Belgium Holiday Guide

From mid November 2007 it will be possible to reach Brussels on Eurostar from London St Pancras in under two hours.

There is a good train network across Belgium with national and international passes on sale at major train stations across the country. As the majority of major cities are within 100 miles of Brussels it is relatively easy to travel around, although there is no domestic air transport between Belgium's cities.

Brussels South Charleroi Airport and Antwerp Airport are both about an hour from Brussels and have connections to other airports across Europe. There are also ferry connections from the UK to Zebrugge and Oostende.

If you’re looking to sight see on holiday in Brussels, start by heading to the Grand Place in the Lower Town and have a coffee or Belgian beer in the company of ornate guildhouses surrounding a beautiful square. The bronze 'Manneken-Pis', the 15th century townhall and the Musees Royaux des Beaux-Arts are all worth seeing. As is a visit to the chocolate museum and a glance around the hundreds of art nouveau buildings as you move across the capital.

Outside of Brussels, take a boat ride down the scenic canals of quiet Bruges and visit the Memling Museum and Groeninge Musuem to sample some Belgian art. Similarly Ghent's canals, churches and historic houses will delight anyone visiting the Flander's region in the north. St Bavo Cathedral and Grevensteen Castle with its crypt and dungeon are pretty impressive.

In the south of the country, castles and beautiful villages abound. Wallonia - or the Ardennes as this area is also known, is ideal for nature lovers. Bouillon Castle, Chimay Castle and the Citadel of Dinart over the Meuse river are all spectacular.

Hire a car and drive through the villages of Aubechies, Celles and Lompret to take in the rustic charms of South Belgium. Particularly worth seeing is the town of Spa, its healing waters have attracted visitors, including Tzar Peter the Great of Russia, since the 18th century.

With France as its neighbour, eating out in Belgium is an experience not to be missed.

The cuisine is similar to France and there are a huge number of Michelin star restaurants here. The vibrant cafe culture throughout the towns and villages of the country means that fast food restaurants aren't as popular as in other areas of Europe. But with popular dishes including mussels, chips, Ardennes sausages, chocolate and waffles, you won't be disappointed.

The Chocolate and Cocoa Musuem in the Grand Place in Brussels is a delight to visit and with over 400 beers brewed in the country, including Leffe, Stella Artois and Hoegaarden, beer drinkers won't be disappointed.

If you’re looking to get a taste of the night life on holiday in Belgium, Brussels alone has more than 80 bars to discover.  However if you look further afield across the country, there is a late night cafe culture where licensing laws are lenient and the party and night culture doesn't usually get going until around 11pm.

The Place St Gery in downtown Brussels is the place to kick your night into gear. This is regarded as the trendy district with bars including Zebra, Mapa Mundo and Le Roi Des Belges. For more traditional venues try some of these places: La Mort Subite (where fruit beer is a speciality), La Fleur A Papier Dore (a meeting place for Belgian surrealists in the 1920s) or the beautiful art deco Falstaff pub in Rue Henri Maus.

There are a variety of live music venues across the city and jazz festivals seem to abound in the spring and summer months around the country including the Blue Note Jazz festival in Ghent, the Cactus festival in Bruges and the Brussels Jazz Marathon.

Pirateneiland in northern Antwerp is full of fun as Belgium's largest indoor playground and the play area is based on a pirate's ship.

In Brussels in the Bruparck there is a fun village, home to the Oceadium Water Park, the Kinepolis cinema, the Atomium (the steel spheres monument) and Mini Europe, with famous landmarks including Big Ben and the Eiffel Tower recreated in miniature. Also in Brussels is the Kindermuseum, ideal for those aged 4 to 12, with various interactive exhibitions designed to help children learn more about themselves and others.

A visit to Ypres will prove fascinating for historical reasons. Here in Flanders are sites where several battles of the first world war were fought, including the Battle of Passchendaele. The Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery is reputed to be the largest cemetery for Commonwealth forces in the world and a memorial to those who went missing in the Great War. At the memorial arches of the Menin gate, the Last Post is played at 8pm every evening.

Take a brewery tour to sample some of Belgium's vast range of beers. Wheat beers, fruit beers and trappist beers made by monks are all worth a sup. The Bieres de Chimay brewery in Bailleux is just one of a few trappist breweries open to the public, and is well worth visiting.

Towards the west in the province of Liege, amid the Ardennes, is Spa, a town whose hot springs and mineral waters also make for an ideal relaxing excursion.

Lace, diamonds, chocolate and tapestries are the gifts to take home.

In Brussels head along the Rue Antoine Dansaert Straat and the Avenue Louise for fashion outlets and designer goodies. Antique markets are also popular, especially the weekend antique market at Place du Grand Sablon.

For lace take a trip to Bruges and visit the Kantcentrum (Lace Centre). Antwerp's diamond district is the place to pick up sparkling gems, with the city estimated to handle up to 80 percent of the world's rough diamonds. Enjoy a visit to Diamondland where diamond polishers and goldsmiths set about their craft.