Wanting to explore Flanders’ WW1 poppy fields and old battlegrounds? I tapped in the GPS coordinates for Dover – just a stone throw from London only 82 miles away. In Dover I took a ferry which deposited me across the English Channel in France’s Calais 90 minutes later. I planned to explore the territories where The Great War had been fought and to see the appalling conditions in which the soldiers lived and the immaculate …
Browsing: Belgium
Nothing says love more than chocolate – well, at least for most people. Why not plan a getaway to a destination known for chocolate? Go to a far flung part of the world where the heavenly creation of sweetened food made from cocoa beans excites your taste buds. What could be better than combining your love for travel with your love for chocolate?
Belgium
In the European Kingdom of Belgium, surrounded by the Netherlands, Germany …
In a tranquil Belgian town, some 75km south-east of Brussels, set in a landscape of quilted willow green and sage and threaded with a broad aquamarine coloured river, lies historic Dinant, famed for being the birthplace of Adolphe Sax, the inventor of the saxophone. Dinant is a pretty little town slung along the river Meuse beneath craggy green cliffs in the centre of the Meuse Valley, about 30km south of Namur – a handy base …
If you want to explore an old city European town with a youthful vibe without bumping into one too many collegiate themed party scenarios, consider booking a fall trip to Ghent. Become infused with the energy of 32,000 students returning to the Ghent University, as the city gears up to welcome international musicians and other artists for its fall festival season.
If possible, try to catch the Festival of Flanders which celebrates its 55th…
After spending some time with three Belgian celebrities, I got insider points of where to go, where to shop and what to eat if all you have is 24 hours in the EU capital.
Elric Petit, Belgium’s acclaimed interior designer, draws much of his inspiration from the original Art Deco interiors of the Royal Library (boulevard de l’Empereur 2) whilst breakfasting on a croissant and coffee.
“From my usual table I look across the …
No other brew has the favourable effect that coffee has on the psyche and being. It boosts awareness and focus, recharges creativity, soothes the mind and induces a multitude of other moods and vibes. When introducing a coffee cup to your lips it offers an intense momentary bliss, defining the rhythm of the day – a secret well known to Belgium’s café society.
Belgians know there is more to the brew than merely sitting at …
I arrived in Brussels with a half empty suitcase, a few dozen Euros and a mission: to scour the Belgian capital for the best chocolate money could buy and to fill my suitcase with the rich, creamy fruits of my labor.
With dozens of shops, workshops, tastings and an even an entire museum devoted to chocolate, however, Brussels can be a bit overwhelming— even for serious chocoholics. As it does with most things, the city …
Every European country seems to have one: a city that thoroughly encompasses all that the nation holds dear. Bruges is such for Belgium, sitting there all proud and pretty, epitomizing the grandeur and perfection otherwise relegated to storybooks. With canal boats, horse-drawn carriages and bicycles, the ethnic spirit swallows visitors whole.
It is difficult to sum up the magic of Bruges placid bottle-green canals with steeped-roofed medieval houses, market squares and slumbering parks in just …
The secret of Belgium’s capital city, Brussels, is to go with the flow and allow yourself to become part of its charming everyday life.
Having previously been ruled by Spain, the Netherlands and France, Belgium is one of those countries that finds it easier to describe itself by what it is not: it’s not French, nor is it Dutch, nor German. Belgium is a country with an identity crisis, in the most positive sense of …
Poperinge, a quiet little town a short drive from the Channel Ports, 175km from Brussels, is Belgium’s hops capital, and famously linked to WW1’s British war effort – it was well known to Allied soldiers who fought in the Ypres Salient. Other than its war memorials, the town also draws tourists for it’s Hops Festival each September.
The historical town square, surrounded by neo-Gothic mansions, has an assortment of taverns serving local brews and creative …
There is no better time to visit Holland than in the spring when symphonies of tulips bathe the landscape in a carpet of rich, vibrant colour.
Holland dazzles the senses with Flower Power. The Dutch celebrate their blooms at every opportunity with a procession of flower parades, flower fairs, flower art displays, flower museums and flower markets. Each year Holland’s tulips attracts millions of visitors who gaze in awe at landscapes of crisp perfection, suddenly …