Help with Bruges, Ostende, Antwerp, the Ardennes
 

Message: My girlfriend and I arrive in Brussels the morning of Apr.2 and leave from Brussels the morning of Apr.8. We plan to take the train and stay in hostels most of the time. Our main interests so far have been to see Bruges(with a visit to Ostende to see the ocean), Antwerp, and we both wanted to take in some more "nature" oriented activities. Is it realistic that we have time to travel to Liege, rent a car and see some sights, maybe hike a bit, in the Ardennes region? Or will the weather make it too difficult to see some sights in this part of the country? Any suggestions would be helpful. We would like to get a good feel for the history, culture (food and music), and physical landscape of the country.

I can only tell you what we did on a break in Antwerp. The food was great and we ate in little cafes in the shopping district (I think we were nursing a hangover of strong Belgian beer from the night before....beware). The company was on a business dinner the next night (they flew us over for this). The next day we went to this Market and it was fantastic. You could but chocolates, cheese and then clothing and old traditional beer glasses. Several places were selling food. We are not used to these type of Markets in Ireland and we were mad about it.

Nightlife in Antwerp was pretty crazy. The bars are open really late (3-4am) and the clubs open late around 1or 2 and stay open until the next morning. These are not "discos" but serious clubs.

P.S. I have also been to Brussels for business and stayed the odd weekend through work. While I like it more than most people on the board here I think 1-2 days is good.

Instead of going to Ostend, I would advise you to visit Knokke-Heist instead. Knokke is an upscale seaside resort - within easy reach from Brugge - where you can make long nature walks in the nature reserve called "Zwin". It's an ornithologist paradise. If you like cycling, it's fun to cycle all the way from Heist to the Zwin along the seaside boulevard (and have some drinks or something to eat along the way!).

Visiting Antwerp is a very good idea! :)

IMO it is realistic to rent a car to visit the Ardennes. A beautiful area for walking would be right at the Belgian/German border, between Eupen and Monschau, in the Hertogenwald (Hautes Fagnes). Or you can drive up to the highest point of Belgium, from Baraque Michel (672 m) to Signal de Botrange (694 m). It's also part of the Hautes Fagnes nature reserve.

It's too early for weather predictions for the whole of next week, but Friday to Sunday is said to be overcast and between 12?C in the Ardennes to 17?C in Antwerp. Not too bad!

Brugge may be very busy this time of the year the Easter holidays will start on April 2nd (until April 18th).

Enjoy your stay in Belgium!

We're planning a similar trip in Sept. Recommend you get sandy_b's trip report - see her posting from yesterday.

Thank you SiobhanP, MyriamC, Beechtree, and SalB for your help! Every little suggestion helps.

I'll second Myriam's suggestion about Knokke; might see you there next week! Weather's lovely here now; sunny, 20 celsius. Let's hope it stays like that next week.