I land in Brussels at night and want to leave the following night to AMS via train. From friends, I heard that there is what to do in BRU, but from here it seems like you want to get out of BRU and a popular idea is to go to the castles in Ghent and Brugges. However, I have had a lot of difficulty pieces trains for that trip together - it seems almost as expensive as renting a car. Additionally, I couldn't find direct trains from BRU or ANR to AMS.
Has anyone actually done this day trip and can shed some light on how to best travel?