We stayed in both cities for two nights - which was fine. We were in Bruges on a Sunday, and although Sundays are quite often dead in large/medium-sized cities - that was not the case with Bruges.

We loved Ghent also.

Stu Dudley

Antwerp has markets both on Saturday and Sunday if you are interested in markets. The one on Sunday is very big, the one on Saturday smaller. Both are morning only I believe.
There is also a small antiques market in Antwerp on Saturday.

thank you Heti. Ok I think we'll do Antwerp the first weekend then, and then go to Amsterdam afterwards. Is it easy to get to Antwerp after flying into Amsterdam? i.e. to get to the Amsterdam train station from the amsterdam airport?

thank you Stu! Can you do Ghent for a day from Amsterdam? Would you recommend it over Bruges?

Stu, do you think we should cut out Bruges all together and do Antwerp then Amsterdam then Paris? That's what we're thinking now ... I just don't see a lot of parks in Bruges and we'll be traveling with a toddler (who is well-traveled and sure he likes running around, but we're used to running around with him so that's no problem, just prefer to be somewhere with parks for that reason). Antwerp has been a dream of mine for a while due to the fashion so I don't want to eliminate Antwerp.

Caveat: we've been to Paris many times before but still thought if we're heading across the pond then maybe we should not miss it, especially since it has so many parks and playgrounds. This is more my feeling than my husband's though, as he's really looking forward to the beer, grand churches, and the 16th century cellars (which do sound pretty awesome, I have to admit!).

A lot of people go to Bruges for weekend trips, so it is busier on weekends than on weekdays. So Bruges during the week will mean fewer crowds. It does depend on time of year too - we were there in the summer time and even during the week, Bruges had a fair number of people visiting. That said, it was really easy to be away from other visitors just by walking a block or two off the main routes. And also since a lot of people visit for the day, once it became late afternoon, it got a lot quieter.

Amsterdam to Antwerp is very easy - the same train that serves Amsterdam centraal station also serves the airport and Antwerp, so you don't even have to change trains, just get on at the airport and go.

Bruges has some pedestrian-only squares and that sort of thing, so I think your kiddo will be find running around in those. Even in the areas were cars go, lanes are narrow and there are loads of pedestrians anyway, so cars go slow. I think it will be fine.

Ghent seems like a really neat town too - we didn't stop there when we travelled through that area a few years ago. It was on our plan, but I had slipped on some stairs the day before and pulled a couple muscles and had some bruises so I wasn't totally up to snuf, so we skipped it - just one of those lame things that happens occasionally. But Ghent is on my list for a future visit.

Regarding Paris instead of Bruges - since you only have a couple of nights, I wouldn't attempt Paris this trip. You said your toddler is well-travelled, so I am guessing that this is not a once-in-a-lifetime trip and that you can come back to Europe. I would save Paris for a future trip when you can spend several days.

When are you doing your trip? The reason I ask because if it is soon then getting to Antwerp is not that easy. Due to problems with Fyra it is no longer running, so at the moment to get to Antwerp you get a train to Roosendaal and change there for a train to Antwerp.
Hopefully if you are visiting in a few months they will have sorted things out and have a direct connection again, either with Fyra, or maybe the old Intercity train.

You will need to keep an eye on www.nshispeed.nl for details of what the trains are doing.

If you are interested in fashion, I really think you shouldn't give up Antwerpen. Bruges is a preserved town that is very "fairy-tale" because nothing has changed since its port silted up, so people like to go through and take snaps and see the yesteryear and swans. But if there is anyplace you can come back to and it won't have changed, it's Bruges.

There is a nice so-called 'exotic' market in Antwerp on Saturdays. It starts early in the morning until 4pm. It's more interesting than the larger Vogelenmarkt on Sunday mornings.
Note that shops in Antwerp are not open on Sundays. In Brugge part of the shops are open on Sundays, so I think it's more interesting to visit Brugge than Antwerp on a Sunday.

Since you're interested in beer, grand churches, and 16th century cellars ... you will find that in all the main Belgian cities (Antwerp, Gent, Brugge). Gent is an easy train ride from Brugge (30 min.) or from Antwerp (55 min.).

Thanks all! Do you think it's worth it to stay 2 nights in Bruges, if we keep it in our itinerary, or only 1 ?

I think we'll definitely move Antwerp to Friday and Saturday so we can go to those markets. Just emailed our hotel so I hope they'll let us change the reservation .

Oh I just saw how close you said Gent is from Brugge, so maybe if we stay in Brugge for two nights then we can visit Gent on one of the days. It sounds like it's worth a visit. 30 minutes is very short!

I would stay in Ghent and visit Brugge. Or stay in Antwerpen the entire time. The night time ambience in Antwerpen is just excellent, with many outstanding eateries to choose from.

Also, if you stay in Gent or Antwerpen you can drink jenever. Each town has a jenever bar, but I don't think Brugge does. It is a unique Belgian spirit and very much worth sampling.

Jenever is Dutch, too, just losing in popularity amongst young people in NL.

Lavandula

Thank you! I think you're right about staying in Antwerp. We love to eat at great restaurants and visit cool bars so if Antwerp's the place for that, best we stay there and do day trips to Bruges, and Gent if we want. It's also easier not to move all our stuff. And always rewarding to stay in one city longer versus moving around too much.

Myriam do you know any resources for babysitters in Antwerp?

No, I'm sorry. Apparently the Radisson Blu Park Lane offers babysitting service on demand. So do the Hilton and Aparthotel Soul Suites. Hilton is in the historical centre, Soul Suites is in the trendy Zuid neighbourhood.

Don't miss the fashion museum if you are in Antwerp, and interested in fashion; www.momu.be.
That area has interesting shops too.
Agree about the market; the one on Saturday is great, lots of exotic food.

Brugge is pretty, but 2 nights would be too much for me. They probably insist on 2 nights if you stay at the weekend. Depending on when you are in Belgium, consider a day on the coast in Knokke. Easily reached from Brugge, your toddler can run around, and you can rent bicycles or go-carts on the boulevard. Great shopping too, open on Sundays.

Sounds like you have alot to pick from!
Might I recommend contacting the tourist info centers for each city! You can ask specific questions, get an updated calendar of events/ markets and so on... and they're usually pretty quick at writing back.

www.visitantwerpen.be
www.brugge.be

you may also want to look at these guides www.use-it.be
they're quirky but have good info and interesting places, plus a good city map.

Sure, very interesting what people abroad expect from Belgium
in 2013. Yes,old values never die, like "jenever". Look:
www.jenevermuseum.be (translation in English available)
Like I told before: visit the town of Hasselt, 500 years of
jenever history. Ofcourse there is also Dutch jenever. Simply,we were back then just one country.And there is more, beergirl, just outside Hasselt... www.terdolen.be or www.brouwerijwilderen.be. The revival has just begun...

Thank you for all this advice!! I'm soo excited for our trip! We've booked 4 nights in Amsterdam and then 4 nights in Antwerp. We'll do a day trip to Bruges and also try to go to Knokke. A day on the beach and riding bikes sounds wonderful! And glad there are also cute shops to look at. Hope it's easy to get there from Antwerp.

From Amsterdam we want to spend a day visiting the tulips. Does anyone have a tour guide to recommend for that, or should we just rent a car and go on our own?

Any other specific advice for daytrips from Antwerp? Should we do a full day in Knokke, and then on another day to a morning trip to Hasselt? Or could we do Hasselt in the morning and Knokke in the afternoon, on the same day?

Luke, looking forward to all that beer! Really sounds refreshing. Thank you for the info, my husband will especially grateful!

Beergirl, the Use-It guides look awesome!! I already want to live in Belgium based on those guides, ha.

Tulips, the fashion museum is temporarily closed! But it says they will reopen 12/03/2013. Does this mean march 12 or December 3rd? If it's march 12th then we'll be able to visit!!!

Hasselt and Knokke are at opposite ends, from Antwerp.
Knokke is pleasant when the weather is good; rent bicycles, visit the Zwin nature reserve, have a good meal. I wouldn't go there in bad weather. There's no direct train from Antwerp - change in Brugge. Lovely shops in the Kustlaan in Knokke, open on Sundays. Lots of restaurants in Knokke, but also the excellent Pure C in nearby Cadzand - you can cycle from Knokke. Very very good.

The Fashion Museum opens again March 13 for a new exhibition; don't know about that, it's about fabrics. The restaurant underneath the museum is nice for lunch - Renaissance.
Do visit the MAS - beautiful building, very interesting exhibits.

Ok, Knokke is a go! What about Durbuy? It looks so cute on this person's blog. I love the looks of the Topiary park! Must be great fun for a child to run around there. http://www.opt.be/informations/tourist_attractions_durbuy__topiary_park/en/V/21350.html

Here's the blog post about it http://forthejourney.net/2009/09/hottest-day-in-the-smallest-city/

The new exhibit at MoMu looks like it will be gorgeous. It's about silk fabrics from Abraham Archive Fabrics in Zurich, which were used by Dior, Givenchy, Yves Saint Laurent and Balenciaga. Sounds like a nice exhibit. I emailed the museum to check if they would be reopening and they sent me the press release. In sum: "In the summer of 2007 the Hulda und Gustav Zumsteg Foundation donated the textile archive of Zurich company Abraham Ltd. to the Swiss National Museum archive and in presentation and publication. " And this exhibit is based on that collection.

Difficult choice. Antwerp is a lovely city and is more crowded (in a positive manner) than Bruges. Bruges is quite calm in this period, but the city is so beautiful.

In Antwerp you have a really nice location, called "Eilandje". You can find one of the most beautiful museums, called MAS. More information on this specific area, you can find on the website http://www.antwerpseilandje.be

It's in Dutch but you can translate the language to English if you want.

But if I must say: take Bruges .

Thank you @pieter_maes_9 . We went to the MAS at night and also in the morning and LOVED it!! It's a beautiful walk to get there too. We really loved Antwerp. It's diverse and has a little bit of an edge, which coming from new york we really loved. We really want to go back there, ideally every year, haha. We are HUGE FANS of Antwerp, honestly. Great food, museums, shopping, people. It was very small , true, but made up for that in character and charm. Felt a little eastern european to us also, I dont know why (and my husband is from St. Petersburg Russia) . We absolutely LOVED our Amsterdam (were there for KINGS DAY!!!), Antwerp, and Paris vacation. Thank you for all the great tips!

and p.s. we did take a day trip to Bruges from Antwerp but left after just 2 hours because it was so small and boring! It just feels like a tourist stop without any real heartbeat of its own. I'm sure people can have different experiences there, that was just the feeling we got.