Bruges vs Antwerp vs Ghent: COMPLETE TRAVEL GUIDE

Are you traveling to Belgium and trying to decide where to go? 3 city guides to the best cities outside of Brussels are in this travel guide! Decide between Bruges or Ghent, or maybe Bruges or Antwerp, or Antwerp or Ghent! Or maybe you can't decide which to visit between all 3. Watch this video to find out our recommendation!

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In case you like skipping around:
00:00 Bruges
00:52 Bruges from Brussels
01:54 Church of our Lady
04:38 Most photographed corner
05:41 Boat tour
06:12 Burg Square
07:12 The Bottle Shop
07:40 Bruges Belfry
09:00 Markt Square
09:31 The Chocolate Line
11:22 Maison Dumon
13:48 Escaping crowds
15:04 Windmills
15:32 Is Bruges worth it?

16:40 Antwerp City Card
17:30 Red Line Museum
19:10 Snijders & Rockox House
20:37 Antwerp First Impressions
21:30 Cathedral of Our Lady Antwerp
22:52 Plantin-Moretus Museum
25:01 Fries!
26:09 Grote Markt
26:52 Cutest alley in Antwerp
27:34 Is Antwerp worth it?
28:16 Belgian Guidebooks
28:56 Antwerp Train Station

29:30 Ghent!
30:08 Ghent Belfry
32:54 Saint Bavo's Cathedral
35:52 Gravensteen Castle
40:50 Ghent main squares
41:43 Graffiti Street
43:05 is Ghent underrated?
43:23 Bruges vs Ghent vs Antwerp

#Bruges #Antwerp #Ghent
#Travel #Belgiumtravel #TravelBelgium
#Brugge #Gent #Antwerpen

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David statue photo by Jörg Bittner Unna
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[shonen]

Being from Antwerp born and raised, we have a saying here. “Antwerp is The City and the rest is the parking lot” 🤪 thanks for visiting and showing my hometown all the love! ❤️

[xmajjar]

Great video! I just came from Ghent; a really wonderful city; but if you ever visit Ghent again you should definitely go and see the altarpiece presentation; I recommend anyone to visit Ghent just for that presentation; it's that good; it's not just going in to look at a piece of art but it's a whole experience;

[neilr]

I live in the UK but have been to all three cities multiple times. My favourite is Ghent, though both Antwerp and Bruges are lovely too. Bruges is packed with tourists even out of the main tourist season, Antwerp and Ghent suffer less from this.

[magicmark]

We were in Bruges and Antwerp the first week in May. We loved both cities so much. We want to move to Belgium, soooo beautiful..!!

[daylightdaylight]

The 3 cities are all worth visiting.
If you want a top 3:
Bruges is number 1, Ghent number 2 and Antwerp on number 3.
All 3 cities have fantastic museums with fantastic paintings.
The city to avoid is Brussels and AVOID by all means the Brussels South station.

[Karenhjxu]

We really enjoyed this video!!…Will be in Antwerp ( home base) in April and will be traveling to other parts of Belgium as well. After watching your video, we can’t wait to see all Belgium has to offer. Thank you so much, for taking the time to share your travels.

[valeriekranen]

As a Belgian living in Antwerp., I prefer Ghent. But just to let you know, you can buy citycards in Bruges and Ghent too (not only in Antwerp) tp make your visit less expensive

[englishrose]

Seriously, this is the best video I've seen so far of Bruce, Antwerp and Ghent. Thank you for a realistic view and a more comprehensive view.

[kimberlyberlin]

Really enjoyed this video. You guys really got around and saw a lot of stuff.

[e.x.watson]

Ghent was a lot of fun. We spontaneously decided to stop there in the middle of our road trip and almost spent the night because we hung out there all day xD

[denaegan]

Great Video! So glad I found your channel. Your filming is top notch, interesting and thorough narration. Looking forward to watching more of your videos. I'd definitely love to see you sampling, and your recommendation, for more of the food specialties, like the mussels and waffles in Belgium. In my travels, the food spots to not-miss are always at the top of my list. Thanks again!

[ralphzechendorf]

Living in Brussels, I'd say Bruges is my favourite because it's a small city. Even if it's packed, it's still just pedestrians, bicycles and horses. Ghent and Antwerp are larger cities with more trafic, more noise, trams... we get that in Brussels too :)
Edit : and a downside of Ghent is the fact that the main railway station is too far off the center, you need to take the tramway (extra cost), or walk like 45 minutes. Bruges and Antwerp are a lot easier to reach by train :)

[emmie_enroute]

Hearing you described the fries brought back some memories for when we were in Bruges last Fall. I made a mistake of ordering “French fries” and were told they don’t have any, but then when I corrected to “fries”, surely enough, they had....haha

[Walts-Travel]

You guys were putting in the work today. 🙏🏼🙏🏼

[knotwilg]

Native here. There's a difference in size. Bruges is relatively small and centered around the medieval experience. Ghent is a bit larger and although it has sceneries in common with Bruges, it has a wider offering. Antwerp is a whole different ball game. It has this atmosphere of an international harbor and experiences that stretch from the late middle ages into the modern time. For us natives Antwerp feels "busy", especially to get into, but once you're in it has a lot to offer. I'm in my fifties and I haven't seen half of Antwerp, especially the museums which are at the level of Brussels'. BTW you didn't include Brussels and I think with good reason. Apart from the amazing musea and night life, Brussels is just not as nice a place to walk around as the other 3. Main reason: it doesn't have a river - well technically it has but it's now fully hidden below city level. Many people think Ghent strikes the better balance but the best advice is probably that you want to find your spot on the spectrum of postcard cosiness vs metropolitan activity in

Oh, and the wall was not about TinTin but "Jommeke", locally as well known a comic figure but internationally unknown.

[Jeanlabinski]

31:18 the song playing on the belfry is 'twee meisjes op het strand' (two girls on the beach) by Raymond Van Het Groenewoud. The belfry regularly plays modern songs, they even do hour long concerts and once a year accompany a 'cantus' where student drink and sing songs...

[MENSA.lady]

Hard to say. I would choose Bruges simply because it gives you good access to every where else.

[jackf]

Totally agree on Antwerp! I lived in Belgium for over 8 years and I adored Antwerp: the perfect mix of shopping, art, design, fashion, architecture and modernity. Next time don't forget the South district (my favorite part of town): gorgeous area with museums (the recently renovated huge Royal Museum of Fine Arts), restaurants, bars, ... they're even building a huge new park right in the middle of this area. Oh and why didn't you climb the MAS? You missed the best view in town! Oh gosh I miss Antwerp :)

[EmiIy]

I think Ghent is best for nightlife/bars/beers so you use that as a base to travel to Bruges, Antwerp and Brussels. I am Flemish but I once did a day trip to Namur and to be honest, it was stunning so I would also recommend visiting Namur!

[mhtDpak]

Great video! Helped me make my decision. I’m going to Belgium this thanksgiving and wish the weather doesn’t spoil my vacation.
I am going to 2 places but I’m picking Bruges and Ghent because I felt the gothic setup of Ghent was cool.