Hi Mate, you would be best advised to read this existing link as you will find my views and other peoples on all these places http://holidayforums.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=52765&start=0, my reccomendation would be to forget Brussels and stay in Bruges, it has xmas markets and an outdoor ice rink plus it's a very magical place that lends itself perfectly to winter, you will see my views on Brussels in the link.

Regards
Sliema2

PS, Dear mods I am not sure if I have done the link right or not, if not please accept my apologies and thanks in advance for putting it right.

Thanks very much for that, the only thing I'm a bit confused about Bruges is the eurostar seems only to go to brussels, I don't know if i'm right, surely that can't be true??

I have to admit bruges does look more pituresque!!

Ok well there are two things that you can do if you prefer ( quite rightly) Brugge to Brussels, first one is catch Le Eurostar to Lille and get a train to Brugge, or stay on all the way to Brussels and get the train back on yourself to Brugge it only takes about 50 minutes or so and it's a nice journey, don't forget that if you were flying you would still have to head back North from Brussels to get to Brugge, if you are interested in accomodation I have some contacts for very nice comfortable B&B in Brugge, we last used it in November last year and it was very nice, inexpensive, very good and very central for the middle of Brugge and the railway station to visit other Flemish Cities and towns such as Oostende, Kortrijk, Ypres ( Ieper in Flemish), Ghent, Zeebrugge, Antwerp, Cote De Panne, Lille and Brussels, just ask if you need to know anything else.

Regards
Sliema2

Hi all,

Myself and my partner are heading to Brussels on the Eurostar on 17th of July for four nights, we are thinking of taking in one of the other cities within belgium for a day.

My questions being which should we choose Bruges, Ghent or other? And are they easy to reach from brussels via train? And how long/how much would it take/cost?

Kind Regards

Richard

We went to Bruge and it took from memory just under an hour to get there. Bruge was lovely, very quaint and quiet after the hustle and bustle of Brussels. Lots of little streets to walk down and a big main square with lots going on. We even did one of the horse carriage trips around the streets which was fun, we wanted to stay longer and were sorry we did not know about it before we went or we would have stayed there overnight.

Polly

HolidayRich

Another vote for the wonderful Bruges from me!

Getting there is really easy by train - it takes just under one hour. The trains are every half an hour and it costs about 24 euro each.

Here's Belgian Railways website:

http://www.b-rail.be/main/E/index.php

Once you've got the times, click on "details" for the train that you're interested in, it will give you the train's final destination - we find this information invaluable as it's what is displayed at the station and it'll give you peace of mind that you're getting on the right train!

Enjoy!

U2fan