johnz323

Greetings wonderful and helpful Fodor People!

I’m going from London to Brussels (probably via the Eurostar) for four-five days in early May, and then on to Amsterdam. Any thoughts on a Belgium itinerary? From what I’ve been reading here, it sounds like Brussels is a good place to “base” one’s self and take train day trips to other parts of Belgium (I don’t want to drive).

I was thinking about going straight to Brugge from London (via Brussels) and staying one or two days in Brugge, then on to Brussels for two days/nights. Or if I did this the other way around, does it makes much of a difference if I take the train to Amsterdam from Brugge? From what I can tell, if I left from Brugge, I’d have to connect in Antwerp, as opposed to a direct train from Brussels.

In short, any suggestions you have for a Belgium itinerary would be most welcomed!

Thanks.

leather1026

There are 2 stations in Antwerp. Berchem and Central, no problem changing trains in Berchem it only has 2 platforms.Not a lot to see in Brugge, rather overrated, although the canal trip is interesting and a good way to see the buildings. Brussels has manneke pis and the Grand Place, well worth a visit especially evening time, there is a fabulous restaurant row near there, check the menus some can be pricey !!Try to go to Liege, in the southern part of Belgium a great city with lots of sights, they call the inhabitants Walloons, better than being called a Brit!!LOL!!

johnz323

Thanks, Leather! Is Liege worth a stay over or a day trip from Brussels?

kja

Unfortunately, I can't help with most of your questions, but did want to say that I loved Brugge! It is touristy, but I spent 2 wonderful days there many years ago, and could have easily kept busy had I had more time there. The Michelango in the Church of our Lady is one of my favorites. Hope that helps!

leather1026

A day trip to Liege would be OK, it is less than an hour by train from Brussels, Also Brugge is OK but Brussels is better, dont bother with Antwerp it is not too good, very industrial but it is the diamond capital... Oostend is a small port if you want to be at the seaside, some nice restaurants there.

leather1026

btw. if you havent booked the eurostar yet, go to lastminute.com they have some great deals from London starting at £59. return

MyriamC

@ leather
FYI ...
1) Berchem has 10 (ten) platforms, not two.
2) The inhabitants of Wallonia (which is the whole south - and French-speaking part - of Belgium) are called Walloons, not just the people from Liège.
3) Antwerp industrial? Apparently you have just been in the harbour and the neighbouring industrial zone but not in the historical city centre.

smueller

I would make Brugge or Antwerp a higher priority than Liege. Ghent is another possibility. If you want to visit southern Belgium, Dinant would be a better choice than Liege.

leather1026

Sorry I meant 10 platforms , my error, and I still prefer Liege, I was not trying to be a Historian, I know that the whole area is Wallonia, just trying to be helpful and I have been all over Antwerp, I spent 10 years in Belgium and do speak all of the languages. Hope no one was offended by my opinion...

BTilke

To best answer your question, why don't you tell us what you'd ideally like to do with your four-five days? If you want to take long scenic walks in the morning and the evening, ride a bike along a canal, then stay at least one night in Bruges. If you're a foodie and you a lot of variety in your sightseeing, then Brussels is your best place to base. Antwerp and Brussels both have good museums. If you're a "policy wonk", then again, Brussels makes a good base, so you can at least see the EU centers and NATO that are shown so often on the evening news. (If there's a particularly big political meeting going on at the EU while you're there, head down to the Cinquantenair Parc in the late afternoon and watch all the TV correspondents do their reports with the big arch and Belgian flag in the background. Or go by the Conrad Hotel on the Avenue Louise. To gauge the gravitas of the confab, check out the guards...how many and how heavily armed...if you see over a dozen body armoured guys with automatic rifles standing next to the toy shop, then it's a BFD.)
I'm not Antwerp's biggest fan, but there's certainly much more to it than an industrial area and the diamond district. And for a short trip to Belgium, neither Oostend nor Liege would be at the top of my itinerary.
Your plan of r heading to Bruges from London via Brussels for two nights and then on to Brussels sounds good to me. Vice versa works too, although I think the first option will probably save you a bit of time.

leather1026

Hi again,Belgium has some great cities and there have been some great suggestions, Brugge Ghent Antwerp etc, suggested Liege and Oostend as suggestions to get away from main tourist areas for a day or 2.

Padraig

We did exactly what you hsve in mind.

There was (and I imagine still is) a good deal in a rover ticket that covers all of Belgium, and a more expensive one that covers the Benelux countries.

I preferred Ghent to Bruges, but it was good to see both in order to have an opinion.

In addition to places already mentioned here, I thought Louvain worth a couple of hours (probably more, but all we gave it was a couple of hours) and Ypres is worth seeing if WW1 is of interest to you.