We%26#39;re going to Belgium for the first time. Probably will be staying at the new Marriott in Ghent. Want to travel to Brussels, Brugge, Antwerp and then to Amsterdam. Can anyone advise about renting a car there vs. traveling by other means. If we rent a car, should we book it from the US or wait until we arrive in BE? Any hotel recommendations in Amsterdam since we will probably stay 1 night? Any good restaurant recommendations in Belgium cities?Thank you.
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You don%26#39;t state whether you%26#39;ve driven a car in Europe before. If it were my first time in Belgium and my first time driving, I would opt for the train just to eliminate all the complications that come with a car. Also, all the cities you mention have excellent rail service and travelling by rail is very convenient.
If you decide to rent a car, book ahead to save time and money.
I don%26#39;t know if Brussels has more restaurants per capita than anywhere else, but it sure seemed like it. In each of the cities you%26#39;ve mentioned, just look for a place that is busy during the local mealtimes. I figure that the crowd probably no something when it comes to good food and fair prices. Note that the menu and prices are always posted somewhere, usually near the entrance or in a window, so you won%26#39;t be surprised when the bill arrives.
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For hotel recommendations in Amsterdam, look in the Amsterdam forum and on the left you will see %26quot;Amsterdam Hotels%26quot;, which are in order of TA users%26#39; recommendations.
For restaurants in Belgian cities, look in the forum for each city - I am fed up of repeating myself as far as Brussels is concerned! If you have a specific query e.g. specific type of cuisine in specific location, that%26#39;s different, but for general recommendations there are plenty in response to previous questions (with the possible exception of Antwerp, I haven%26#39;t looked lately).
Personally I would travel by train as it is not easy to park in any of the cities you mention and you can reach all the Belgian cities mentioned directly from Gent-Sint-Pieters: it%26#39;s only 30 minutes to Brussels (get off at Gare centrale which is only 5 minutes%26#39; walk from the Grand%26#39; Place), 30 minutes to Brugge and 52 minutes to Antwerpen-Centraal. For Amsterdam you would have to change at Antwerpen-Berchem and total journey time would be about 3 1/2 hours, but the station is right in the heart of the city and the canal network (incidentally, the train stops at Schiphol Airport on the way to Amsterdam-Centraal). Take InterCity rather than Thalys from Antwerp to Amsterdam, then you don%26#39;t have to reserve seats and can buy your ticket at Gent St. Pieters on the day of travel.
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I can confirm what Gaminari said, trains are reliable and it doesn%26#39;t take long to travel to all the cities you%26#39;ve mentioned.
Please note that you can buy special tickets in the railway station to visit the cities. These tickets are called %26#39;B-dagtrip%26#39; or in English: %26#39;One-day-trip%26#39;. They offer you a train ticket (return) + entrance to some museums of other places to visit in that city. It%26#39;s cheaper than buying your tickets in the musea and historical places itself and you don%26#39;t loose time standing in line to buy a ticket!
I%26#39;ve just checked with the site and I see that these tickets are called: B-excursions: I%26#39;ve copied the link below:
b-rail.be/nat/…index.php
and this is the site of our national railway station, offering even more possibilities.
http://www.b-rail.be/nat/E/
More questions, don%26#39;t hesitate to mail me.
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