Flanders: Brussels, Ghent & Bruges: attractions & sights guide
A stop-by-stop guide to the best things to see along the Flanders: Brussels, Ghent & Bruges route — 4 destinations, their must-see sights and how to drive between them.
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Brussels
Brussels is Belgium's capital and the de facto capital of the European Union, a bilingual city where French and Dutch share every street sign. It blends Art Nouveau townhouses, Gothic guildhalls, and the glass towers of the EU quarter, and is famous for its beer culture, chocolate shops, and comic-strip murals scattered across the old town.
Top attractions in Brussels
Grand Place
A UNESCO-listed square ringed by ornate guildhalls, the Gothic town hall, and the Maison du Roi, considered one of Europe's most beautiful market squares.
Manneken Pis
A small 17th-century bronze fountain of a urinating boy, one of Brussels' best-known symbols and a favourite spot for photos just off the Grand Place.
Atomium
A 102-metre steel structure built for the 1958 World's Fair, representing an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times, with an observation deck and exhibitions inside its spheres.
Belgian Comic Strip Center
A museum housed in a former Art Nouveau department store designed by Victor Horta, dedicated to Belgian comic art including Tintin and the Smurfs.
Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium
A museum complex holding works by Bruegel, Rubens, and Magritte, spanning old masters to modern art across several linked galleries in the upper town.
Ghent
Ghent is a Flemish university city built at the confluence of the Leie and Scheldt rivers, once one of medieval Europe's largest cities on the strength of its cloth trade. Its skyline of three towers, canal-side guildhalls, and a moated castle make it a well-preserved rival to nearby Bruges, without the same volume of visitors.
Top attractions in Ghent
Gravensteen Castle
A moated medieval fortress built in 1180 by the Counts of Flanders, with a walkable rampart and a museum of medieval weaponry and justice inside.
Saint Bavo's Cathedral
A Gothic cathedral home to the Ghent Altarpiece by the van Eyck brothers, one of the most influential and frequently stolen artworks in European history.
Graslei and Korenlei
Two facing medieval quaysides along the Leie river lined with guildhouse facades in Romanesque, Gothic, and Baroque styles, best viewed from a canal boat or a waterside terrace.
Belfry of Ghent
A 91-metre UNESCO-listed watchtower dating to 1313, topped by a gilded copper dragon and offering panoramic views over the medieval rooftops from its viewing platform.
STAM Ghent City Museum
A city history museum housed in a former abbey, tracing Ghent's development from medieval trading power to modern industrial and university city through interactive exhibits.
Bruges
Bruges is a canal-laced Flemish city so well preserved that its entire medieval centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Once a major trading port linked to the sea by a since-silted channel, it stagnated economically after the 15th century, which paradoxically left its Gothic architecture largely untouched by later development.
Top attractions in Bruges
Belfry of Bruges
An 83-metre medieval bell tower overlooking the Markt square, climbable via 366 steps to a viewing platform with a 47-bell carillon.
Basilica of the Holy Blood
A two-level chapel on the Burg square said to house a relic of Christ's blood brought back from the Second Crusade, combining a plain Romanesque lower chapel with an ornate Gothic upper chapel.
Church of Our Lady
A church with a 115-metre brick tower, one of the tallest in the world, holding Michelangelo's marble Madonna and Child, one of the few of his works to leave Italy in his lifetime.
Groeningemuseum
A fine arts museum with an outstanding collection of Flemish Primitive paintings, including works by Jan van Eyck and Hans Memling, alongside later Belgian art.
Minnewater (Lake of Love)
A tranquil park and lake at the southern edge of the old town, once part of the medieval harbour system, now known for its swans and a romantic footbridge.
Antwerp
Antwerp is Belgium's second-largest city and a major port on the Scheldt river, long a centre of the diamond trade and, in the 16th and 17th centuries, home to Baroque master Peter Paul Rubens. Today it mixes a restored Gothic old town with a reputation as a hub for fashion design and nightlife.
Top attractions in Antwerp
Cathedral of Our Lady
Belgium's largest Gothic church, with a soaring 123-metre spire and four major altarpieces by Rubens inside, including The Elevation of the Cross and The Descent from the Cross.
Grote Markt
Antwerp's central square, ringed by ornate 16th-century guildhouses and the Renaissance-style city hall, centred on the Brabo Fountain depicting the city's founding legend.
Rubens House
The restored Baroque townhouse and studio where Peter Paul Rubens lived and worked, now a museum showing period rooms, a formal garden, and several of his paintings.
Antwerp Central Station
A monumental 1905 railway station with a marble-and-stone concourse and a domed iron-and-glass train shed, often ranked among the world's most beautiful stations.
MAS (Museum aan de Stroom)
A stacked sandstone-and-glass tower in the old harbour district exploring Antwerp's relationship with the sea and world trade, with a free rooftop terrace offering city views.
Plan this route with EuroDrive Scout — tolls, vignettes, ZTL alerts, fuel & parking →