Hello everyone, <BR>Could you all tell me the must see sights of Ghent, Antwerp, Brussels and Brugge. Also if you have any off the beaten path cities in Belgium that you would recommend. <BR>Thank you all!

Hello again, <BR>Okay, I am not going to complain, but I think I have given enough information to others on this forum to warrant a response to this simple posting (this excludes Wes Fowler - of course, he has given me more wonderful information than I ever could have imagined). <BR> <BR>I will re-phrase my question: Tell me about your favorite experiences in any of these mentioned cities. <BR>Again all suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Hi Elizabeth, <BR> <BR>Since I live in the Antwerp area I fear my contribution will be not too objective but here I go ... <BR>If you like museums, Antwerp has lots of them, the usual with the famous painters etc. but also smaller typical museums like the "Scheepvaartmuseum" (Maritime museum) located in "Het Steen" (a medieval castle) or the museum "Vleeshuis" (beautiful gothic style house), the "Onze-Lieve-Vrouwe Kathedraal" of course with its beautiful stained glass windows, the open air museum for modern art "Middelheim" etc. etc. <BR>If you want to have all the cultural highlights listed, you must take a look at the website www.antwerpen.be. On this homepage in the left (reddish) area click on "cultuur" ; in the next page click on "museum" in the horizontal bar and a description of all the museums follows, mostly also in English. If you find something interesting that you cannot understand, I will gladly translate. <BR> <BR>Another MUST is strolling around in the medieval part of the city with its narrow cobblestone streets, fancy boutiques, antique shops, great restaurants and cafés. This will give you a good idea of the atmosphere. Antwerp is alive! <BR> <BR>A roundtrip on the river Schelde in the Antwerp harbour is also a possibility. <BR> <BR>If you like to eat and drink, you surely won't have to starve: from snackbars to high class restaurants, Antwerp has it all. Also the famous beer cafés with hundreds different kinds of beer (De Groote Witte Arend is such a café). <BR> <BR>The beautiful countryside is only 20 km away from the city and easy to reach by car or by train. <BR> <BR>Regarding Brussels and Brugge, there are lots of people on this forum that know the cities better than I do. I thought it useful to give Antwerp the publicity that it deserves. Email me if you want more info. <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>

Elizabeth, hope this gives you another perspective. I've copied directly from my notes. <BR> <BR>Here we go on another unknown adventure! We're off to Knokke - where the rich and famous go according to Marc at the hotel. He suggested we spend a day at the beach on this beautiful day - which it is. A bus right in front of the hotel (40 cents) took us to the train station where we bought tickets to the coast. We can return from any of the coastal cities between Knokke and Oostende. This train is nice and comfortable - much like the fast train we took from Paris. It took about 35 minutes to get to Knokke. This town is much like Palm Springs or West Palm. White villas on small lots. Every home has a name and the streets have tree lined boulevards down the center. We spent about 90 minutes in this attractive town walking amidst the townspeople, then moved on to the home of the "ordinaries" as Marc called them. A tram (really an electric trolley) along the route to Oostende took about an hour and we passed through many small towns getting there. I like seeing places most travelers bypass - or don't know about. When we arrived in Oostende and we walked outside the train station, it was like WOW! The city is an unexpected treasure! A canal or inlet runs right down the middle of town and is packed with beautiful sailboats. This is a picturesque town and full of activity on this Sunday in May - Mother's Day. We came to see the coast, and we walked through jam-packed and narrow streets - ate another incredibly delicious Belgium waffle - and sat in another Town Square watching families gathering in the square to celebrate with their mother at lunch or brunch. Relaxing in the square is a pleasant way to people-watch and admire the surrounding old buildings. On one of the crowded streets leading to the beach, we stopped in an antique shop. Prices are extremely high here! There it is! Crowds migrating toward a large boardwalk overlooking the beautiful blue sea as far as I can see. What a sight! It is peaceful and picturesque. Tourists and townsfolk alike pack the area. This is enjoyment we didn't expect to find in Belgium and it's just an hour from Brugge. What a lazy way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Returning to the train station, we watched the drawbridge let a procession of sailboats pass through on their way to the sea. We looked more closely at the impressive bronze sculptures (4 of them) in the courtyard outside the terminal. They are sculptured to look like three ladies sitting together on a bench, and their laps are seats that people to sit in, creating the sense of sitting on a woman's lap. How clever and unusual, and makes me smile. Really something! We're glad we took Marc's advice to see this part of Belgium. Otherwise, we'd surely have missed this gem. The 4:30pm train takes us back to Brugge, and is a relaxing way to travel compared to driving - as we've always done on previous European trips. <BR>

Thank you so much! This is exactly the type of information I was looking for. <BR> <BR>Myriam - I found the english version of the Antwerpen page and have bookmarked it. I hope that if I come up with any specific questions about Antwerpen before May, that I may write you. <BR> <BR>Kathy - I loved the details to your post. When you mentioned the part about the life-like scuptures, it remined me of the scupture of a girl on a bench reading a book that we saw in Aachen, Germany last October. <BR>Thank you both!

Just about everything in Brugge is beautiful. I would stay in one of the hotels right on the canal, and be sure to take a boat ride down the canal. I found it to be one of the most quaint cities in Begium. I am returning to Begium again this year, and Brugge is on my list of places to go again!

I spent 3 nights in Brugge last year and one in Brussels. Let me tell you, Brugge is absolutely beautiful. And we even went in Feb - the dead of winter, and it was still lovely. It truly is quaint, and there is plenty to do along with strolling and eating and visiting the weekly bazaar and eating fresh chocolates every day! I would love to go back in the spring when there are flowers blooming. You'll love Brugge. We stayed on the canal at a small B&B which was wonderful named Hotel Ter Duinen. Clean, friendly staff, speak English, good breakfast and great location. Email me if you'd like more info on it. Have a great time.

We were surprised to enjoy Antwerp as much as we did. Usually like smaller cities, but ended up staying there rather than Ghent, and enjoyed it much more (we visited Ghent a couple of times from there). Antwerp is easy to get around, and the beautiful historic center is very compact. Had a superb meal in a wonderful setting at Het Vermoeide Model, behind the glorious white cathedral. The town hall and guild houses surrounding the square are an unforgettably beautiful composition. It was a welcoming and friendly town in cold December - with an ice-skating rink set up around the main square fountain, and hot mulled wine for sale from little booths with charcoal heating "baskets" to warm you up. Ghent's sights are not to be missed as well - the Mystic Lamb polyptych has been well described in previous posts and countless guidebooks. The Kornlei and Graslei streets along the river are lined with exquisite houses, some of which now contain stores. We enjoyed a multi-storey homewares shop in an ancient and beautiful house. <BR>Daily Bread (the name in Flemish escapes me, it's Pain Quotidien in French) is a favorite for breakfast or lunch. The original is in Brussels, in the Sablon area (interesting outdoor antiques market on weekends), but there are many throughout Belgium, and they're worth seeking out. You can sit at a long shared table, order your basket of breads and bowl of coffee, and proceed to slather each bite with various spreads of white chocolate, hazlenut chocolate, fruit jams, honey, sweet nut butters...oooh I'm getting hungry! <BR>Our favorite hotel in Brugge is t'Bourgoensche Cruyce, on Wollestraat, on a canal, and in the most photographed beauty-spot in this picturesque town. Ride a bike around the town, over the humped bridges crossing the canals, along the moat-like surrounding canal, by the windmills. <BR>All 4 of the towns you mention have great musuems - you'll have to pick the ones that appeal the most. <BR>A couple of off the beaten path spots are Mechelen, the carillon center of the world, perhaps, with a fascinating carved pulpit in the cathedral as one of it's treasures; and Oodenarde with it's fantastic flamboyant Gothic town hall and streets full of interesting shops. <BR>Have a great trip!