BELGIUM
Looking for something alluring, then Belgium is the only place of Europe which will not only keep you busy with the scenic beauty but one is sure to be enchanted with its multiculturalism and gorgeous cities. A pint size country with 11781 square miles Belgium is one of Europe’s smallest, densely populated and mind you the wealthiest countries. Belgium is home to one of richest art histories affected by European colonialism. Composed by two different regions –Flanders in the north and Wallonia in the south, Belgium people are well educated and Catholic by religion. The Wallonia group speaks a form of French whereas the Flemish is a dialect resulted from Dutch used by the Flanders. Passionate Flemish primitives Art-Nouveau jewels, their surrealist paintings and Gothic masterpieces are all the objects of allurement in the city. A place that is famous for a woman’s and kid’s favorite savory ‘chocolate’, Belgians with rich lifestyle make some of the world’s best chocolates and beers. So the intelligent tourists save your baggage space to world’s best chocolates and beers. Spend you holiday around lovely cities of Belgium romancing in the lovers paradise -Brussels (capital city), Bruges with all its medieval charm, Antwerp a place to fly your stress partying all over, and Ardennes that nestles stone villages with extremely pleasant river valleys. On the whole a country that offers something for everyone according to their budgets on the aid of excellent public transport and short distances between attractions.
GEOGRAPHY
Belgium that appears like a vine of grapes can be small in size but has great influence in Europe knowingly as the hub of the European Union. It borders France to the South, Germany to the east, the Grand Duchy Luxembourg to the east, and Netherlands to the North and the North Sea to the North. It is important to the eastern and western Europe because of the network of rivers, canals and highways. Only 11 percent of the country is water area and the rest 89 percent comprises of land with favorable climatic and rich agricultural conditions. The Sand dunes and polders cover most of the land area in the coastal plains. The country physically appears to have flat coastal plains in the northeast with heavily wooded plateau, Ardennes in the southeast. The coastline of Belgian is at crossroads of the North Sea and United Kingdom’s waterways. The main rivers of Belgium are the Schelde and the Meuse passing through the Netherlands to meet the North Sea.
CULTURE
A pissing boy and a bowler hat stand as the national symbols for Belgium which shows the surrealist character and odd sense of humour of the Belgians. Typically Belgians are reserved so trying to talk to a stranger Belgian is not recommended. With delicious chocolate and beer everywhere this city offers cultural punch of world class art and historical castles. Diversely united Belgians are part of multiculturalism dominated by Flemish in the north and Walloon in the south. Congregation of languages and cultures in Belgium makes it difficult to draw a conclusion of common culture here. Operated by four government bodies the Flemish, the Walloon, the Brussels and federal government it became possible to achieve a well planned country. The four body government encourages unity of different cultural communities. Majorly Roman Catholics in religion relatively few Protestants can be found in the urban areas like the Borinage and in the surroundings Brussels. If you want to gain detailed knowledge of Belgian culture heritage its best depicted in the paintings of Hans Membling, Pieter Bruegel, the Elder and Rene Magritte to name few.
BEST TIME TO VISIT
Like the song of Beatles “Here Comes the Sun” Belgians too celebrate when the sun shines. The climate being temperate is always damp and wet hence the best time to go would be May through September the season of spring and autumn. Though one disadvantage of this time is that you will get to see loads of crowd in all main attractions, which results in packed hotel accommodations, so book your accommodation in advance. Planning your trip on weekends can help you save bucks as hotels tend to give discounts and the time is perfect for visiting Antwerp, Brussels and Bruges. Museums are especially closed on Mondays, so keep your Mondays for other attractions. Check Antwerp museums on Friday as this is day when they let free entries.
TOP ATTRACTIONS
Travel to Belgium means exploring the carillons, Gothic cathedrals, castles, the medieval cities, enthusiastic nightlife, and the quaint towns. This city is bound to make you sing to your heart’s content with its picturesque mountains that comes alive, languid canals, and beautiful cities with historical past. To north are the cities of Ghent, Antwerp and Bruges, to the south are the cities of Ardennes, Tournai, Namur and Liege. The headquarters of the European Union is situated in Belgium speaking of high of its glorious cultural heritage. Visit of the cities shows the influence of the French, Dutch, Spanish and Austrian cultures in the architecture and the lifestyle of people. Known for its highest quality of life, low poverty, and excellent infrastructure it’s truly a place to be.
Brussels
The capital of Belgium, this city is popular for its Art-Nouveau architecture, surrealism, and gothic cathedrals Brussels is the headquarters of French and Flemish Communities. It is also home of the European Commission and the Council of ministers of the European Union which makes it quite important and powerful city. There’s lot to do in Brussels so careful planning will make sense. Key sights being the Grand Place, St Michael & St Gudule’s Cathedral, the Manneken-Pis & the Janneken Pis, and the Mont des Arts Park. The city is an example of exuberance with infinite bars and thousands of specialized beers. Plan to start by the Grand Place visit of baroque and gothic buildings, then head to Old England building to view the Musees Royaux des Beaux-Arts. On finishing that go the Manneken Pis a famous statue of a boy pissing that shows the odd humour of the Belgians. Not wonder that it has become a tradition that important personalities when visit Manneken pis donate miniature costumes for the pissing naked boy. To see the collection of wardrobe visit the Brussels museum to find over 760 outfits donated by the visiting heads. Upon entering the Grand Place the gothic town hall leaves one spellbound of its beautiful façade that displays the popular needle-like crooked spire measuring 315 feet in height. Other attractions include the galleries St Hubert, Mont Des Arts, European Union, Ommegang Festival at the grand place, the Cantillon Brewery, the museum of musical instruments, the Belgian center for Comic Strip Art, the Dinosaur gallery at the royal Belgian institute of natural sciences, mini Europe, Atomium, Cinquantenaire Arch and the Royal Palace. To cover all the places is not possible in one or two days trip so more than one visit is advisable.
Bruges
The city of Romance or the Venice of North is synonym to Bruges. A place that is over crowded by tourists, to explore the interesting sights with its medieval historical past. Bruges can boast of its reputation as the most visited and perfectly preserved place. Every year over two million people visit Bruges that has the world heritage site tag by the UNESCO. Explore the city on foot to view the architectural beauty or by taking a ferry ride along the canals. Important sites are museum of folklore, city hall; market square, liberty of Bruges, St. Salvator Cathedral, Beguine’s house and the Bascilla of holy blood. The Church of Our Lady and sculpture of Madonna and Child are the fine examples of medieval architecture in the city. Though small in size it may take a whole of one day to cover the top attractions, take out some time for shopping chocolates, visiting restaurants and famous lace boutiques the Bruges is famous for. Again not to miss is the Belfry a token of 13th century; it’s a carillon that is rung every hour since seven and a half centuries.
Antwerp
Effervescent, gorgeous, and vibrant are the words used for Antwerp a land of east Flanders. Considered to be one the Europe’s most fashionable getaways, Antwerp is historic and seedy. Overflowing with fame and fortune from the moguls, queens, diamond merchants and the art lovers, Antwerp is the second largest port city of Belgium. In a nutshell the whole city’s image is that of an architectural museum visible in the form of riverside fortress to the manmade waterfronts. The people of Antwerp’s are called the Sinjoors popular for their cutting edge fashion vistas, hence shopping for exclusive designs in the numerous boutiques is what most woman tourists do. The places of interest are the Rubenshuis, Diamond District, Steen Castle, Antwerp Zoo, Momu, Middleheim Open Air Museum, Antwerp Port, and Barbo Statue on the Grote Market. Antwerp is well known for its diamonds and it handles over 80 percent of world’s rough diamonds, so don’t miss the chance to view diamond polishers at work in the diamond land.
Apart from these three famous cities there are also the cities of Ghent, the Ardennes, Tournai, Lueven, Mechelen and Liege. This shows that more than one visit to Belgium is required in terms of money and time.
GETTING THERE
The major airlines operating in Belgium is the Brussels Airlines destined to all major airports of the country, though all overseas flights arrive at Brussels International Airport. It’s located at one hour distance from the city of Brussels so after landing to you can directly head to rail or bus way to city. Frequency of buses is good in any city of Belgium and bus stations are located below the arrival halls. Other options of reaching there by water or road can also be tried as Belgium roadway is connected to rest of Europe. Look out for train station that is located at the lower level of Brussels station that runs shuttle service to all central stations of Brussels.
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