In late October we spent four days in Belgium visiting Brussels, Ghent and Bruges. When I was 17 years old I did a trip to Paris - Bruges - Amsterdam with the High School and I remember Bruges with special affection, though vaguely. This is why I wanted to come back to this town and visit Ghent too, of which I had heard very well, and Brussels.
We tried to visit Antwerp too, but we realized that we had not enough time. In late October the days are quite short. So we decided to visit quietly only these three cities, enjoying their charm. Even at the end we wished we could have one more day to see Brussels more quietly.
We spent the first and last days in Brussels for convenience and logistics. We spent the two complete days in Ghent and Bruges. Fortunately, the weather forecast for both days was very good. Otherwise we had visited Bruges the day with better weather forecast.
There is a 50% discount on train tickets on weekends, so we went on Friday to Ghent and on saturday to Bruges because Bruges is furthest away and the train ticket is more expensive. By visiting only two cities the Rail Pass was more expensive than taking advantage of the discount weekend.
Below you can see the planning we followed in this trip:
Day 1 - Brussels
Day 2 - Ghent
Day 3 - Bruges
Day 4 - Brussels
Bruges in Belgium
There is a 50% discount on train tickets on weekends, so we went on Friday to Ghent and on saturday to Bruges because Bruges is furthest away and the train ticket is more expensive. By visiting only two cities the Rail Pass was more expensive than taking advantage of the discount weekend.
Below you can see the planning we followed in this trip:
Day 1 - Brussels
- Manneken Pis
- Grand Place
- Jeanneken Pis
- Royal Palace
Day 2 - Ghent
- Korenmarkt
- St. Niklaaskerk
- Belfort
- Mammeloker
- St. Baafskathedraal
- Duivelsteen
- Stad Huis (city hall)
- Gravensteen
- Korenlei and Graslei
- Appelbrugparkje Bridge
- St. Michielskerk and St. Michielsplein
Day 3 - Bruges
- Canals of Bruges
- Minnewater Park and Swan Lake
- Hospital of Saint John
- Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk (Church of our Lady)
- The most beautiful place in Bruges
- RozenHoedKaai in Bruges
- The most photographied place in Bruges
- Burg Square
- Markt Square
- Belfort Tower
Day 4 - Brussels
- Atomium
- Laeken Park: Japanese Tower and Chinese Pavilion
- Parc du Cinquantenaire
- European Parliament
- Grand Place
Brussels (Bruxelles, Brussel)
Manneken Pis in Brussels
City Hall of Brussels
Maison du Roi and Grand Place in Brussels
Colourful flowers on the Grand Place in Brussels
One of the streets around the Grand Place in Brussels
Jeanneken Pis in Brussels
Royal Palace in Brussels
Ghent (Gand, Genk)
Korenmarkt in Ghent
Sint Niklaaskerk in Ghent
Apse of the gothic church of Sint Niklaaskerk
Belfort Tower in Ghent
Sint Baafskathedraal in Ghent
Geeraard de Duivelsteen in Ghent
Gravensteen in Ghent
Kraanlei in Ghent
Graslei in Ghent
The three towers of Ghent from Sint Michielshelling bridge
Church of Sint Niklaaskerk in Ghent from Sint Michielshelling bridge
Bruges (Bruges, Brugge)
Our first image of the canals of Bruges shortly after leaving the train station
Beside this canal we walked along a promenade among trees. A beautiful place between the train station and the town of Bruges
Swans in Minnewater park in Bruges
Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk (Church of our Lady) in Bruges
Beautiful place beside the apse of the church of our lady in Bruges
RozenHoedKaai in Bruges
The most photographied place in Bruges
City Hall of Bruges in Burg square
Colourful houses in Markt square in Bruges
Markt square in Bruges
Belfort tower from Markt in Bruges
Brussels
Atomium in Brussels
Japanese Tower in Brussels
Chinese Pavilion in Laeken Park in Brussels
Detail of the chinese pavilion in Laeken Park in Brussels
Parc du Cinquantenaire in Brussels
European Parliament beside Leopold Park in Brussels
We went to the Grand Place because we wanted to finish our trip there enjoying a delicious waffle
Maison du Roi beside the Grand Place in Brussels
- Unfortunately we didn't have enough time to visit the following places in Brussels:
- Comic route
- Zinneke Pis
- Les Marolles
- Bar À la mort subite
- Typical dishes we tried in Belgium:
- Waffles: with strawberries, or with banana or with white sugar
- Cone of fries with andalousian sauce
- Prawn croquettes
- Marinated mussels
- Soups (Potages du jour): All the soups I tried were delicious
- Train and metro:
- 50% discount on train tickets on weekends.
- Bruges 14€ Ghent 8,5€, so: 8,5x4 + 0,5x14x4= 62€ for two people.
- Rail Pass: 76€.
- Metro :
- 10 tickets card:14€
- 24h card (one person): 7€
- Airport: Train ticket 8,5€. 15-20 minutes from Gare Centrale to Zaventem Airport.
- Ghent: Train from Brussels + tramway from train station to the old town.
- Bruges: Train from Brussels + 15 minutes walk.
- Hotel
- Adagio Access Bruxelles Europe Aparthotel:
- Address: Rue de l'Industrie, 12 (metro Trône or Arts Loi).
- Quite well but 15 minutes far from the old town.
- Metro: Trône or Arts-Loi (5 minutes walk).
- Restaurants and bars:
- Restaurant Chez Leon (near Jeanneke Pis)
- Bar Delirium Tremens (near Jeanneke Pis)
- Waffles: Near Manneken pis
- Websites for planning our trip:
- Hotel: www.booking.com
- Trains: www.sncb.com
- lamaletadeglo.blogspot.com.es
- www.ungatoenmimaleta.com
Finally, other countries and cities I have already visited are:
- Istanbul and Cappadocia
- Rome and The Vatican
- Florence in Tuscany
- Venice
- Dubrovnik, beaches and coast of Croatia
- Neum, Pocitelj and Mostar in Bosnia Herzegovina
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