On the other hand, it is not a cookie-cutter version of other European destinations. For one thing, although a small place, it is to a degree two countries in one, peopled by the Dutch-speaking Flemings and French-speaking Walloons.

And when tourists come, they are attracted in part by features particular to Belgium.
For example, the country is famous for its cooking, so visitors come to eat. Some popular dishes are made with beer, and for good reason: Hundreds of different beers are brewed in Belgium, some with very unusual flavors. Belgium is noted, as well, for its chocolate, and no visitor with a sweet tooth can pass up all the shops. In addition, several of the country’s festivals have a food-related focus.

This also is the land of the Flemish artists well known to anyone even moderately interested in art: Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Peter Paul Rubens, Sir Anthony Van Dyck and Jan van Eyck, among others. Today, Rubens’ atelier and house are a museum. In addition, Belgium is known for its tapestries, especially those from Tournai dating from the 15th and 16th centuries. Visitors can shop for modern variants.

Finally, the country has gained another kind of fame with certain visitors: It was the setting for the Battle of the Bulge late in World War II. It is the 21st century now, but there are still those drawn to the cemeteries and other sites important to the Second World War. Tourists are most likely to visit in summer for the pleasant weather and the long days of northern Europe, but Belgium is a year-round option.

Explore the club scene in the cities you visit. For specifics, see www.visitbelgium.com/younghip.htm

Attend a beer festival. At the Christmas Beer Festival in Essen, you can sample more than 100 brews. Or, at the Big September Beer Festival in Denee, attend a workshop on pouring beer. At several, eat foods made with beer.

Rent a boat and find your way along one of Belgium’s rivers or canals. These offer you both the Belgian countryside and a unique way to sightsee in cities.
Or, charter a yacht with skipper for a trip out to sea.

Plan an itinerary built around any of several routes marked specifically for cyclists, and visit the Eddy Merckx bicycle factory.

Take cooking classes. There are plenty on offer.

Go kayaking on the river Lesse, or the river Meuse. Ride the rapids on the river Ourthe.

Go caving or mountain biking. Or, sign on for a game of paintball.

Sightsee from the vantage point of a hot-air balloon.

Take a barge and bike tour. The barge is your floating hotel. You bike to each day’s destination and reboard the barge for dinner and overnight.

Weather permitting, at the Ardennen Poteau ’44 Museum at Poteau-St.Vith, tour part of the Battle of the Bulge site riding an American or German halftrack.

Experience hydrotherapy, saunas and Turkish baths in the town call Spa. Or, take the waters at the Chaudfrontaines Spa Center, in an 18th century castle.

Come to Belgium in time for the Christmas markets, found in many of the country’s towns and cities. In Bruges, see that market in the historical center of a city that is on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Shop, then snack on gingerbreads and flat hard cakes called klaasjes and speculoos.

Sample a wide range of specialty beers. Varieties include cherry, chocolate and raspberry, but choices also include lambic beer, which is the country’s best known.

Plan an itinerary, or book a tour, with chocolate as its theme. Time it right, and you can attend the Chocolate Festival in Bruges.

Take a guided tour of Ghent by boat on the city's canals. Or, rent a yacht in Ghent for a day and of travel along St. Martens Latem and Deurle.

Go horseback riding in the countryside or even in Brussels. Combine the countryside riding with a stay in a B&B, a farmhouse or even a ranch.

Get your license and fish in Belgium’s rivers and lakes. (No license is needed for fishing at sea.)

Get a taste of a huge omelet (made with 10,000 eggs) at the annual Giant Omelet celebration in Malmedy (August). Or, celebrate other foods, such as the potato in Florenville (October) and shrimp in Oostduinkerke (June).

Climb the 408 steps to see the Citadel of Dinant, a fortress built in 1051. Or, take a cable car.

Attend a musical evening at the Castle of the Counts of Marchin in Modave. Or, attend a concert and medieval banquet in the Castle of Reinhardstein in Robertville-Ovifat.

For distinctly Belgian products, buy lace or tapestries. Or, shop for diamonds.

Golf at Belgium’s oldest course, the Royal Golf Course in Tervuren, or at any of a number of others.

Visit World War II cemeteries — Ardennes America Cemetery in Neuville-en-Condroz and Cemetery Henri-Chapelle at Hombourg — where a total of 13.320 Americans are buried, several thousand of whom died at the Battle of the Bulge.

Tour a chocolate factory (there are lots to choose from), see how the chocolates are made, have a taste, then buy plenty to take home.

See paintings by Hieronymous Bosch, Pieter Breughel the Elder, Peter Paul Rubens and others that you will not often see as part of special exhibits at home.

Tour a brewery.

Visit with the Princess Elisabeth of Chimay, at the Castle of Chimay, any day from Easter to Sept. 30.

Travel through Belgium on a luxury barge cruise.

Attend church services at the Beguinage Church in Bruges. The beguinage, in the Middle Ages, was the residence for women who choose a religious life but who could leave and marry if they wished.

Visit the open-air museum at Bokrijk-Genk, which has more than 100 historic buildings, for an idea of how people lived in the Flemish countryside before the Industrial Revolution.

For more information, consult the Belgian Tourist Office at www.visitbelgium.com

back to top