Last month Dustin (my fiancé) and I decided to spend a few days in Belgium, we decided to split the days up between the three cities of Ghent, Bruges, and Brussels. We were in Belgium for a total of five days, four if you subtract the one full day we hopped on the train to Luxembourg. I thought about writing about Luxembourg here but will dedicate a separate post to that city. In my personal opinion, one day is enough to explore each of the following cities (three days total) if had more time I would probably have spent an extra day in Ghent, because I feel that I may have missed out on something – but Bruges was my absolute favorite of the three cities.
I know that some people say Belgium is boring and I do NOT agree one bit! I LOVE Belgium!
Hotel: We loved our hotel! We stayed at the Hilton Garden inn In Brussels and it was around 120 euro a night. It was so comfortable and we had a little suite with a kitchen, it’s one of my favorite hotels I have stayed in as of recent, and being a flight attendant that says A LOT.
Transportation: We took trains EVERY. WHERE. Super affordable and easy way to get between our hotel in Brussels and the cities of Bruges, Ghent, and Luxembourg.
Brussels
What to do/see:
- Mannkein Pis & The Mannekin Pis Museum:
Visit all three of the little Mannekin Pis statues, including the little girl located by Delirium village and the dog. Then visit the Mannekin Pis museum which displays all of the little outfits that the city dresses Mannekin Pis in for holidays and special occasions. Entry to the museum is reasonable and it’s a cute exhibit. - The Atomium: this isn’t walking distance so you will have to take a taxi or train, the Atomium is a landmark and exhibit, I have visited once in the past but personally it is a one time thing, I didn’t really have any motivation to re-visit. BUT it’s something to do if you find yourself feeling driven to do so. Each of the large atoms on this structure are a separate museum “exhibit”. I visited several years ago, if you are interested and would like to know more feel free to visit my previous Belgium post. https://runawayblond.com/2015/11/06/beer-waffles-and-a-pissing-statue-brussels-belgium/
- Grand-Platz: The grand plaza in the city center, with beautiful architecture, some coffee shops, and nearby is a sculpture of Jesus made entirely of gold that it is said rubbing its hands brings you luck.
- Try all of the free chocolate samples in different chocolate shoppes: Some of the chocolate shops are insanely expensive, but if you go inside and look around they will offer you free samples… its Belgium, eat all of the free samples you can stomach!
- Mini-europe: Located near the Atomium, mini-europe is a small display of all of the major landmarks all over Europe. Unlike the Atomium, I recommend visiting mini-europe, it’s so cute! I love it.
Where to eat/drink:
- Delirium village:
This is a bunch of different bars connected into a HUGE establishment serving Delirium beer. I’m not a huge fan of most of the beers they offered but it was fun to look through all of the connecting bars. - MUSSELS:
- Chez Leon: This place is very well known for mussels, however, I find it okay. I have definitely had better in Brussels. Looking back at my previous post on Brussels I have just now realized I ate at Chez Leon in the past which I find ironically hilarious.
- Le Bistro – Porte De Hal: The mussels and frites we had here were delicious, the best that we tried in Belgium. Service was fast, polite and friendly. I highly recommend visiting this bistro.
You’re in Belgium the four main food groups are as follows: Frites, Chocolate, waffles and mussels. Enjoy.
- La Friterie & Other frite stands: Great for eating on the go, grab some frites and the sauce of your choice to fuel you while you explore the city on foot.
- The best waffle we had during our entire visit to Belgium was from a bright yellow food truck located near the large ferris wheel. The waffle was PLAIN and still the BEST we have ever had.
Bruges
I love Bruges! It’s so cute! Like a little fairy tale village. We rode the train from Brussels to Bruges, it was about an hour ride.
What to do/see:
- Museums:
- The Frite museum: this was a super cute and fun little museum on the history of frites or as we know them French fries, if you have young ones I would say this would be the best museum to take them to.
- Chocolate museum: this was my favorite museum, so informative and you get to see how they prepare chocolate, the history of chocolate and lots of free samples!
- Beer museum: We did not visit the beer museum but of course if you have any interest I would recommend doing so!
Basilica of the Holy Blood: This church from the 12th century is said to have a cloth that has remnants of Jesus’ blood, and once a year the blood is said to turn to liquid again??? Unfortunately when we visited the basilica was closed.
The historic city center: A UNESCO world heritage site, a medieval European settlement, my favorite part of visiting Bruges was just walking around marveling at the architecture, the canals and bridges. It’s so beautiful.
Belfort: Originall a defense tower, this building is a 83-meter tall tower dating back to the thirteenth century and a world heritage site. You can explore inside the tower or marvel at it from the outside like we chose to.
Where to eat:
As I previously mentioned we stay in Brussels the entire time we visited Belgium, and would take trains to and from Bruges and Ghent. So we did not eat an entire meal while in Bruges but we did indulge in a waffle from Waffle Bar, and we had frites and chocolates at the Frite museum and the Choco-story museum.
Ghent
On our final day in Belgium we hopped on the train to Ghent, the train ride was only about thirty-minutes long. When we exited the train we were shocked by the number of bicycles we could see! More than Amsterdam!
Things to do/See:
- Castle of the Counts/ Gravensteen Castle: This was such a cool site! I highly recommend if you’re going to do ANYTHING in Ghent this is a must see/do. Dustin and I both loved this tour, you can choose between a shorter tour or a long one and it’s self guided with a little radio.
- The Belfry: A medieval towering landmark, you can pay eight euro to climb to the top and view the city from 91 meters above.
- Graffiti Street: A cute, fun little street to walk through, surrounded with all sorts of graffiti’d images on both sides.
- St. Michaels Bridge: This bridge offers stunning views over the canal, built in 1910.
- St. Michaels Church, St. Nicolas Church, Saint Bravo’s Cathedral: Ghent has a lot of churches you can visit to marvel at the architecture, say a quick prayer in, or pop in to warm up if you choose to visit in a cold winter month, like we did.
Where we ate:
Bar Terroir: We ordered wine (I had a N/A sparkling wine) and we enjoyed a fondue with breads and meat with a side salad. Great atmosphere and if you love fondue (who doesn’t?) We would highly recommend.
The days we spent in Belgium truly seemed to fly by, although we only spend a day in each of the cities we felt that we really experienced each city in its entirety.
Runaway Blond 