train, guided tour, or metro for exploring Belgium?
 

My wife and i will be traveling to Europe in March. We'll have two days in Belgium. Day one will be spent in Brussels (which is where our hotel will be). Day two i was hoping to see Ghent and Antwerp. On a map these cities form a triangle which is great. My question is what you would recommend as far as exploring those two areas? At first it appeared a viator guided tour would be the best way to go but many of the reviews complained that 1. the guide wasn't efficient and 2. the tour was very rushed along with other assorted gripes. I then looked at car rental rates which looked pretty expensive for 24 hour rental ($150USD). I then considered maybe taking a 20 min train ride between the cities which appeared to be the cheapest but wondered how easy it would be to explore the usual tourist areas (busses, trams, subway, etc)

any and all feedback or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Um, trains travel between cities. Metro or U bahn or whatever is typically the local transportation within each city - or the city and the immediately surrounding suburbs. Typically they don;t cover the same territory.

I would rent a car to see two towns in one day - or you are captive to train schedules.

I'd recommend taking a train to visit Ghent and/or Antwerp.
Driving a car is no fun at rush hour between 6 am and 10 am and between 3pm and 8 pm...

You'll be busy if you want to visit both cities in one day.

The railwaystations are well located for exploring both cities using buses , trams and subway (Antwerp only).

<i>"At first it appeared a viator guided tour would be the best way to go but many of the reviews complained that 1. the guide wasn't efficient and 2. the tour was very rushed..."</i>

With all due respect, any attempt to see the country of Belgium in two days is going to be: 1) inefficient and 2) rushed.

To even skim to very surface of some of the destinations you would need much more time than you have allotted. In your sad case, just plan on a full day in Brussels and the other day in either Antwerp (my personal rec.), OR Gent. Maybe next time you can devote an entire trip to exploring Belgium - which it richly deserves.

The railway station in Antwerp is a tourist attraction in itself, supposedly the most beautiful in Europe, and I agree. I'd just do the train,Antwerp has more than enough to fill a day. I loved it and would move there in a NY minute!

ANd I also agree with Bardo, Belgium deserves way more than 2 days!