Bruges, Ghent or Brussels

Which is nicer, Bruges or Ghent?

Bruges is prettier and more uniform; Ghent is livelier and less crowded with day visitors. Most people prefer Bruges for a first visit and Ghent for a second.

Bruges looks like a stage set because it nearly is: the centre is a UNESCO site, compact and kept in its old shape. You walk from one postcard to the next. The price is the crowd. Coaches and cruise shuttles bring day visitors in by the thousand in summer, and the main streets fill up by late morning.

Ghent is a working city with a large university, so the old quays have students on them as well as tourists. It has a medieval castle in the middle of town, the Ghent Altarpiece in St Bavo's Cathedral, and bars that stay busy after the day trippers leave. Fewer streets look perfect. More of them feel lived in.

What's nicer, Bruges or Brussels?

For a pretty day out, Bruges. For a city break with food, museums and nightlife, Brussels.

Brussels is not a small medieval town and does not pretend to be. Its Grand-Place is the most impressive single square in Belgium, ringed with gilded guild houses and the Gothic town hall, and it is a short walk from Brussels-Central station. Around it you get the Belgian capital: the EU quarter, large art museums, the Atomium out in the north, and every kind of restaurant.

Bruges gives you the whole old town at walking pace, with water on every side. Many visitors sleep in Brussels and take the train to Bruges for the day; there are about 65 direct trains a day, according to NMBS. Our day trip guide covers the train against a coach tour.

What does Ghent have that Bruges does not?

A castle in the middle of town, the Ghent Altarpiece, a big student population and a later night.

The Gravensteen, the Castle of the Counts, stands moated beside the water in the old centre; Bruges has nothing like it. St Bavo's Cathedral holds the Ghent Altarpiece (the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb) by the Van Eyck brothers, the painting that draws art lovers to Ghent the way the Madonna and Child draws them to Bruges.

Then there is the Graslei and the Korenlei, two facing quays of guild houses on the river Lys, and Ghent's own belfry. The Bruges and Ghent day tour shows you the cathedral, the Graslei, the castle and the Great Butchers' Hall before free time on a terrace, and then drives on to Bruges.

Guided walks in Ghent and Bruges on one coach day from Brussels, back about 7:30 p.m.

★ 4.7 · 10 hours 30 minutes · from $35

Explore the Bruges and Ghent day tour → Tour details

Can you see Bruges and Ghent in one day?

Yes. By train it is about half an hour between them, and a coach tour from Brussels does both with a guide.

On your own, take an early train from Brussels to Ghent (about 36 minutes), spend the morning there, then continue to Bruges on the same line. Ghent's main station, Gent-Sint-Pieters, is a tram or bus ride from the centre, and in Bruges you want the station named Brugge, not Brugge Sint-Pieters. Bruges in the afternoon suits the canals: the light is softer and the morning coaches have started to leave.

With a tour, the coach does the logistics. The Bruges and Ghent day tour takes 10 hours 30 minutes, meets near Brussels Central Station and gets back about 7:30 p.m. It does not include the canal boat, so if you want it, buy a ticket at a jetty in your free time in Bruges (€15).

We throughly enjoyed both stops (Bruges and Ghent), loved the walking [...] and the guide (Albert) was fantastic. We had a great day!
Cindy, Oct 2026

Where should you stay: Bruges, Ghent or Brussels?

Brussels if you travel on by Eurostar or TGV, Ghent for nightlife and a central base, Bruges if you want the canals at night.

Brussels-South is Belgium's international hub, with Eurostar from London, Paris and Amsterdam and TGV from France. Staying there makes the trains easy. Ghent is the middle of the line, with Bruges and Brussels both within the hour, and a nightlife that keeps going after the day visitors leave.

Bruges is the one to sleep in for the atmosphere. When the day visitors go, the canals are lit and the squares go quiet. Bruges adds a city tax of €4.20 per adult per night including VAT (under 18 free), and Visit Bruges says weekday nights and January to March are the cheapest.

How do you say "hi" in Bruges?

Bruges speaks Dutch: say "hallo" or "dag". Most people in the centre also speak English and French.

Bruges and Ghent are in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, and the local dialect is West Flemish in Bruges, East Flemish in Ghent. A simple "hallo" or "goeiedag" (good day) works everywhere; "dag" is a friendly short hello or goodbye. "Dank u" means thank you, and you will hear plenty of people say "merci" too.

Brussels is officially bilingual, French and Dutch, and on the street French is what you will hear most: "bonjour" is the safe greeting. Visit Bruges notes that many Bruges residents speak French or English, so just ask. The canal boat skippers usually commentate in Dutch, French and English, and some add German or Spanish.

Which city is best for canals and boat tours?

Bruges. Its canals run through the whole old centre, and the boats sail one 30-minute route past the best views for €15.

Bruges is the canal city of the three. Five companies run the open boats from five jetties, all on the same route between Jan van Eyck Square and the Beguinage, at the same city-set price. You cannot book a boat online as an individual; you queue at a jetty and pay by Payconiq or cash. Our price and tickets guide has the details and the jetty addresses.

Ghent also has boat trips on the Lys, from the Graslei area, and they are a good way to see the quays. Brussels has no old canal centre worth a boat trip. If water is the reason you are going, Bruges wins.

Guide, chocolate tasting and the Bruges canal boat in one small-group booking, no jetty queue.

★ 4.8 · 2 hours 30 minutes · from $44

Explore the boat, chocolate and walking tour → Tour details

What should I not miss in Belgium?

Bruges for the canals, Ghent for the castle and the altarpiece, the Grand-Place in Brussels, and the small towns around Bruges.

On a short trip, Brussels, Bruges and Ghent are the three to fit in, in that order of convenience. Antwerp, north of Brussels, is the fourth city, for fashion, diamonds and Rubens. Around Bruges, Visit Bruges points to Damme, the old port town a short way along the canal, the village of Lissewege, and the wide beach at Zeebrugge.

Some Brussels coach tours to Bruges add a panoramic stop in Damme on some days. If you come by cruise ship, Zeebrugge is where you land; the cruise shuttle takes you into Bruges and back.

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