We rolled into Antwerp Central Station which is an absolutely gorgeous 1800s train station. We walked across the street to our hotel, the Hampton Inn Central station. Excellent choice, excellent accessibility and excellent location. We spent the next couple of days walking down the main street, just around the corner, in the midst of all of the diamond shops and chocolate shops and cafés full of great Belgium beer. This area is also very flat and easy to wheel. We found a park a few blocks away as well with packed dirt trails where I could wheel easily. Our Lady of Antwerp cathedral was very beautiful inside and out and the buildings in general had intricate architecture. Great place for a few days stay.
We set off for Brugge (in French and Bruges in Dutch) by train which is just an hour and a half north west. Bruges is much smaller. We stayed at Martin’s Bruges hotel which is very nice and accessible and right at the edge of the main town square, behind the UNESCO belfry. There is something very unique about the architecture in Bruges. I was told that it was influenced by Romania. I’ve never seen anything quite like the edging on the rooftops. It made me feel like we were in a different century. I signed up for a private walking tour through Viator.com. Our guide took us throughout the city along cobblestone streets to historic places like the cathedral, a palace, and a Beguinage and explained a lot of the history which I found quite interesting. There are loads of cafés and chocolate shops all throughout Bruges and the chocolate is excellent!
It was not that easy to find a wheelchair accessible toilet so I had to come back to the hotel which had great access. Also, I used a freewheel because in some places the cobblestone was pretty bad.
