Quote Originally Posted by Gezina View Post
If I may be so bold, visit the Netherlands, but not Amsterdam or the bible belt (yes, we have a bible belt, Staphorst and virtually all the other traditional clothing places are in there), visit a smaller city like Zwolle, Deventer, Groningen, Nijmegen or any of the plenty of other options, those places really capture the spirit of the NL.
Seconded. Smaller Dutch cities are much nicer than the 'Randstad' (the cluster of large cities in the western Netherlands). Gezina's suggestions are quite good.

But to be honest, I don't think the Netherlands are the best Europe has to offer. I don't know what you consider the general vicinity of Brussels, but I can recommend the following:

Berlin. Beautiful and varied architecture, and much historical stuff (mostly focused on WWII and the Soviet era).

I'd also consider other French cities. Although Paris is nice, I prefer Lyon or Avignon. Both are beautiful cities.

Brussels. It's got chocolate.

Prague is also very nice, but it's a bit far from Brussels. Still, it's small enough to visit in one day.

Rome. It's probably too far from Brussels, but it's one of the most beautiful cities in the world.