Where to stay in Belgium - Brussels, Ghent, Bruges
 

Hi, Wondering if someone could suggest where (which area) we might be best staying in these 3 cities for our trip in June. We will be driving through Belgium (coming from Luxembourg). We'll have a hire car and my assumption is that there would be nowhere to park in the city centres, thus I expect its best for us to stay out in a suburb close to a train station then catch the train into the city. The plan is to stay 2 nights in each city. So we would arrive one afternoon, stay the night, head into the city for the next day, return to accommodation for the second night then travel onto the next city the next day. Then repeat for each city. We will be taking the scenic route (not direct) between each city so we can enjoy the sites and experience the country-side a bit.

We are pretty budget conscious so I was thinking of looking @ AirBNB/VRBO. We are a family of 4 (2 kids under 8). I've never been to Belgium before so any suggestion on the best location to stay in each city would be very helpful. I'm also open to any recommendations on things we should see on our way through Belgium. Many thanks

The historic centers of Bruges & Ghent are very compact, and you can stay on the periphery and still be withing walking distance of the sightseeing attractions, although taking the tram or bus in Ghent would also be quite easy. If you are planning to use AirBnb, the website shows the location of each rental on a map. It should be pretty obvious which rentals are at the edge of town or near the train station. The AirBnb hosts probably will be very happy to answer questions about how easy it is to catch a bus to the center or walk. One thing you might want to double check about is whether there is good parking. Many times an apartment owner will downplay how easy it is to find parking nearby. If they tell you there is a paid parking lot, that is easily checked. But if they just tell you it is "not a problem", I would still try to find out more.

I have only been in Brussels once and I did not have a car, but even then it felt like quite a sprawling maize, since I was unfamiliar with the city. I would be tempted to spend extra nights in Ghent and visit Brussels as a day trip from Ghent, using the train. I did it the other way around, visiting Ghent as a day trip from Brussels, and using the train for that was quite easy. But maybe someone who knows Brussels much better than I do will have a different answer for you.

Ghent is between Bruges and Brussels, so it makes sense geographically. It also is of interest on its own. However, if choosing a town outside Brussels, one needs to plan the visits to that city more carefully. Wandering around for a day's visit will not cover some of the important sights of the city. For example, for any person interest in Art nouveau, the Victor Horta museum is a must, but it is not close to the Grande Place.

Thanks frencharmoire,
Yeah, I always use that map on AirBnb which makes it quite easy. And Google maps is great for spotting the train stations, etc. That is very handy if the centres are quite small - must admit I haven't checked them out much yet. I did look at Brussels and noticed it was pretty big so I'll await any other contributions on that. Thanks for the advice about parking.

Thanks Michael. I've already taken a fair look at what we'll do in Brussels and to be honest with our interests we'll probably be pretty well entertained just around the Grand Place area.

Hi

Welcome to Belgium.
First : from Luxembourg to Bruxelles go via la Vallee de la molignee and stop at the castle of Montaigle (in ruins).

Second : contemplate spending a night in Dinant a small Walloon town along the river.

Third : Bruxelles is great whatever people say. But. Never ever stay around the Gare du midi (south station). Don't ask. Like with gremlins you cannot feed them after midnight.

Third. Imo Gent is by far the nicest city to stay in. It has it all. Canals castle nice houses shops restaurants.
Bruges doesn't live. Gent and Bruxelles do.

Fifth. You are right that the grand place is breathtaking plus surroundings. Get a hotel near Gare centrale or place sainte catherine.

With children you might want to go to the Atomium, which is too far to walk from the Grand Place. But looking at a map, it appears that this area is not far from the highways, so perhaps it would be a good place to stay if you don't need to pay a lot for parking. Then you could take a tram or bus to the Grand Place to visit. There are also parks and other things for children to enjoy near the Atomium. There are a lot of hotels there, and even if you decide to stay in AirBnb, you can read the reviews for the hotels to find out what travelers think of the neighborhood around the Atomium.

Maybe you could also consider going to Ghent and Bruges first, and then returning your rental car before you visit Brussels. That way you could stay in the center without worrying about driving in the busy city and parking.

There are a lot of people who park in Bruxelles everyday, me included.

Hotels often have parkings.

In Bruxelles eat at 'chez Vincent' next to Chez Leon (the real one, avoid the french version).
Eat a waterzooi.

On a tangentif going into nearby Netherlands don't neglect Antwerp - much less dreamy old-world than Gent or Bruges but a fascinating city with lovely architecture. To me one of the most unique cities in Europe.

Between Gent and Antwerp stop in Saint-Niklaas and have a drink on Belgium's largest town square and one of the very largest in all of Europe:

https://www.google.com/search?q=st+n...w=1745&bih=864

I've done Bruges with a car, and got a B&B (sans Air) with easy street parking (detailed on the B&B's website) and still a short walk to the center. To find places like this, one easy method is to go to Booking.com, enter your dates, then scroll down to click on the tab way down left under 'Facility' for 'Parking'.

Then click on the map (also left column) and you can find locations near the center, and compare prices and ratings (and if you see something nice, look on their page to examine parking details).

With Ghent you can do similar, and anything near a major tram line into the center will be perfectly adequate (the map shows tram stops). I did stay at a very car-friendly hotel near the motorway by Ghent once, but this is not a decent way to see Ghent (but it was good enough for heading into town, picking up a trunk full of beer, and then driving out into the countryside).

Pay attention that gent just introduced car free zones. Not been since.

and check out this in Gent;
http://holyfoodmarket.be/

Fantastic. All suggestions noted, thanks WoinParis. I had to look up a waterzooi of course. Sounds nice. Shall we go for the traditional fish version or are they all made from chicken these days?

frencharmoire - yes, have been considering whether we visit Atomium. I think we will at least drive past it, but undecided whether we will stop as yet. I need to check it out more. The car has to be returned to Calais, hence the direction we're travelling.

PalenQ - I may make a detour to see that square based on your recommendation - looks rather grand.

dfourth - thanks, that sounds ideal. Do you know the BnB you stayed at?

Tulips - that is unique indeed.

Thanks for all the input. Exactly what I needed. Now I just wish June would hurry up sand get here so I could get on with the travelling (though there is the small matter of a lot more planning to do before that)!

Regarding atomium I like it from outside and visited it once recently - a waste of time imo.
Close by however you have mini Europe a park recreating a lot of buildings of EUROPE at small scale.

I prefer a waterzooi with chicken. My mother made a great one with fish but nobody could ever beat her at it !

Thanks. Haha - it is always hard to beat Mum's cooking. ;-)