Brugge and Brussels...how to split the time?
 

My husband and I are both in our early thirties. We have an 11 day trip to Europe planned for October. We will be spending 4 days in Munich, 4 days in Paris, and 3 days in Belgium. We are not expert travelers, but have been to Europe twice in the last 3 years and feel fairly comfortable getting around. Our travel style is to eat, drink, relax, and some some great scenery. We like museums sometime, but in general could take or leave them.

Our original plan for Belgium was to take the train from Paris to Brussels wednesday morning, and spend Wed, Thur and Fri in Brussels before flying out of Brussels on Sat. We have been recently wondering if we should try to see Brugge? It looks so incredibly beautiful!

Does anyone have any ideas on how we should split these three days between the cities? We fly out of Brussels on Sat morning, so we definitely have to spend Fri night in Brussels. Should we take the train from Paris to Brugge on Wed morning and spend all day Wed, and Thur there. Then go to Brussels via train on Fri morning? Or should we spend only Wed in Brugge, and take a train on Thurs to Brussels? Or should we skip Brugge all together and spend the entire time in Brussels?

I would appreciate any advice!

I am not a fan of Brussels. It is a too frayed at the edges for me. Certainly, it has some nice sights.

Considering that you seem to have an itch for Brugge, and will have spent the rest of your vacation in large cities, I think spending 2 days in Brugge and then returning to to Brussels for one night before your flight should be given some consideration. We tried desperately to maximize our time in Brugge during our most recent visit and had a rather harrowing and nerve racked drive to BRU early in the morning. Next time, we will spend the last night near BRU. We will, however, leave Brugge as late as possible.

You can head to Brussels anytime you want on Friday, catch the main sights, have a nice dinner, etc..

Brugge is not big on "sights" - it is precisely the eat, drink, relax, and take in the scenery kind of place you mention.

Thanks so much! I will take your advice and spend 2 days in Brugge and the last night in Brussels. I appreciate you sharing your stressful morning drive to BRU...that is something I was almost contemplating. Thanks again!

Except, of course, for sights like these;

http://www.dailytravelphotos.com/archive/2010/05/20/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesstringer/2746220300/

The colours on the vines in October are amazing.

Brugge was made for walking at night. It is one of the most spectacularly lit places I have ever been too.

Enjoy.

This also helps me since I am going to Brugge in early June! Thanks

Hi, I've been to Brugge twice and on one of those trips, I also involved Brussels. Can I say that Brugge is 100 times better, and has so much more personality than Brussels. Brussels seems stale, less friendly, more concreted and much busier. Comparing the two is hard but certainly Brugge is my favourite. If you want friendly people, charming surroundings, gorgeous chocolates and the feel of a small city, Brugge is the place to go. Ah talking about it makes me want to go back!

I think you have it figured out. At worst, if you get bored in Brugges on the second day, go to Ghent (or go to Ghent on the way to Brussels). (But there is plenty to enjoy in Bruges for that period of time, imo).

Obviously, stay near the Grand place in Brussels. The train to the airport from the main station is perhaps the easiest airport journey (15 minutes) I've ever experienced.

Brussels can be a little harder nut to crack. It might not happen to you, but one can kind of stagnate after spending some time in the Grand Place and seeing Maniken pis. Last time we took a touristy hop on hop off bus tour (across/near the main station). Not great, but at least it got us out to some of the other sites.

great info! was just thinking of a weekend in Brugges from London late Aug/early sept but wondered if we'd be missing out on Brussels. Now I'm sure it's Brugges we want!

And a day return train ticket from Brugge to Knokke on the coast is only about 4 euros on weekends. From Knokke an all day tram ticket (terminus to your left as you leave the train station) to take you anywhere along the coast (towards the French border) is 6 euros. Perhaps stop off about half way for a short stroll to the beach through the pleasant village of De Haan-

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/de...y-the-sea.html