joannyc

I will be leaving from Brussels Airport at 11am on a Sunday morning.

I'm looking for a cute town an hour or less south of the airport to spend my last night, a Saturday.

I will be driving from Reims to wherever this town is. I'd probably arrive mid to late afternoon, so I don't need a lot of things to see. Maybe a citadel and/or Cathedral... if that. May be totally burnt out on these type of sites by then and just want a few good photo ops and a good last dinner! ;-)

I don't want to be in Brussels as I will begin my trip there.

Thinking of Namur... but are there better towns?

Thanks very much!

tovarich

You could visit Waterloo.That would be on your way from Reims to Brussels.Paul

Sominex

What about Bruges, it's a pretty town.
Som

Mimar

We are in this same situation -- approximately. We are dropping our car in Lille to avoid the big charge (>$300) for dropping in another country.

From Lille we are training to Bruges. I had planned to go to the airport directly from Bruges, but am informed that the Belgian trains are not that reliable. (Really wouldn't want to miss our flight home!) So we will spend the last night in Brussels near the train station.

Aramis

I have stayed in Brugge with an early morning flight from BRU the next day. One of the more stressful mornings of my life was the result. The traffic was horrendous, we had allowed almost 4 hours, leaving at 5:45 a.m. from Brugge and arrived at the counter at 9:10 for a 9:30 flight. Had the flight not been delayed, this would probably have been the only time in my life that I would have failed to get to an airport in time.

You do indicate that it will be Sunday morning, which should make a difference - mine was on a Tuesday.

I would recommend staying in Brussels the last evening as the trains connect directly with the airport.

You could stay in Brugge all day, have dinner and drive back to a BRU airport area hotel. The time you save from not having to get up at 5:30 a.m. in Brugge can be traded for staying late in the town and driving back to Brussels.

joannyc

Thanks for your responses.

I will have already spent time in Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent and Bruges.

Paul, I'm not very interested in visting the battlefield at Waterloo. How is the town itself, please?

Any other suggestions?

Thanks for your help!

franco

Since you already know Gent, I think Nivelles is the town of choice. Being in Wallonie, it's not as "cute" as Gent or Brugge, but the drive should be less than one hour even with plenty of traffic, and Nivelles has a really great and important sight, an early Romanesque cathedral in the style of the imperial German westwork cathedrals.

joannyc

Great! Thanks very much, Franco!

I'll check into Nivelles!

MyriamC

Namur is at abt. 45 min. from Brussels Airport. It's the capital of Wallonia and it has a citadel! It's a perfect city for a short visit.
http://www.namur.be/?lng=en&page=

tovarich

No the town of Waterloo is not worth a visit.Namuror Nivelles would be my other choices.PAul

joannyc

Thanks very much, Paul!

klondike

I hope you will leave a little report when you get back...you've piqued my interest now.

joannyc

I'm going to spend my last night in Namur at Les Tanneurs de Namur Hotel.

Bugler

I just noticed you selected a hotel. Had you not, I was going to recommend, [email protected]

This is a very very nice Best Western, ten minutes from the airport with free airport shuttle and breakfast included. I got it thru booking.com for 84.5 euros.