Overview
A small country where I think a Ghent-Bruges-Brussels route with one day each is more than enough for sightseeing. We stayed two nights in Ghent and did a day trip to Bruges, which was plenty for both sides apart from the insane crowds. One night is enough for Brussels city center, but if you want to do more attractions around it (like the Atomium), you could stay two nights as well.
Getting There
The trains are quite old but very comfortable, and services run frequently. Getting from Brussels city center to the airport is especially easy. Just make sure to look up your train details (platform, departure time, etc.) beforehand, because there's very little information displayed. For example, a ticket bought at the airport machine for Ghent doesn't show you the platform number or the line. If you haven't checked in advance, you'll likely end up standing there clueless.
What to See
The Christmas markets were generally a lot of fun. Probably due to post-COVID syndrome, everywhere was incredibly crowded. I can honestly say I hadn't seen this many people in Europe in a long time.
Food & Drink
We found Belgian chocolates a bit overrated, especially compared to Switzerland. I'm not saying you can compare them to ours, of course, but when you can get a Laderach at a similar price point, there's really no reason to bother with the Belgian ones.