Belgium is small enough that its four great historic cities, Antwerp, Bruges, Brussels and Ghent, are all within about an hour of each other by train. That makes it easy to see two or three of them on one trip, or to add a day in Belgium to a stay in Amsterdam: the high-speed train reaches Antwerp in a little over an hour and Brussels in under two.
Each city has a character of its own. Antwerp is the port city of Rubens and the diamond trade. Bruges is the best-preserved medieval town in the country. Brussels is the capital, with the Grand-Place and the European institutions. Ghent is a busy university city with a medieval castle in the middle of town. And all four share the things Belgium is famous for: beer, chocolate, fries and waffles.
On each city page you will find what to see, how long to stay and how to get there.
Antwerp: the Cathedral of Our Lady with its Rubens altarpieces, a railway station like a palace, and the diamond district next door.
Bruges: a medieval centre protected by UNESCO, with canals, a belfry above the Markt and quiet almshouses behind the streets.
Brussels: the gilded guild houses of the Grand-Place, the Manneken Pis, the comic strip murals and the best chocolate shops in the country.
Ghent: the castle of the Counts of Flanders, the Van Eyck altarpiece in St Bavo’s Cathedral, and the medieval quays of the Graslei and Korenlei.
