6 days in Belgium
 

My husband is going to Brussels in about 10 days for a one day business and I am thinking of joining him and making it a slightly longer trip for both of us. We have both been to Brussels and Bruges before, and really liked both cities, but were hoping to see more of Belgium this time, and perhaps a little of Germany. We will probably spend 2 days in Brussles and definately want to spend 2 full days in Antwerp, but would also like to fit it 1 or more of the following cities...Ghent, Dusseldorf, Cologne. Any advice on which ones? Keep in mind that we like art, fashion, and cities. Also, is it unbearably cold this time of year, any idea how it compares to NYC right now? Thanks in advance.

Hi ZND.My husband and I are taking similar trip end of January. I have done lots of research and we have decided on Ghent and Antwerp as we have visited Brugge and Brussels a couple of times before.We have found a very good guidebook (pocket-sized)on Antwerp and Brugge published in Nov 2006 so very current. You can buy from their website if you can't find one in NYC,the website is WWW.footprintbooks.com.
The weather is likely to be pretty cold but that just makes the cafe culture all the more appealing doesn't it? There seems to be lots of beautiful churches and interesting museums in both cities. I had one of my best holidays ever in Venice when it was freezing in December a few years ago as there were very few tourists about. Hope you have a great trip

Why not go to Amsterdam ?

Been to Amsterdam, didn't really care for it....although Paris is very tempting, but we've been there too many times.

Shirley, thanks for the book recommendation. Looking forward to cafes and the beer.

Dusseldorf is one of Germany's most fashionable cities and also has an excellent arts tradition. Lots of galleries. Plus a lively old town (the Schlosser Alt brewery/restaurant is a fun place for dinner). A very pretty small town an easy ride from Dusseldorf is Hattingen (unlike much of the region, it escaped WW II bombing, so the historic old town was not rebuilt in the last 50 years).
If you train from Brussels to Dusseldorf, give yourself an hour or so in Cologne between trains (it's where you'd change for your Dusseldorf train); that would give you time to see the cathedral as it's right next door to the train station.

The weather has been very unusual; far too warm. Flowers are starting to come out, birds are all confused, it was 14 celsius last week. So not NYC cold, but keep an eye on the forecasts, you never know what could happen. But for now it looks like we are skipping winter and moving straight into spring.

I live near Antwerp, so if you would like more info, let me know. For 6 days, Brussels, Gent and Antwerpen would be enough already.
If you want to include Germany, Dusseldorf and Cologne are both nice, not too difficult to visit from Belgium. Maastricht, The Netherlands, is nice for a day as well. Or Amsterdam, about 1 1/2 hours each way from Antwerp.