6 Days Using Brussels as Your Belgium Base
Six days is where the day trips start to outnumber the days spent inside Brussels’ ring road, and that’s by design. One day in the capital, five days radiating out across Belgium, ending with a battlefield that comes with an unusually current asterisk. Want the full week? The 7-day version adds a proper second day back in Brussels.
Book these before you go
- Bruges Belfry Tower timed entry, sells out by early afternoon in summer: GetYourGuide
- Waterloo Memorial and Lion’s Mound timed entry: GetYourGuide
- A Ghent canal boat tour: Viator
- A bed near Brussels-Midi or Central: Booking.com
| Day | Focus | Distance / train time from Brussels |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brussels itself | Home base |
| 2 | Bruges | 55 to 65 min direct |
| 3 | Ghent | 27 to 36 min direct |
| 4 | Antwerp | 45 to 48 min direct |
| 5 | Leuven | 20 to 25 min direct |
| 6 | Waterloo | 25 to 35 min via Braine-l’Alleud plus a short bus |
Day 1: Brussels, Compressed
Start at Grand-Place (Grote Markt on the Dutch half of every sign in the country), the UNESCO-listed square that looks like a stage set and isn’t. Twenty minutes for the guildhalls and Town Hall, then five minutes to Manneken Pis , where you should manage expectations now: a bronze statue of a small boy, about 55 to 61cm tall, done in under two minutes, though he does own over 1,000 outfits rotated on display nearby, a stranger fact than the statue itself.
Get a Brussels waffle at Maison Dandoy, light, crisp, rectangular, genuinely a different pastry from the denser round Liege style, then spend the early afternoon at the Magritte Museum. In the evening, skip the tourist-priced restaurants ringing Grand-Place and Rue des Bouchers and walk into Sainte-Catherine for proper moules-frites. Close the night at Delirium Cafe, Guinness World Record holder for beers on offer since 2013, with a lambic or gueuze, Brussels’ native sour styles. The full Brussels city guide covers the rest in depth.
Day 2: Bruges
Direct train from Brussels-Midi or Brussels-Central, 55 to 65 minutes, departures every 15 to 20 minutes. Bruges is the most photographed medieval town in Belgium and also the busiest day trip here, so go early. Morning on the canals and historic core, an optional Belfry Tower climb for the rooftop view (366 steps, no lift), lunch a couple of streets back from the Markt where prices calm down. Evening train back.
Day 3: Ghent
Ghent is 27 to 36 minutes direct from Brussels and gets a fraction of Bruges’ crowds for nearly the same canal-and-guildhouse charm, which is the actual argument for it: if a Brussels trip only has room for one canal town, this is the better pick precisely because everyone else went to the famous one. Wander the Graslei waterfront without a fixed plan and eat dinner near Vrijdagmarkt before the last train back. More at visit.gent.be .
Day 4: Antwerp
About 45 to 48 minutes direct, and a genuinely different city, fashion and diamonds instead of canals, plus Rubens’ old studio-house for the art angle. It’s the biggest city in Belgium after Brussels, so give it a full day: the riverside MAS museum, the Cathedral of Our Lady, and the Diamond District near the central station, itself regularly ranked among the most beautiful train stations anywhere, are all worth the time. Check current hours at visit.antwerpen.be .
Day 5: Leuven
Only 20 to 25 minutes from Brussels, Leuven is the smallest and least-visited stop on this itinerary and worth it precisely because of that. It’s a compact university town built around an almost aggressively ornate Town Hall and happens to be the home base of Stella Artois, brewed here since the 1700s. The Oude Markt, ringed with bars catering to one of the highest student-to-resident ratios in the country, has been nicknamed “the longest bar in Europe,” which is more claim than fact but not by much on a Thursday night. This is a half-day, so don’t block out a full one for it.
Day 6: Waterloo
Take the direct hourly train to Waterloo from Bruxelles-Central (about 30 minutes), or the faster but bus-dependent route via Braine-l’Alleud (14 to 25 minutes, then a short local bus or taxi for the final 2.4km to the site). The combined Memorial and Lion’s Mound ticket runs about EUR 22; the underground museum does a genuinely good job explaining a battlefield that’s otherwise just a large, quiet field. Oddly current: the biennial reenactment weekend, usually the site’s biggest annual draw, was actually called off in late June 2026 because of a heatwave, the first time weather beat Napoleon to it instead of Wellington. The permanent Lion’s Mound and Memorial 1815 site stayed open regardless, and honestly, seeing the mound and battlefield without a crowd of costumed reenactors might be the better version of the visit anyway. Details at waterloo1815.be .
Is Waterloo Worth a Full Day or Just a Half?
Just a half. The Memorial 1815 site and Lion’s Mound are genuinely worth the trip, but there isn’t a second act once you’ve climbed the mound and toured the museum; pair it with a slow Brussels morning rather than blocking out a full day the way Antwerp deserves.
What Happened to the 2026 Waterloo Reenactment?
It was cancelled. The biennial battle reenactment, usually the site’s biggest annual draw, was called off in late June 2026 due to a heatwave, the first time weather beat Napoleon to it instead of Wellington. The permanent Memorial museum and Lion’s Mound stayed open regardless, unaffected by the cancellation.
Where to Stay
Base near Brussels-Central or Brussels-Midi for all six nights. Both put you a few minutes from the platforms you’ll be using five separate times before you’re done, which matters more than picking the “right” neighborhood.
Getting Around
STIB/MIVB covers trams, buses, and the metro inside Brussels; one ticket includes an hour of free transfers, and a day pass earns its keep once you cross the city more than twice in a day. For the day trips, SNCB’s October 2025 fare overhaul means under-26 and 65-plus riders get 40% off any time and everyone gets 30% off on weekends, so there’s little reason to lock in dates before you land. Check exact fares at belgiantrain.be the morning you travel.
One concrete tip: buy each day’s SNCB ticket the morning you travel, and check the Waterloo site’s opening calendar before you go given how easily the 2026 schedule got upended by weather.