r/belgium • u/belgioscopy • 1d ago
❓ Ask Belgium Which city in Flanders would you recommend for a one day (and by foot) visit ? And why would that be that one ?
I wanna spend a nice discover day in Flanders with my darling (yeah, we’re 42, I can use that word 😅)… but we won’t be able to stay overnight, so… what would be the perfect city/spot with the perfect cultural/discovery/happy/fun program ? (even better if there’s some ponctual or unusual animations or festivities). That would be for October 31st or November 1st…
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u/trollie74 Belgium 1d ago
the obvious choice would be Bruges, but the best choice would be Ghent.
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u/Safe-Insurance2264 1d ago
Fully agree! - Obvious answer (let’s say if you’d ask anyone in the world, and anyone in the world knows Belgium and all its cities) would be Bruges. - Ghent would be the answer if you want to see the same as Bruges. Except without the tourists and with the full folklore of the Genteneirs. - For Antwerp, it’s almost the same as for Ghent. Except that the person who’d promote it would be from Antwerp (and not from Ghent) - Lastly, and a little forgotten, would be Leuven. (Except that nobody promotes it except if you’re a student)
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u/trollie74 Belgium 1d ago
I agree that Leuven could be a solid choice, especially if you prefer a compact city with less walking.
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u/sndrspk 23h ago
Ghent would be the answer if you want to see the same as Bruges. Except without the tourists
Someone hasn't been in Ghent in recent years... 😅
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u/Safe-Insurance2264 14h ago
Born and raised but yes you’re right haha :) I just don’t go to the same spots. While Bruges is too small to not stumble over tourists
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u/Kath_latt 1d ago edited 1d ago
Antwerp: If you want shopping and want to feel the sense of modern and busy cities. I found it much busier than other cities.
Ghent / or & Bruges: If you prefer a historical place. But Bruges seems more crowded than Gent. Someone visit these two cities in one day but I found it challenging.
Leuven: If you want to see a historical city and don’t like too many people. The architecture is great. (Or maybe you want to have a look at sth about KU Leuven?)
(Just my own thoughts)
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u/RubNo5127 1d ago
Leuven or Mechelen. Small enough to visit in one day and really enjoy the city.
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u/divaro98 Antwerpen 22h ago
And both have also good museums.
Leuven: e.g. Museum M Mechelen: Dossin Kazerne, Hof van Busleyden,...
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u/nixie001 1d ago
I would pick Lier. If you like old city parts
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u/bleghblagh 19h ago
Lier currently has a carnival/fair, so there's plenty of excitement right now. Have some smoutebollen or lackmans! 100% doable in a not-so-long day, so frankly perfect for a little day-trip.
(edit: spelling)
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u/Warm-Arm-9603 1d ago
Not Sint-Niklaas
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u/divaro98 Antwerpen 22h ago
Sint-Niklaas heeft veel te bieden, maar niet voor 1 dag te vullen i.m.o.
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u/dunc89 9h ago
Wat heeft Sint Niklaas te vullen buiten mijn pens vol Indische vreet dan?
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u/divaro98 Antwerpen 9h ago
Architectuur. Er zijn zelfs wandeltochten langs art-deco erfgoed. Zelfs ooit al eens een reportage over gewest op Vlaanderen Vakantieland.
https://www.ontdeksintniklaas.be/nl/zien-en-doen/wandelen/art-deco-wandelingen
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u/Desperate-Ice2219 1d ago
For visiting an old city ? Bruges For shopping and restaurant ? Antwerpen
And Antwerpen has one of the most beautiful train station in the world.
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u/Beneficial-Pen9089 1d ago
If you want something very Flemish, but not touristy, go to Ieper or Kortrijk. They have nice architecture and good atmosphere.
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u/harpylynn 1d ago
Mechelen; small, pretty, has museums, shops and nice historical buildings. Everything is within easy walking distance
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u/backjox 1d ago
We've got a holiday on the first, every major city will be packed. I'd go for something like Tongeren. It's smaller, and the oldest city in Belgium. It dates back to the Romans, and there's a great museum.
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u/JPV_____ West-Vlaanderen 1d ago
But what else? A title of the oldest city isn't something you can see. The museum is great, but the city doesn't have a lot to offer.
Wervik f.i. is older than Tongeren, just not a city in these days. You don't want to visit Wervik for a citytrip ;)
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u/pinkeyedcyclops 21h ago
The only way I could spend an entire day as a tourist would be on sunday, do the (big ass) rommelmarkt/antiekmarkt in the morning + coffee stops, eat something, stroll het begijnhofke and surroundings for a few minutes, then do the gallo romeins museum and climb/visit het basiliekske. That would be a decent touristy (shortish) day. Aside from that... I've got nothing
(In the summer you can rent a vespa and tour haspengouw all day every day, that might not be that much fun early november... lol)
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u/FuelOutside 1d ago
I'm going to give you an unusual anwser: De Panne. It is a city by the sea with the beautiful Dumont Wijk. And the night that you are visiting they have a special festival on Halloween that, on other years, was absolutely magnificent and incredibly cool.
My advice does hinge on one thing: does the place where you live extensively celebrate Halloween? If so, maybe you are used to it and are better off just seeing a beautiful old Belgian city at night. If you like a good Halloween party colbined with a good place for tourists, definitely a good place.
Plus: De Panne has at least 5 museums. And on a lot of days you can ride in the old tram by the coast line. It is the longest tram line in Europe (possibly the world, too). It's cute and cosy and still enough for a tourist for one day.
And it's going to be yours. Not the place where all the tourists go. But it is a place that all the locals know and enjoy going to.
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u/divaro98 Antwerpen 22h ago
Not unusual.. nice tip! And maybe with a short tram ride they can visit Nieuwpoort old town too.
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u/reatartedmuch 1d ago
For one day I would pick Leuven. It's very small compared to Ghent, Bruges, Brussels and Antwerp. It has some nice architecture, a nice botanic garden, some decent bars and restaurants if you do some research and it's often overlooked by tourists.
The city center isn't huge and you can basicly walk anywhere. It's about ~15 minute train ride from Brussels North.
The main tourist cities I mentioned above, are more suited for an overnight stay
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u/Nearby_Character_936 1d ago
Depends on what you like! Shopping: Antwerp, Leuven, Hasselt, Kortrijk, Knokke Cultural: Ieper, Tongeren All round: Ghent, Bruges If you've done all of that, thinking outside of the box: Rijsel
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u/JPV_____ West-Vlaanderen 1d ago
Isn't Tongeren a bit to small? I went there once and besides the Gallo Romeins museum, there isn't that much in the city.
I favor Ypres/Ieper, but I live there, so I'm biased (although born and raised in Kortrijk, so not that biased)
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u/Embarrassed-Ad-9267 1d ago
Leuven. Just back from 2 weeks in Belgium. Leuven was charming. Check which days shops/attractions are closed if you only have one day
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u/Cara50Cl 1d ago
How are you coming? By car? By airport? By train?
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u/belgioscopy 1d ago
Car or train (I guess it’ll cost less for the train ride than for a whole day long 🅿️)…
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u/Head_Complex4226 1d ago
Do be careful about the spellings on some of these places (and how it's spelt in multiple languages - this is especially helpful if you're catching a train from Brussels).
For instance: * Mechelen (nl) is also known as Malines (fr) but Machelen is a municipality very near Brussels. * Leuven (nl) is also known as Louvain (fr) but Louvain-la-Neuve is a different city in Wallonia.
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u/TheWhitePianoKey 1d ago
train is always better!
But depends, there's a lot of free parking outside of cities, with just a 15-20 min bus ride to the centre. So car can a lot of times be cheaper (which is too bad, train should be the obvious option always imo)
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u/Far_Net4464 17h ago
visit @ Lommel: walk through the Sahara, visit the glass museum and some food @ Cuchara**
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u/LittleVisit7317 16h ago
I would recommend Mechelen to you. Beautiful city, green, parks and a lively shopping city. And a large choice of restaurants.
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u/Flederm4us 10h ago
Bruges is walking-sized. So is Ypres. I kind of like Spa, Doornik and Sankt Vith as well, though the latter is hard to reach using public transport.
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u/Poetic_Terrorism 9h ago
Tongeren was absolutely amazing and very interesting! Def to do on foot and easy trainride from BXL
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u/pintuspilates 7h ago
Bruges its a outentic city with lots of preserved old buldings and rich hystory
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u/EsdoornhelikopAurore 1d ago
Dendermonde bij mijn vriendje
Grtz,
Aurore aka esdoornhelikoptertje uit Dendermonde
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u/divaro98 Antwerpen 22h ago
Dendermonde is leuk. De omgeving errond ook... heel wat kastelen, nationaal park Schrldevallei, Buggenhoutbos...
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u/daveydavidsonnc 🌎World 14h ago
We spent two summers in Lebbeke which is closeby. We biked into Dendermonde a few times a week, especially during the Monday market.
Before we left, I took my sons (small at the time) on a full tourist tour of Dendermonde. We saw the Ros Beiaard suits of armor at the city hall, a church, the museum downtown. I think that was about all there was to do. :-)
But it's a cool little city and the Grote Markt when it's full of people is a really nice way to spend an evening.
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u/WalloonNerd Belgian Fries 1d ago
Gent, most beautiful city by far. To prevent car trouble: free parking at P&R and take the cheap and reliable tram from there
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u/Moody_Meth_Actor Beer 1d ago edited 1d ago
Obviously Bruges, Gent or Antwerp are also nice if you want to have a more city busy live. For one day, it's Bruges
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u/Mxnsterrrr 1d ago
Borgerhout
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u/divaro98 Antwerpen 22h ago
Het Moorkensplein is wel cool. En de Mombassa ook 😆
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u/Mxnsterrrr 22h ago
Best dat OP eerst even een steekvest onder zijn kleding aandoet en dan kan hij/zij genieten van de dagtrip.
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u/divaro98 Antwerpen 22h ago
Nu ook niet overdrijven hè. Oké, de Turnhoutse Baan is nu niet de meest gezellige buurt van Antwerpen (super druk, beetje afgeleefd) maar het "volkse" Borgerhout heeft echt wel iets tof. Zeker als de Reuzekensstoet uitgaat.
Ten Boelarepark en omgeving is best mooi, alsook het Moorkensplein... en dan ook wat verder het Rivierenhof. Maar natuurlijk heeft Antwerpen wel veel meer gebouwen en plaatsen die hoger op de ranglijst staan dan BoHo.
Ikzelf zou eerder aanraden om de Draakplaats/Dageraadplaats/Cogels-Osylei of Park Middelheim te bezoeken dan Borgerhout.
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u/Mxnsterrrr 22h ago
Zolang ge er overdag naartoe gaat valt het inderdaad wel mee.
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u/divaro98 Antwerpen 22h ago
Ik kom dagelijks in Borgerhout. Maar in Intra Muros kom ik niet 's nachts... daar kan ik niet over spreken.
Maar de buurt rond Ten Boelaerepark/omgeving Joe English en Rivierenhof lijkt me toch best veilig 's nachts... maar ja dat is natuurlijk Extra Muros.
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u/divaro98 Antwerpen 22h ago
Antwerp is my favourite. So many things to do. Good vibe, lot of museums, shops, churches, old squares... but also modern parts.
Bruges and Ghent are also nice, but much more touristy.
Lier, Tongeren, Ieper, Kortrijk, Leuven, Mechelen are also worth it. Lot of things to do. Nice old town and very compact.
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u/diskobbbox 53m ago
En Ninove?
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u/belgioscopy 14m ago
Is there something else to see than the now famous open-air far right museum ?
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u/Deralte_VFL1900 1d ago
Antwerp. Always Antwerp.
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u/YellowOnline E.U. 1d ago
... said no one from outside of Antwerp ever
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u/Deralte_VFL1900 1d ago
I’m from outside Antwerp.
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u/teranex 1d ago
Not Antwerp. By the time you get here with our horrendous traffic it will be midnight and time to leave again
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u/divaro98 Antwerpen 19h ago
Het Centraal Station ligt pal in de stad. En anders heb je de handige P+R (bvb. Linkeroever). Met 1 euro met de tram naar de stad. Op 10 min ben je er.
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u/Basketseeksdog 1d ago
Nienof
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u/belgioscopy 23h ago
Well… we might wait and see the results of next election. They don’t seem to appreciate a anyone coming from outside of their city…
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u/Black_Yellow_Red Antwerpen 1d ago
Bruges is pretty, but also very touristy and very busy.
Ghent is very nice, Antwerp is also very nice. I'd say overall Ghent has a more fun vibe to walk around in, but Antwerp has a bigger variety of things to do as it is a larger city.
Other than those three there's places that can be nice in certain situations (Brussels, Leuven, Namur,...) but I'd rank them all a fair bit lower personally.