We are visiting Brussels for the first time, hubbay and I will be there for one week. Would like to take a couple day trips.
Is visiting Brugge, Antwerp, Ghent too many cities in addition to Brussels?
Is it better to do this by rental car or trains. We have never driven outside of the US and would prefer to do trains.
Thanks for your help.
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All three are easily done from Brussels by train.
Buy Earl Steinbicker%26#39;s %26quot;Daytrips in Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg%26quot; for chapters on all three cities and Brussels.
For each destination, he tells you how to get there by car or rail. He gives a walking tour and restaurant suggestions along the walking route in three price categories. I%26#39;ve used his guides for more than 20 trips into Europe and he has never let me down.
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As already mentioned this is very easy. I would say roughly 40mins to Antwerp and to Ghent, and about an hour to Brugge (it%26#39;s a compact country!). Trains should be fairly regular (about once an hour or so).
Something that might be somewhat confusing is to keep in mind is that most cities have both French and Dutch spelling and I%26#39;m not sure what will be displayed at the station (Brussel=Bruxelles, Antwerpen=Anvers, Gent=Gand, I think Brugge is just Brugge).
For more info see the website of Belgian rail:
http://www.b-rail.be/main/E/
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What is displayed at the station depends on where you are, in Brussels, which is officially bilingual, I think the big destination boards tend to display the name of the destination in its own language (so Antwerpen rather than Anvers for Antwerp and Liège rather than Luik for Liège) while the smaller ones on the platform may alternate between them e.g. Brugge (NL)/Bruges (FR). Once in Brugge, in Flanders, the platform indicator for the Brussels tran will normally read %26quot;Brussel%26quot;. Luckily none of these are too different, but if you were going to Mons you may need to know that in Dutch it%26#39;s Bergen!
Note that Ghent (Gent/Gand) and Brugge are on the same railway line from Brussels to the coast, final destination of these trains is Oostende, Knokke or Blankenberge. I wouldn%26#39;t advise doing both on the same day but if you want to, you must ask for a VIA ticket to be able to visit Ghent on the way there or (more sensible because then you%26#39;ll know how much time you have) back. It doesn%26#39;t cost any more than the normal ticket to Brugge but if you don%26#39;t do this, and your ticket is inspected on the way back between Ghent and Brussels, you can be asked to pay again. All you need to do is ask for a return ticket to Brugge VIA Ghent, then you have the option of stopping off if you want to.
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Although train may be the best option (I do not have any experience of Belgian trains) getting to all three cities by road is also so very easy.
It may also be cheaper to visit all three by hiring a car than to buy tickets for trips between the cities. The motorways are a dream to drive on and well signposted.
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Anvers is the French spelling for Antwep right? For some reason Leuven station shows everything in dutch except for Anvers...
The English part of the SNCB website was the thing that used to catch me out. I remember trying to find my way to Tienen for a job interview and the website kept on guiding me to a place called Tirlemont.
After a small panic attack I realised they were one and the same. it%26#39;s all part of the Belgian experience!
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Yes, Antwerpen = Anvers.
And watch out with Louvain!
There are 2 cities with that name:
Leuven (NL) = Louvain (FR)
Louvain-La-Neuve (NL) = Louvain-La-Neuve (FR)
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