive and you can do much better leaving the hotel.

Besides, you're in Belgium, so you can find a nice waffle anywhere!

When breakfast is included, I feel obligated to take advantage of it. There's a certain freedom when it's not and I can find a local hidden gem for breakfast instead.

dimramon

You can get some "boterkoeken" from a bakery. They are delicious and comparable to pastries.

Belgium does not really have a breakfast culture per se.