To ask if you prefer Ghent or Bruges

I’ve driven to Bruges and stayed near cheaply and easily got them both it. It’s so close to crossing from Dunkirk and I got crossings for £12.50

Remember that Ghent has an LEZ though if youre driving and you need to pre-register.

I prefer Ghent to Bruges but each only needs a day, so you could stay in Ghent and it's 30 mins on the train to Bruges. My favourite Belgian city is Antwerp. I live in Belgium though so go often - Ghent has the best Xmas Market.

you might want to try leuven next time?

We stayed in Brussels and did day trips (very easy on the train) to both Bruges and Ghent. We liked both of them, but Ghent is a bit more 'real' and a bit bigger. I don't think either of them need longer than a day there though.

We didn't drive, did the whole thing by train (Eurostar to Brussels then local train). Very easy indeed.

The audioguide to the Ghent castle was indeed excellent, DD and I were laughing out loud at the casual swearing . (nothing dreadful but might raise an eyebrow if you were a more conservative type).

@Mimipoop Absolutely second the driving thing - we fell foul of this in May when we stopped there on our way to Efteling. Thought it would be a nice lunch stop to break up the journey, but poor DP was a nervous wreck afterwards after a very hairy experience trying to reach a car park through the convoluted warren of one-way streets. Then we spent the rest of the week panicking and trying to retrospectively pay for the city permit, as we had no idea that this was a thing!

Lovely city but we'll definitely be getting the train next time!

Not going against the grain here, I also vote for Ghent.

We spent an excellent 5 day break there, with one day in Bruges and another in Antwerp. Bruges was beautiful but my teen dc would not have wanted more than a day there. Ghent is a buzzy university town, small enough to navigate easily, big enough to be full of interesting stuff. We all loved it, definitely the best of the 3 cities to make a base in.

Antwerp!

Or the Netherlands.

Yes another vote for Ghent, loved it. And agree with PP that the audio tour at the castle is brilliant!

We drove (it was much cheaper than taking the train for us), but left the car at a park and ride car park (near the expo I think?) and took the tram into the centre. Car was absolutely fine left there for a few nights.

So many posts in and nobody has announced that Bruges is a shithole? 😂

It's okay, one day max though, there is only so much admiring of buildings and lace making grannies a person can do. Antwerp is good though, excellent music and food scenes.

@Sw1989 ive never driven around Bruges but I had to have a stiff whisky after driving around Ghent 😂

Antwerp is fantastic - the hotel botanic spa is sensational albeit very expensive. Easy enough to drive around too ( still need that permit though)

Ghent hands down. We go to Belgium nearly every year for a long weekend and did a couple fo trips to Bruges, but 2 years ago decided to try Ghent for a change, and haven't looked back. It's so much more friendly, less touristy, loads of great bars (Oudburg in particular just off the main square is full of them), restaurants and galleries, the castle is good. We went to Bruges for the day on our last trip and in comparison it felt twee, crammed full of tourists and on the whole, we just couldn't wait to get back to Ghent. I would actually disagree and say it's much easier to drive around than Bruges. Brussels is also a great city with loads to do. I've not been to Antwerp but would like to check it out as well.

I like Ghent more personally - the bigger city and the university mean it feels more 'real' and not such a tourist trap. Bruges is still gorgeous though, and should be just about manageable outside of the peak tourist season.

I'd stay for one night in Bruges, and shell out for a hotel as centrally located as you can possibly afford, then get out early and enjoy the beauty of the place before the hordes arrive. We stayed in the Duc de Bourgogne, and while it wasn't cheap for the standard of accommodation, the view of the Rozenhoedkaai from the windows was worth every penny. Spend the rest of the day in the museums - the Museum Sint-Janshospitaal and the Groeningemuseum are both really good in my book, and don't seem to get too insanely busy - then head to Ghent for the rest of the trip.

Bruges. Absolutely love the place. Found 2 or 3 amazing restaurants. Beautiful scenery. There is also a beautiful and huge park/national park just outside the city walls.

Definitely Bruges. We went to both this spring and Bruges was only busy at the weekend, during the week it was fairly quiet. I imagine in autumn it’s less busy than spring. Ghent was a let down tbh - I knew it was more of a normal city rather than a quaint spot like the old town of Bruges so I was expecting it not to be pretty but there was still less to do than I expected and definitely don’t bother on a Monday as pretty much everything is closed. For your long weekend I’d advise Thursday-Sunday instead of Friday-Monday.

Ghent is lovely but whatever you do don’t drive there as it’s an absolute nightmare with lots of confusing no go zones and people waggling their fingers and shaking heads as you drive around 😅. You have to obtain a permit before if you intend to drive (which we did). But please don’t do it. I’m sure by train would be far more pleasant.

Never been to Ghent but thoroughly underwhelmed by Bruges!

Ghent

Ghent for the reasons mentioned. Bruges is full of coach trips. But Antwerp is the best!

Ghent, been to bruges and it's just a tourist trap.

We have done a summer visit to Ghent and Bruges with kids. I preferred Ghent honestly - it was pretty. I wouldn’t have spent more than one night there though, there’s was not enough to do with very young kids.

Bruges I do love, but it doesn’t feel so quaint.

I hated Brussels.

I would actually not go back to either place again. I would happily return to Amsterdam, Rotterdam or The Hague. Guess I’m a Netherlands fan!

Bruges I felt was really crowded and not as much to see/do.

we went by train for the day from Ghent, was maybe 40 mins by train and the trains are very frequent.

That’s the thing with Belgium, everything is just over an hour on the train -doesn’t matter were you start from or were you are going 😂

Ghent has a bit more to do as it's bigger but the train between the two is so quick and easy there's no need to decide on just one.
Pick the hotel you like best and travel to see everything!
We stayed in Bruges for 3 nights and spent a whole day in Ghent