Ghent, Antwerp, Brussels... How long in each place?
 

We're taking the car over to Belgium in the summer. Hoping to go to Ghent, Antwerp and Brussels. How many nights would you recommend spending in each? Planning around a week in total.

Don't miss Bruges, you will be so close.

Thanks Sassafrass but we went to Bruges last year. It's a beautiful place but want to see other places in Belgium this time :)

Just came back from those from places. We liked Gent the best, although the architecture is not as charming as Brugge, it is much more interesting city. We also liked the place we stayed called Snooz B & B. The host Kurt is very accommodating. We spent two days in each and that is otherwise, not enough time to make a determination and we drove as well.

If you are not going to out of the way places, as well, I would consider taking the trains.

Gent is very central. You can easily do daytrips to Antwerpen and Brussel from Gent.

I really enjoyed Ghent, a lot more so than Brussels, and I found there was a lot more stuff to do than Bruges. The people, including the servers we had at the restaurants we ate at, were all so nice also. I also found the shopping to be excellent in Ghent, a lot of streets full of nice shops.

We stayed 4 nights in Brussels, 2 in Bruges (about right) and 5 in Ghent, and to me that was about right. Have never been to Antwerpen, but hope to make it there some day.

In Ghent we stayed both at Hotel Onderbergen (very new and really big rooms) and B&B de waterzooi (Excellent B&B, my favorite ever actually... the hosts are the best I've ever encountered... you also sleep in a Tempur-pedic bed and have amazing views over Ghent castle).

Enjoy your trip!