BRUGES and GHENT in ONE Day | Guide to Belgium's Medieval Towns

[@nikolaasdigi]

I was Born and raised in Gent and I loved it so much. Gent has so many secret hidden places that are not in any tourist guides. I think you’ll need at least 5 days to explore some of them. 1 day is simply not enough. And to prove I’m a ‘Gentenaar’ I will tell you my favorite quote we use. “Nie neute, nie pleuje” - which translate to “Don’t complain, don’t give up”.

[@cindymarasligiller2115]

Interesting video thank you. Love Bruges. It warrants at least 2 days, especially during December for the Christmas market.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Yeah, I definitely think I'll be returning to Bruges! But I like having these quick visits, to determine which places I want to go back to and not :)

[@garyroberts3859]

Didn’t think Bruges looked that interesting in your video but Ghent looked really interesting

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

That's so interesting - because I just loved the relaxed feeling in Bruges. But glad to hear that opinions differ 😊

[@garyroberts3859]

@@ThreeStarVagabond it was the quality of the buildings you showed. Ghents we’re far more decorative

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

@@garyroberts3859 Fair enough! Maybe it's just different tastes, or maybe I didn't manage to convey the "feeling" of the places correctly :)

[@aoscariz]

IMO, Bruges is more beautiful and charming then Ghent but Ghent is also amazing and worth visiting.

[@bonasca]

For me, it was the other way around. Looking forward to visiting Bruges now. I'll stop Ghent if time permits :)

[@LIBREPUB]

Oh yeah, you definitely have to take that beautiful walk from the train station to the city center in Bruges…omg I want to go back tomorrow. Bruges and Ghent are mind blowing 🤯 next level awesome.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Completely agree! I had no idea what to expect on that walk but it was so gorgeous and really nice and quiet in the morning 😀

[@ExplorerOfTheGalaxy]

Man, your style to present cities are awesome!! I usually don't like vlogging but you KNOW how to show off the touristic points without showing yourself too much (and when you do that you only say useful informations). Just subbed seeing this video for the 1st time. Keep going! I'd love to see some Barcelona videos of yours or Lisbon :)

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Oh wow, thank you so much! That's so nice to hear - and I've been thinking about Barcelona actually. It'd be an awesome excuse for me to go to PortAventura as well :D But that might have to wait until later in the year unfortunately! Cheers!

[@ExplorerOfTheGalaxy]

@@ThreeStarVagabond I've never heard of PortAventura before! Greetings from Brazil! :)

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

@@ExplorerOfTheGalaxy Haha I love theme parks so I can understand if it's not something all that common to hear about :D Cheers! Hope you're having better weather than us now!

[@adgepeterb]

Bravo.. excellent video!!!

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Thank you so much 😀

[@pkharper3525]

They both look like amazing city’s in there own ways. I absolutely love the architecture in both city’s, the old buildings have such style not to mention thinking about the artisans that built them. Another amazing video, thanks for taking us along your journey. Stay safe till next time 😊

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

They were really nice both of them! I'll happily go back if I visit Belgium again :D The architecture really was amazing. Thanks for checking it out and cheers! ^_^

[@sosochan325]

Thx for making this video it’s rly helpful for me since I’ll be there in this winter, I’m so excited

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

I hope it's going to be really nice in winter! And if nothing, there's bound to be fewer tourists :D

[@medialinksbe]

tip : if you visit in 1 day; you do not need seperate train tickets. As Ghent is on the Brussels - Bruges trainline, you can just stop in Ghent, visit the city and continue your way back to Brussels a couple of hours later with the same ticket.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Excellent suggestion! I wish I'd known that at the time :D

[@tp7325]

Hi, thankyou so much for this heartful video. Taking your advice, I've visited Brugges and Ghent/Gent in one whole day on 2nd July. As the sunset is 10pm, we have indeed sufficient time for our trip. As confirmed with train station staff, we just purchased return tickets from Brussels to Brugge. After visiting Brugge, we got on the train again and dropped off at Ghent, as Ghent is between Brussels and Brugge. No additional ticket is requested from Brugge to Ghent and from Ghent to Brussels. We just use the same return ticket (on same day). Then we return to Brussels by 9pm train, as it is still the sun there ;)). Thanks again and would love to see more vlog.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Nice one! Thanks for confirming that there's a simpler way to handle the tickets :D And happy to hear that you had such a great trip! Cheers ^_^

[@tp7325]

@@ThreeStarVagabond Yes, the ticket issue was confirmed by station staff, and we did it!! Cheers!

[@marcoreynosa98]

So , you went from Brussels to Brugges then to Ghent and back to Brussels from Ghent ? What was the travel time between cities , thank you

[@tp7325]

@@marcoreynosa98 Yes, we bought: 1. Return tickets from Brussels to Brugge: 1 hour train, €34@. It will be nearly half price if travel in weekend. We travel in weekday. 2. We then continued our trip from Brugge to Gent (no need buy another ticket, and can get on any train), I think its around 30 minutes. 3. Gent back to Brussels with the return ticket, around 30 minutes travel time. Gent is between Brussels and Brugge. As the sunset was 10pm when we travelled in July, there was enough time for each city. We departed at 9:45am and back to Brussels at around 10:15pm.

[@marcoreynosa98]

@@tp7325 thank you for the info.

[@wesailwillow]

Thanks, we will now spend a full day in both cities. Three star? This was a five star video:)

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

That's so nice of you! Hope you'll have an awesome time there - I'm definitely going to return to explore both cities more :D

[@midmiddleton163]

The cities look beautiful. The architecture is thought-provoking. The people in the past were master masons Indeed.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Fully agree! It amazes me how people could create such marvelous buildings hundreds or even a thousand years ago sometimes.

[@crush42mash6]

Ghent was clearly my favourite town. The history was so much better and I really enjoyed the castle, river canal tour is recommended for €10 Of course, Brussels is awesome to spend over a month there recently. Love from 🇨🇦

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Fair enough! I think both towns are great, but it's good that there's something for everyone ^_^

[@NuestrasAventuras]

Awesome content and your funny comments just made everything better. New follower from Argentina 🇦🇷😁

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Thank you so much! Really happy to hear that you enjoyed it, even if I add corny jokes and comments now and then 😀

[@Frahamen]

Actually, if you go from Brussels to Bruges you past Ghent. The rule is if you can stop in between a line and continue later the day, you do not need to buy a new ticket. So buying a train ticket Brussels-Bruges both ways would have been enough.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Oh! Thank you - that definitely would have made it all a bit better to coordinate. Damn, I had no idea that it worked like that, but it makes perfect sense in retrospect.

[@BIGBEN9999999]

@@ThreeStarVagabond And from friday 7 PM till sunday you can buy a 'weekend ticket' at +/- 50% of the normal price. If there is an official holliday on thursday, friday or monday, this ticket is valid for the extended weekend

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

@@BIGBEN9999999 That's such a great tip! I guess I never bothered to look up any weekend deals, since I was there on weekdays only. Great information!

[@charlizedejonghe350]

I don’t know how to explain this but I think you took the wrong stop to gent there’s more than one just like in Brussels so you don’t need to take the tram like gent Sint Pieters ,… hope this helps ❤

[@maritesgabaldon3026]

Hi. I'm going to brussels on July. Our first time What tips or advice on transport in the city

[@hinjeyan1]

Thanks!

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

And thanks a lot to you too 😀

[@bobalanadventures2024]

Enjoyed your video! We just spent a very enjoyable day in Bruges. What a wonderful place

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Thanks, and I totally agree! I really would like to go back and explore more

[@ChristopherGronlund]

Most of what I know about Belgium is what I've seen through the eyes of a couple online friends who live in Liège. (Oh, and from a foreign exchange student from Belgium I knew in high school.) I didn't know Bruges existed until I saw the movie, In Bruges. I was aware of Gravensteen Castle, but know so little about Ghent. So, I appreciated that you covered the two towns so well...in a day! It's a country I've wanted to visit for a long time...but then, that describes most countries for me 😀

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

This was actually my first time in Belgium. Many people asked why I decided to go there, and I had to admit that part of it was "well, I want to check off one more country" :D But I really had a great time! Especially on this day trip to these spots :D

[@ChristopherGronlund]

@@ThreeStarVagabond It looks like it's worth the trip for the Belgian fries museum alone! 🤣

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

@@ChristopherGronlund Best. Song. Ever. I still have nightmares about that one :D

[@musicfunlax1224]

Liege is actually in another country than Flanders . Hope you get it.

[@ChristopherGronlund]

@@musicfunlax1224 I do. (The person I knew in high school spoke Flemish.) But if I mention Flanders or Wallonia, most people have no idea what I'm talking about because most people just refer to the overall country, Belgium.

[@pinkpebbletravels]

love your witty and honest review. Thank you

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Thank you so much! Happy to hear that - I try at least :D

[@Malmoe_sweden]

Toppenbra video, perfekt innan min egna resa till Belgien.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Tack så mycket! :D Hoppas du har en jättebra resa dit. Hälsa Belgien från mig :D

[@pascualcolendres9477]

Wonderful!!!

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Thanks for checking it out ^_^

[@MichaelHotaling-r8k]

Dude, you are a kick in the pants! A real breath of fresh air. My wife and I loved your video. Be well!!!

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Thank you so much! Haha, that totally made my day - so happy to hear that. Cheers, and have a great one!

[@patrickbe5613]

Another great video provided by Three Star Vagabond!😀 The Belgians are indeed experts in Fre...Belgian Fries and beer! Did you catch any more tours in Brussels or what's that place called?...an ABBA song, oh yes "Waterloo"? 😉

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Haha, no Napoleon-ending spot for me this time unfortunately. But I did take a day trip to Paris, and I also visited a very ugly town... Stuff that's coming up in the future (when I can be arsed to edit more ;D)

[@249ign__]

Thank you for this video, really helped a lot! Wish you all the best!

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

So happy to hear that! Thanks - and hope you had/will have a great time there :D

[@PolCornelis]

You don't need 3 train tickets . It is possible to interrupt your trip if it is on the same day and on the same route. Brussels - Gent - Bruges is one connection without detours so one return ticket will do.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

I wish I knew that beforehand! But it's a good tip :D

[@prezze5450]

Concerning the beerglasses: every beer in Belgium has its own glass developped for the beer. They are used to enhance flavours and smells of the beer. The glass you showed is from the Belgian beer Kwak (the story about this glass is different: during the era of Napoleon the brewer of the beer had a pub and every day postal carriages passed, the drivers of those carriages were not allowed to leave their carriages to have a drink like their passengers did, so the brewer had a glass made with a wood holder that they could carry with their carriage. The rounded underside of the glass meant that the glass could not fall over during the ride)

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Thanks! That's an excellent history lesson (combined with beer - so it's the best possible type of history lecture). I learned something new today!

[@silhofn3]

Thanks for video. Really nice.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Thank you! I appreciate it ^_^

[@elmarta79]

Loved the video but: Talking about the Saint Bavo Cathedral in Ghent without mentioning the masterpiece you can see there is a 'sin' ;-). The Ghent Alterpiece or the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb by the Van Eyck brothers is considered a masterpiece of European art.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Oh, nice addition! Haha, yeah I guess I was a bit rushed and skipped some vital points

[@catherinemateo3779]

Great video! Loved the information you give for each site. Really helpful and interesting. How early did you have to go to Bruges? I'm planning to go to Bruges and Ghent on a one day trip as well.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Ooh nice! Hope you'll have a great time there :D I think I left around 7 AM, so not super early - but it felt like in the middle of the night since I was on vacation! I was filming a lot though, so I'm sure you can do a bit later too.

[@promiserodriguez7553]

I enjoyed watching you. Great information. This is very helpful. I am going to Bruges next month. Thank you so much and have a great day.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Happy to hear that! Thanks for checking it out - and I hope you'll have a great time in Bruges

[@JustBeingAwesome]

Gent needs to be experienced in the evening too and ideally in summer :)

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

A good reason for me to return in that case :D

[@galgal8333]

A very wonderful video! And in Belgium they speak Flemish 😄

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Thank you so much! Haha, and ooh right - I really should have known that ^^

[@jacquesdesbecquets1106]

Flemish... and French (les Wallons). Bonsoir/greetings from Canada!

[@syedshah6392]

awesome to sight

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

It really was quite amazing :D

[@dirkt6921]

Very odd you didn’t mention the Mystic Lamb painting at St.-Bavo church in Gent! It’s considered as one of the great European masterpieces in art and has been beautifully restored recently. Not to miss! It’s the ‘Mona Lisa’ of Belgium, only much more impressive.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

I totally missed that one! I guess I was just a bit too stressed to fit everything in one day, so I missed one of the best parts. Still, that just means that I need to travel back and see it another time

[@PT-sc3we]

Hi there, I am from Hong Kong. Thanks so much for this video, and leads me thinking of going these two places in one day. I will be in Belgium next month, and can't wait to see these medieval towns. Thanks again. One question, do I need to book in advance for all the train tickets? I noticed you missed a train and wait for another train from Bruges to Ghent. Thanks again.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

When you buy a ticket you can ride any of the trains that day, so you don't really have to pre-book. I did it anyway because I was a bit paranoid, but I could still use any train. I hope you'll have a great time in Belgium - the best of luck :D

[@chckzchck]

I will be in Brussels for 4 days. Is 2 days enough to explore Brussels and go to Bruges and Ghent for separate day trips. Or should I take 3 days in Brussels and only 1day trip to both Bruges and Ghent like you did. It’s my first time Belgium. Thank you! Great informative video as well as lots of great comments from fellow travelers. Thanks!

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

I would say 2 days for Brussels, and then a day each for Ghent and Bruges. I was on a pretty tight schedule, but I really could have spent more time in both of those towns. Brussels is lovely, but I think two days is enough to do everything. Hope you have a great trip there! :D

[@davidcunningham2074]

an enjoyable journey.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Happy to hear that 😀

[@roelantverhoeven371]

but both have much more to offer! also, don't forget Antwerp! bit larger, bit more modern and busy (especially compared to Bruges), but also with unique historic gems and a lot of museums!

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

I did hear some bad things about Antwerp these days actually, but it would be really interesting to explore! That'll have to be for my next trip there ^_^

[@RegularCanadianFella]

Cool informative vid once again! In Bruges was an ok film…any plans for travel in Finland? That Sisu film was quite something!

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Thank you! And just an ok film eh, maybe I'll skip it. But yeah Finland is also on the todo list! But I'll have to think about what to do and where to go. Winter is coming after all :D

[@vlastakadric4206]

In Bruges is a Wonderful movie,not just ok.

[@SergioM-bt6zq]

Great video. I'm planning on visiting both Ghent and Brugges. What time of the year did you go? It seemed like cool weather.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Thank you! I think that was summer actually... Must have been August - but the weather was pretty rainy :/ Still, it was nice despite that!

[@karlnapp2740]

Thanks, but I would not recommend to try seeing both cities in one day as you will only have time to walk around and then the cities look rather similar (especially taking one boat trip each). Instead, I'd focus on the specific highlights, some as you mentioned, such as the Belfry, Holy Blood Chapel, Bruges Madonna, Museum and the Brugse Zot Brewery in Bruges and the Castle, Altarpiece and Belfry in Gent. With your tight schedule, I would have visited the Belfry in Gent instead (less croweded and with an elevator) and skipped the Boat ride in Gent. Walking downtown is not really an option in Gent as the station is a bit far off...

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Good tips for how to optimize the visit even more! And yeah, ideally one should really spend a lot more time - but I had such a hard time choosing which place to visit, so I tried to eat the cake and still have it. Some things worked out great, and some things...not :)

[@Alissa-g3z]

Very interesting.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Thank you! :D

[@lemastre]

Think it would have been fine if you bought one train ticket as Ghent is on the way.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Yeah! I wish I knew at the time

[@Catosphere.]

Very useful. Thank you!

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Happy to hear that!

[@annesarnomcilwrath5260]

What was the beer bar you stopped at?

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

It's called Dulle Griet

[@Evan-rb1oh]

im going to be living in Ghent. Could I in theory buy a ticket from brussels to bruges, stop in between at ghent to drop off my luggage first and then go to bruges, and later in the day return from bruges to ghent instead of to brussels with a single ticket?

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

I'm not an expert but I think you'd need two tickets.... But you can absolutely stop in Ghent on the way to Bruges, on one ticket. But the return might require one more...

[@tumarfa]

The setup at that Belgian fries song almost invites one to sing along. And perhaps you did. But somehow forgot to film it? :)

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Haha no I was too busy giggling at the weird song! No singing along at all :D

[@Drago1995]

a Tram in Bruges ? boy you messing up xD the only tram that passes by Bruges is the costal tram with only 5 stops. i also crossed that bridge lots of times and i really love myself and my single free lifestyle ;p

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Oh damn! I think I meant the bus.... I was probably thinking of Ghent. Man, I even walked past the buses on the way.

[@Drago1995]

@@ThreeStarVagabond it's ok Xp, but it would actually be cool if Bruges had a proper Tram network, Courtrai is gonna have a Tram/Bus hybrid in 2030 no tracks needed they could also do it for Bruges.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

@@Drago1995That would be really cool! I really liked Bruges in general, so I think I need to return there next summer. No tram by then of course, but maybe some day...

[@johnorbegozo685]

amazing video whats the name of the company or website to buy train tickets from brussels to ghent???? question what is the station i get off to visit ghent ??? is it st peters??? if i get train tickets with a particular time do i have to come on that exact time or can i catch the next train ???

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Thank you so much! :D The train company is SNCB: www.belgiantrain.be/en Yes, the station in Ghent is called Gent-Sint-Pieters. And no worries about the time - you can catch any train the whole day with that ticket :)

[@johnorbegozo685]

awesome keep up the amazing videos would love to see a video on Antwerp @@ThreeStarVagabond

[@bv2623]

Belgian trains are flexible. No need for reservations etc. The national train company is called NMBS/SNCB (Flemish/French acronym) And as mentioned above, you can travel with one ticket Brussels-Bruges to Gent aswell as it is on the same trajectory. Coming from Brussels by train, best station is Gent-Sint-Pieters as you can hop on two tramlines (1 or 2) to get to the city centre. I prefer the second one as tramline 1 is the one most tourists will take. Oh and if you're travelling in a weekend, the traintickets (simply called weekendticket) are reduced by 50 percent and you can use it for the whole weekend (great if you have booked a hotel for a night).

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

@@bv2623 Thanks a lot for that extremely useful info :D

[@jigarmistry5570]

I am travelling brussel for 1 day for Luxembourg and Dinant and 1 day for Ghent and brussel, do I need to take return ticket or single ticket is valid for bruge and Ghent and brussel. How to check children ticket for age 4 and 11​. Is tram ticket free or need to take sepearate ticket? In brussel in same day I want to take photo just from outside of Belgium palace and Atonium structure. Which ticket need for local brussel. @@bv2623

[@strange4you]

Both are great towns,,, love them. But you need more than 1 day????

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Haha yeah, I couldn't choose between them so this was an initial exploration for where to spend more time the next time

[@joriskemper5392]

The best way for an English speaking person would be to pronounce it as a 'dull greet'. It would sound a bit more stylized towards English. The dutch pronunciation of Dulle Griet would be to read the U as in Umpire and the Griet as Greet but with a hard G.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Thank you! I don't quite have it down yet - but I'll get there one of these...years :D

[@fitta74]

Are u from Sweden?

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Yes indeed

[@katleengardeyn8922]

I can't believe you spend time in the friet museum in Bruges when you could have seen more beautiful things in Ghent instead. Ghent rules by far in beauty and in historically importancy

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Tastes are like behinds I guess. I just got a more "city" vibe off Ghent, but a more relaxed cozy feeling in Bruges.

[@brincatstrasse]

How much was the boat trip in Bruges?

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

I think it was like 15 EUR

[@ParneetGill-l7h]

What time did you reach Bruges?

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Before 9 at least! It's a short ride

[@wanneske1969]

I don't see why you would only spend half a day in a city like Ghent. I visit Bremen quite often, which is not bigger than Ghent but I could stay there all week and not having seen everything. For Berlin I'd probably need 3 weeks.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Sounds excellent for your way of traveling then. Good for you!

[@TwosomeTravelers]

This is very beautifully depicted video. We visited Bruges and Ghent in 1 day as well and personally loved Bruges. Do check out our vlog ❤

[@МихайлоСвєчкін]

It's a pity that they allow cars to be parked on the central Brugges square

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Yeah, good point! Cars really ruin a lovely place like that. I'd be all for more car bans in towns in general.

[@alexhaerens6116]

All main squares in Bruges are free of parked cars. There is however some passage at some sides, otherwise the city would become unaccessible. It’s too large to ban all traffic and don’t forget that people are living in town. Recently the hours of free passage in the central streets have been restricted. Meaning that if you are run over it will be by a bus, a horse, a bike or a police car.

[@biancamayer197]

Are you by chance related to Bruce Dickinson? Man.. you look like Bruce’s young brother 😅

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Haha I wish - and I don't see it at all myself 😂

[@Heritagebrowser-JethroMortier]

Bruges and Ghent in one day is an insult for both cities inmy humble opinion.... there is a lot to discover.... For Ghent you need 2 days. If you do all in1 day you tend to visit the main instagrammable, very touristy sites. Also train ticket, you are allowed to step of , for a city in between on the same line for your itinarary if it is on the same day. So a ticket for Brussels to Bruges, allowes you to step of at Gent and get back on if it is the same connection.... so no extra tickets needed. With a wayandback ticket you can actually ,make an intermediary stop to Ghent on you way towards and return from Bruges.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

I like to see it as a first investigation of both cities, so I know where I want to explore more the next time! That way I won't have to invest time in something that I might end up disappointed with :) But yeah, good point about the train tickets! I wish I had known that...

[@jigarmistry5570]

I am travelling brussel for 1 day for Luxembourg and Dinant and 1 day for Ghent and brussel, do I need to take return ticket or single ticket is valid for bruge and Ghent and brussel. How to check children ticket for age 4 and 11​. Is tram ticket free or need to take sepearate ticket? In brussel in same day I want to take photo just from outside of Belgium palace and Atonium structure. Which ticket need for local brussel.

[@Peterigepan]

Who doesnt take 1 day each already made a spot

[@WMG3307]

The idiotic way of traveling, see as much as possible, enjoy nothing. 🤔

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

I was going to reply something sarcastic - but to be serious: it boils down to different personalities and different ways of appreciating travel. Calling everything you don't agree with idiotic seems like a pretty knee-jerk reaction. I'd recommend that you take one step back and see if you might want to approach things in a more empathetic manner :)

[@WMG3307]

@@ThreeStarVagabond I’ve should called it the American way of travelling.