It been a while since I’ve done this international travel thing. An unsettled Middle East, cancelled Qatar flights and Trump’s unpredictable reality saw our travel plans in March go up in smoke.
Now though, we’re in Belgium after a week in London walking non stop, seeing the excellent stage show ‘Cabaret’ and savouring the wonders of the British Museum.
London’s St Pancras Station was the jumping on point for our Eurail to Brussels and onward to Bruges and Ghent.
Yes, we rearranged the deckchairs with this trip, choosing comfort and ease, choosing a little bit perfect. And, it all worked out very well.
Bruges is a European fairytale town and definitely deserves a few days. It’s easy to lean into all sorts of stuff here: long, slow lunches and dinners, plates of moules, frites, wine, beer, waffles, chocolate, easy flat walking and medieval architecture.
Ghent is bigger than Bruges, a little grittier and a different, albeit equally enjoyable atmosphere. A university town, it does a good job of embracing a casual, bohemian side which is found in boutique clothing stores, bookshop cafes, outdoor pubs and of course, the ubiquitous bikes cycled in droves along cobbled streets.
Canals are the lifeblood of Ghent, the usual summer blue green algae is on show and boats do a steady business ferrying people around.
Bilingual Brussels (Dutch and English) doubles as Belgium’s capital/EU capital and there’s quite a bit to see here.
The finer details:
Belgium rail between Brussels, Ghent and Bruges was excellent- punctual with regular (often every 15 mins) service. Trainline app is user friendly for purchasing tickets which can be used at any time on the day.
Uber works really well. Frequent and reliable.
Hit up the Belgian beer, waffles, moules, frites and chocolate.
Walking shoes are essential. Bruges, Ghent and Brussels flat terrain is made for walking.
September is a lovely time weatherwise to be in Belgium. Day temps hovered around 24.
