Need Your Advice re NW Belgium Itinerary
 

Dear Fodorites, we will be travellilng to Belgium next September, no sooner than the 12th -- arriving in Brussels -- we wish to stay in Brussels, Bruges & possibly Ghent for no more than five nights. We will then fly home directly to NYC area via Brussels or Paris (to which we'd TGV -- we may stop in Paris first then TGV to Brussels). Anyway, would two nights in Brussels and two nights in Bruges with perhaps a stop for lunch in Ghent be advisable? We do not plan to rent a car, we will also travel to a nearby seaside resort which bears our surname by train/bus from Bruges but feel sufficient to spend the day there without a stayover. Three in Bruges w 2 in Brussels which would include a side trip to Ghent? Presume if we stay in Bruges after Brussels, we could return to catch a flight out of Brussels rather than spend an extra night, but have not yet checked plane/train schedules (plane to EWR or train to CDG). Would rather reserve two rather than three hotels, probably opt for Cote Canal in Bruges. At this point we are looking at best prices for return flight dates either from Paris or Brussels; if we do Paris to or from Brussels I'd probably need another 2-3 nights there (there are never enough days in Paris!) You guys are the best always!

If you only have 5 nights, I'd do 2 in Brussel and 3 in Brugge. Since you want to also see Gent and a seaside town, you'd need 3 nights in Brugge at least.
There are regular trains from Brugge to Brussel for you flight back, but it's easier to do if your flight is not early in the morning.
Don't know which coastal town you want to visit; some are a quick train-ride away, for others you can take the train and transfer to the coastal tram which goes along the Belgian coast.
Add Paris only if you can add extra days to your trip.

Thanks, wish I'd posted this under 'Belgium,' but we too were inclined for longer in Bruges than Brussels, coastal town is De Haan -- yes, we would add Paris to these nights!

Looks like there's a bus between Brugge and De Haan that takes about 40 minutes. If you are going to visit Gent and De Haan from your base in Brugge, you'd need 3 nights there at least, I would think.
September can be really nice on the coast; no school holidays, often still good weather. Try to go on a weekday, weekends get busy if the weather is good.