Belgium in March

[Rayt]

Middle of March I have a conference in Amsterdam and need to arrive on Wednesday but have booked a flight taking me there the Friday before so I can take a photographic side trip with my 4x5. I have decided not to transit to another city from Schiphol and also not rent a car so will travel by rail from there. I initially had planned on taking the train to Paris and still might since it is only 3 and a half hours from Amsterdam Centraal to Nord. I have been to Paris 3 times but never with large format. In Paris I would have 4 whole days and can imagine walking all over the city with my relatively light Ebony SW45 plus my usual 90/150 two lens kit and the tripod. I intend to use up my remaining Quickload/Readyloads a mix of TMX and Velvia. So packing 100 sheets should be light enough.

Anyway my question is: how about Belgium? I have been to Brussels twice and on the way the train made a quick stop at Antwerp and I thought the architecture is marvelous just from peering out the window. I have done some research and holiday makers recommend Ghent, Bruges and Antwerp. I will have 4.5 days and since I shoot early I will need to do overnights in these cities. How should I plan this trip? Which city should I plan on spending the most time? I appreciate any comments and recommendations even if not for France or Belgium but I will stick to the rail. I hope middle of March won't be too cold or wet in Europe. Thanks!

[Thomas Greutmann]

Ghent, Bruges and Antwerp are definitely worth a trip. I would recommend to stay in one city (my personal favorite would be Antwerp) and make daytrips to the other places by train. Trains run frequently, and trips are short: Antwerp to Ghent one hour, Ghent to Bruges less than half an hour. It is a small country.
Weather in mid-March will be mixed and difficult to predict throughout all of western Europe. It can be anything from cold with some snow (though quite unlikely) to relatively mild and sunny spring weather, with rain and fog in between. For bad weather days there are wonderful museums and cathedrals in all of these cities.

Greetings, Thomas

[mathieu Bauwens]

Well, Thomas said very well what I would say myself.

[Michael Rosenberg]

My wife travels to Brussels for business a few times a year. At the end of March I will go with her, and we will stay in Brussels for 4 days (she works I play), and then we will go to Bruges for 4 days. Bruges is well worth a few days.

Mike

[mathieu Bauwens]

I'm in Brussels, If I have free time when you, guys, come to Belgium, it will be pleasure to meet and tkae some LF picture with you.

[Shailendra]

Also consider Damme, just a short bus ride outside of Brugge.

[koraks]

Leuven is also nice, so you could consider adding that to your list. Always reminds me a lot of Bruges.

[Rayt]

Thanks for the wonderful advice. I ended up visiting Ghent, Bruges, Antwerp, Brussels and then Delft and Leiden in the Netherlands all over 7 days. Total I shot 40 sheets of color and 25 sheets of b/w. I will post after I get that Epson scanner.

[mathieu Bauwens]

Yes please, show us your pictures.

[Bill_1856]

Don't forget to visit Ypes and Waterloo. If you're lucky, the poppies in Flanders Fields are spectacular.