GooseyD

Hello,

My boyfriend and I will be traveling from Paris to Amsterdam and plan to spend a couple days in Belgium in between. We plan to take a train from Paris to Bruges the morning of June 5th (Friday) and leave for Amsterdam the morning of the 7th (Sunday).

We were considering spending one day in Bruges and then taking a local train to Ghent in order to be able to see more of Belgium. We are not sure if it would be better to stay in one place, such as Bruges, during our stay, or if it is feasable to explore two different cities. We have never been to belgium and are open to suggestions.

I'm hoping for advice on which city or cities are best to stay in and how likely we are to be able to find morning train rides to our destinations.

Thank you for any advice you can offer,
Deborah

Tulips

Hi Deborah, depends on what you like to do. It's nice to stay in Brugge, as you will see it once most daytrippers have left. On the other hand, if you are interested in nightlife, Gent is a student town. There's much more going on in the evenings.
Either stay the two nights in Gent, with a trip to Brugge by train, or stay in Brugge for two nights and visit Gent.

The last train from Brugge to Gent leaves at 11.30 pm or so - and takes 25 minutes. So you could stay in Gent and still experience Brugge in the evening.

Sue_xx_yy

I am going to offer a different opinion. We spent a night in Gent and a night in Bruges. We left Bruges mid-afternoon for Antwerp and then went on to Amsterdam after a night in Antwerp, but you could keep on to Amsterdam and arrive 2.5 to 3.5 hours later, depending on the train.

We arrived mid afternoon from CDG in Ghent (or go directly to Brugge if schedules suit, check out bahn.de.) Relaxed a bit, walked to St. Michael's bridge, saw the famous altarpiece the following morning, did another short walk, had lunch, then took the train to Bruges/Brugge. Took a bike ride in the evening. Next day, visited the Groeninge museum (getting around by bike). Had a picnic lunch in a park, then took the bus back to the Brugge train station and hopped a train to Antwerp (in your case, to Amsterdam.)

Sue_xx_yy

By the way, of course if you are in Paris proper, you will take the train from the Gare du Nord (north station) in Paris to Brussels, and then switch to a local train to Gent-Bruges.