<<I think car is almost every time the best option. You have much more storage space, and you can travel around freelly>>

Hogwash. A car is an enormous liability if you are spending any time at all in European cities. Wonderful for traveling around the countryside.

The storage space note confounds me. If you're traveling, you have suitcases and bags, presumably. Everything has to fit inside them, whether you're in a car, in a train or bus, or on foot. So what if you can spread some stuff all over a rental car - it all has to be gathered up and repacked for transport when you're done with the car, so what's your point?

All this presupposes that you have your reservation for Thalys booked already. It's not as if you can take any Belgian train and then hop on any Thalys train. Your stuck to a reservation for that.>

Thaks for clarification - I should have said that better. I think you can only get the ABS fare in conjunction with a Thalys fare with reservation.

Personally, we would find "train" to be extremely limiting.
Largely because, to us, all big cities look about the same (tall buildings, traffic, large stores), other than their unique features (think Tower of London, Eiffel Tower).
Contrast that to small towns/villages, each with a unique flavor.

Given what you've divulged, I'd heartily recommend rental car. (we use www.gemut.com)

Trains stations are not only to be found in "big cities"

Really? Cities look pretty different to me. I would never confuse London and Lisbon, New York and DC, Paris and Prague, etc. etc. Whereas one small village with thatched cottages and a pub is much like the next. And if it rains there is a lot more do in a city.

Of course menachem is right. Take a look at a rail map sometime. And then there are buses.

IME, thursdaysd raises an excellent point. I can't imagine confusing any city I've visited for another. In contrast, my tolerance for small villages (with or without thatch) is limited and my memories of them merge into a bit of a mishmash. Maybe others experience it differently.

Either way, as others have noted, there are many parts of Europe in which visiting smaller towns or villages is quite easy by public transportation.