Belgium: help w/7 day trip and 2 day side trip
 

my sister, mother and i will be in belgium for 7 days (including the day of our 8am arrival). we range in age from 38-68yo. we're excited to see a variety of sites, but don't anticipate us overdoing it. i'd love to receive some recommendations on an itinerary.

sister and mother have not been to europe before, so would love to give them a side trip outside of belgium too. perhaps 2 of the days. suggestions? we will be using public transit, and not renting a car.

thanks much!

Not a real itinerary but a couple of suggestions:
Flanders - Brugge
Brussels
Ardennes - maybe Namur
These 3 areas are all quite different from each other and will give you a nice overview.
A side trip - Amsterdam or Paris are possible BUT really a side trip on such a brief vacation is overdoing it. You will be spending more time getting from point A to Point B instead of enjoying the sights.
Train service is pretty good in Belgium - so I don't think it would be hard to see both Flanders and the Ardennes in a week.

Hi Robyn
I spent a wonderful week in Belgium in September with my husband. We based ourselves in the beautiful small city of Ghent and found it convenient to take the train to Brussels, Bruges and other places had we wished to do so, but we enjoyed Ghent so much (just walking the old city and doing the Castle and Cathedral tours) that we skipped the planned sidetrip to Paris.
Make sure you indulge in the wonderful chocolate. The Flemish side of Belgium speaks Dutch while in Brussels they speak French so its like being in 2 countries for the Europe newbies. But nearly everone speaks English and the prices were more reasonable in Ghent for hotels and meals than in the capital. We loved the boutique Hotel Harmony on the canal, in the old part of the city but close to the tram stop to the station.
Enjoy

Suggestion:2 days Bruges-one day Ghent-2 days in my home town Antwerp-the rest in the capital Brussels.Paul

I think you have enough time to get away from the beaten path a little bit and explore a small village or two. I would recommend going to Binche, which is an hour south of Brussels by train. If you're going around Mardi Gras time, you defintely should go, because there's a really famous carnival. You can also try see some breweries while you're there. Maybe do this at the end of the trip as a day trip from Brussels.

The Ardennes to the east are also very nice, but you may not have time depending on how in deeply you fall in love with Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp.

So, for a itinerary, maybe think about this:
Day 1&2: arrive and go to Brugge
Days 3&4: head over to Gent for two nights. Take the train to Antwerp for a day trip on the second day. (alternately, you could spend the first two nights in Gent, with a day-trip to Bruges and another to Antwerp)
Day 5&6: explore Brussels and go to museums
Day 7: wrap it up with a day trip to the countryside, either to Binche in the Hainaut or to a town in the Ardennes like Namur or Liege