Looking to do a weekend break in Belgium with mrs Kilo, anyone been to Antwerp? Torn between there and Brugges.

ta for any tips

Antwerp is a great city with plenty of shopping and interesting old stuff. If you’re looking for diamonds there’s plent of choice Pelikanstraat by the station – which is pretty impressive itself!
If you like ribs Amadeus does a pretty good meal.

Bruges is very beautiful with loads of old stuff but very, very touristy. The Oude Brugge, Chagall and The Bistro de Pompe all do excellent food. The Brugse Beertje is incredibly busy but worth a visit. Boat trips are good. Tschokoreeto (sp?) is a great little chocolate shop. Hotel Imperial on Dweersstraat is the place to stay – really nice people, quiet location 5 minutes walk from Grote Markt, good prices and a car park opposite.

Just to complicate matters have you considered Gent? Absolutely our favourite Belgian city, with great restuarants (Amadeus (two of, one with fantastic Art Nouveau decorations inside), t’Klokhuys, Bij den Wizen an den Zot), The Adoration Of The Mystic Lamb inside St Baafs Cathedral, wonderful mediaeval architecture (Korenlei, Graslei and the Patershol especially), Chocolaterie de Graslei (the best chocolate shop we’ve yet found in Belgium!) Boat trips are also good. We almost always stay in NH Gent Belfort – very good location but just off the main squares so a reasonably quiet location. You should really visit the Waterhouse and der Bierkant (I think I’ve got that the right way round: I’m never terribly sober when I’m in there!).

Sorry, bit of a favourite of ours – we’ve lost count of the number of times we’ve been to Gent.

All of the above places are great and I would go back to any of them tomorrow – it’s just that for us Gent offers the best of Belgium.

Email me on jaburrow at btinternet.com if you want any more info.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoE9edjEDCI[/video]
Tourist info for Bruges

Bruge & Gent both excellent.

Straffe Henricke brewery tour in Bruge is really pleasant.
Avoid chocolate shop tours, they lock you in till you buy something!

Not the cheapest places for good food.

Nicest time of the year to go, Belgium suits the autumn.

Gent is bloody brilliant, easily my favourite Belgian city and in the top 3 European cities IMO. Small enough to wander about, big enough to be worth a few days. Also the best location for bike shop shopping, Plum Vanquer is in the city, and the biggest bestest bike shop in the world is in Aalst which is a bus ride or a bike rode away; VanEyckSport…

Loads of great restaurants too, plus the architecture as noted above. University town, so lots of studenty things going on and huge bicycle culture.

I’m going back when I’m 50, because I fell in love with the place at first sight 15 or so years ago when we used to go road racing over there…

Been to Antwerp and loved it, very different to Bruges. Lots of Dutch come there to socalise at the weekend so has a better restaurant / bar culture to Bruges.

Bruges Antwerp and Gent close enough to do all three I would have thought?
(based on my experience of driving through Belgium from Amstrdam down to Dunkirk and past all 3 last Friday, stopping for 4 hours in Bruges, absolutely lovely)
Maybe base yourself in one and do day trips to the other two?

iain1775 – Member

Bruges Antwerp and Gent close enough to do all three I would have thought?
(based on my experience of driving through Belgium from Amstrdam down to Dunkirk and past all 3 last Friday, stopping for 4 hours in Bruges, absolutely lovely)
Maybe base yourself in one and do day trips to the other two?

True, but that way you won’t get to see all the best bits of any of them…

They all deserve a weekend stay, or several!