On the final day of the Belgium coaster trip, Kyle and I went to Bruges and Ghent. We took the train first to Bruges, which is further north, before returning south to Ghent, and then to back to Brussels.
Bruges is a popular tourist city, and with good reason. It's quite picturesque and compact. We started with a boat tour to get our bearings and learn some history, then we basically wandered around. After a quick panini for lunch, we climbed up the belfry for a great view over the city. Bruges is full of nice architecture and views.
 |
| Lots of cool old architecture. |
 |
| View from out boat tour. |
 |
| More views from the boat. |
 |
| Lots of cool buildings. |
 |
| A particularly picturesque intersection. |
 |
| Walking around the city. |
 |
| A bend in the canal. |
 |
| Inside a church. |
 |
| The main square had this cute row of buildings and restaurants. |
 |
| Climbing up the belfry! |
 |
| View of the main square from partway up. |
 |
| Looking over the city. |
 |
| There's those cute buildings again! |
 |
| I liked the lush canal-front terraces. |
In the early afternoon we walked back to the train station, and took the short train ride to Ghent. It's super easy to get between Brussels-Bruges-Ghent by train. We had considered doing a van tour that visited both, but I recommend just using the train and sticking to your own flexible time frame.
Ghent was like a bigger version of Bruges, and I liked it much better for one main reason - the center of Ghent is largely for pedestrians and bicycles. In Bruges we had to dodge cars, even on the main square. Arriving in Ghent we took the streetcar to the center, and walked around checking out the architecture. It was bustling and very pleasant to meander around.
 |
| Catching our train. |
 |
| Inside the Ghent train station. |
 |
| Ready to catch the tram! You can also walk; we took the tram into the center but walked back. |
 |
| A very impressive church. |
 |
| Love the brick and stained glass. |
 |
| No cars, and lots of great architecture. |
 |
| People hanging out on the canal. |
 |
| The center is reserved for people, bikes, and trams. |
 |
| Central Ghent. |
 |
| An old castle. |
 |
| Yay. trams! |
 |
| View from inside the castle door. |
 |
| "Graffiti alley" |
 |
| Tourists were paying to spray paint. |
 |
| Another cool building. |
 |
| So much historic architecture. |
 |
| Another impressive church. |
 |
| I really liked the design of this door. |
 |
| Only clean cars are allowed in certain areas. |
 |
| We walked through a nice park on the way back to the train station. |
After tons of walking around Bruges and Ghent, we took the train back to Brussels. We took the local train because it left first, even though it took longer, so we got to see a few smaller towns along the way.
We finished out the day with some snacks for dinner at the hotel, and flew home the next morning. This touristy day was a great way to end the trip!
