4 days / 4nights in Belgium and Netherlands
 

Arriving in Brussels airport on Tues, Oct.1st at 8:00 AM, and flying back to Canada from Brussels on Sat. Oct 5th at 10:00 AM. What could be the best itinerary for visiting Belgium and Netherlands. This is our 1st trip as a senior couple.

Why such a short trip - one day to recover leaves you with 3 days - go to Amsterdam for the whole time or stay in Belgium and hit Bruges - to many the absolute highlight of Belgium, Gent, Antwerp - both neat historic old cities and Brussels itself.

Why so little time - are you coming first from Canada?

That's barely enough time to see anything, given that you are flying in the first day and out the last. I personally wouldn't even go to the Netherlands unless you have some very specific things you wish to see there and find them more interesting than anything you could see in Belgium. (Some would simply go to Amsterdam, but it's not a favorite of mine.)

[I just got back from a trip to Belgium in May - almost done my trip report and photos, will post them here soon.]

The trains work well for tourists in Belgium, even from the airport. Bruges is the tourist highlight of Belgium, but it's also a beautiful town. I'd probably train from Brussels airport to Bruges for two nights, maybe do a night in Ghent (it's on the way back from Bruges toward Brussels), and do the final night in Brussels or Leuven. Leuven is a beautiful town and easy to the Brussels airport by train - only about 25 minutes as I recall. I loved the Grand Place in Brussels, especially at night, but otherwise I much preferred the town of Leuven: smaller, less touristy, more interesting to me. But if there are specific things you would want to see in Brussels (museums, etc.), maybe you would prefer the final night there. It would be easy to stop for a few hours in Brussels by leaving your things at the train station in a locker then heading to Leuven.

Early Oct should still see you in Autumnal weather (so cool but days are not short and apart from rain should be at least pleasant). Assuming you have jet lag for day one ( you may have more but lets hope eh?). The train system for Benelux (Belgium/Netherlands/Luxemburg) is very good. I'd chose one city (Bruges is good) and base your self there, take trains to others.

Dig out the movie In Bruges http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Bruges

I'd go for Gent, not Brussels.