Must-see attractions in Belgium

  • Fourneau St-Michel

    The Ardennes

    Some 10km north of St-Hubert towards attractive Nassogne village, Fourneau St-Michel is a superb open-air museum featuring around 50 historic buildings…

  • Belfort

    Bruges

    Towering 83m above the square like a gigantic medieval rocket is this fabulous 13th-century belfry. There’s relatively little to see inside, but it’s…

  • Hougoumont

    Wallonia

    This classic fortified farm is around 20 minutes’ walk southwest of the Butte du Lion. Had Napoleon broken through here early in the battle, everything…

  • Grand Curtius

    Liège

    Splendid Grand Curtius unites four disparate museum collections in the former mansion-warehouse of a 16th-century Liège arms dealer. The building's red…

  • Belfort

    Ghent

    Ghent’s Unesco-listed 14th-century belfry (91m) is topped by a large dragon weathervane: he's become something of a city mascot. You’ll meet two previous…

  • Bokrijk Openluchtmuseum

    Northeast Belgium

    One of Europe’s largest open-air museums, Bokrijk Openluchtmuseum offers a nostalgic look at Flanders’ past, with over 100 old buildings originally…

  • MSK

    Ghent

    Styled like a Greek temple, this superb 1903 fine-art gallery introduces a veritable A–Z of great Belgian and other Low Countries' painters from the 14th…

  • Museumtuin Kasteel van Gaasbeek

    Belgium

    Originally built to guard the medieval Brabant–Flanders border, 14km southwest of Brussels, angry locals burnt down this castle in 1388 in response to the…

  • St-Petrus-&-Pauluskerk

    Ostend

    Ostend’s most striking historical building features beautifully ornate twin spires, a rose window and a gloomy neo-Gothic interior. It was consecrated on…

  • Grote Begijnhof

    Leuven

    This idyllic, village-like corner of Leuven would make an ideal film set for a medieval drama. The lantern-lit cobbled streets are lined with step-gabled…

  • Musée de la Photographie

    Wallonia

    One of Europe’s biggest and most impressive photography museums, it has an engrossing collection of historic, contemporary and artistic prints. Don’t miss…

  • St-Katharinabegijnhof

    Northeast Belgium

    Centred on a 14th-century church and sporting a few artists’ studio-galleries, this picturesque village-within-a-village is a five-street grid of lovely…

  • Brasserie à Vapeur

    Wallonia

    Started in 1785, this tiny affair is Belgium’s last traditional steam-operated brewery. This wonderfully authentic family enterprise is best known for its…

  • Museum Mayer van den Bergh

    Antwerp

    Styled as a 16th-century town house, this superb place was actually constructed in 1904 as one of the first museums in the world built around a single…

  • Turnhout Begijnhof

    Northeast Belgium

    Hidden behind big wooden gates, one of Belgium’s loveliest begijnhoven loops round a long, narrow garden set with a grotto, church and religious statues…

  • Lier Begijnhof

    Northeast Belgium

    Originally founded in 1258, this Unesco site is one of Belgium’s prettiest 'street' begijnhoven, a picture-perfect grid of cobbled lanes lined with…

  • Parc d’Enghien

    Wallonia

    Originally set out in the 17th century by the dukes of Arenberg, the Parc d’Enghien incorporates vast stands of woodland, fountains, statues, a tiny …

  • Église St-Jacques

    Liège

    Arguably Liège's most fascinating church, this architectural hotchpotch was founded in 1015 and retains a heavily patched-up 1170 west end whose…

  • The Last Post

    Ypres

    Every night at 8pm, traffic through the Menin Gate is halted while buglers sound the Last Post in remembrance of the WWI dead, a moving tradition started…

  • Argos

    Brussels

    A not-for-profit gallery in a former banana warehouse, founded in 1989 to promote video art that engages with politics. In addition to changing temporary…

  • Grotte de Lorette

    Wallonia

    This cave system has fewer stalactites than nearby Han, and handling the 626 relatively steep steps is more physical. However, the small-group visits give…

  • Liège-Guillemins Train Station

    Liège

    Liège's main train station, around 2km south of the centre, is an incredible 2009 icon designed by Santiago Calatrava. Great for semi-abstract landscape…

  • Burg

    Bruges

    Just east of the Markt, the less theatrical but still enchanting Burg has been Bruges' administrative centre for centuries. It's in this area you'll find…

  • Speelgoedmuseum

    Northeast Belgium

    With 7000 sq metres of dolls, teddies, toys, games and other pastimes, the wonderful Speelgoedmuseum has lots to keep the kids busy. Meanwhile, adults can…

  • Fort Napoleon

    Ostend

    The impenetrable, pentagon-shaped Fort Napoleon is an unusually intact fortress dating from 1812, though there’s comparatively little to see inside. The…

  • Train World

    Brussels

    Wonderful old engines gleam in the low light of this imaginative and beautiful museum, located in the renovated 1887 Schaerbeek station: exhibits include…

  • Kasteel van Loppem

    Bruges

    Around 10km south of Bruges, Kasteel van Loppem is a mid-19th-century brick castle-mansion which had its moment of fame at the end of WWI when it was…

  • Begijnhof

    Bruges

    Bruges’ delightful begijnhof dates from the 13th century. Despite the hordes of summer tourists, remains a remarkably tranquil haven. Outside the 1776…

  • Église St-Loup

    Namur

    Baudelaire reputedly described this remarkable baroque church as a ‘sinister and gallant marvel’. With purple marble columns, black stone arches,…

  • Menin Gate

    Ypres

    A block east of Grote Markt, the famous Menin Gate is a huge stone gateway straddling the main road at the city moat. It's inscribed with the names of 54…

  • Ramparts CWGC Cemetery

    Ypres

    One of Ypres' most attractive military graveyards, this Commonwealth War Graves Commission site is found 1km south of the Grote Markt.

  • Kuumba Cultural Centre

    Brussels

    The Kuumba Cultural Centre organises tours of the district, plus excellent events featuring Congolese bands, dance workshops and food.

  • Galeries St Huber walls

    Galeries St-Hubert

    Brussels

    When opened in 1847 by King Léopold I, the glorious Galeries St-Hubert formed Europe’s very first shopping arcade. Many enticing shops lie behind its…

  • Abbaye Notre Dame d'Orval

    The Ardennes

    A Cistercian monastery since 1132, Orval's abbey complex was wrecked in 1793 by anti-religious French Revolutionary soldiers. Rebuilding only started in…

  • La Boverie

    Liège

    South of Liège's centre, this excellent gallery hosts many high-profile temporary exhibitions but always shows elements of its own fabulous art collection…

  • Muur van Geraardsbergen

    Northwest Belgium

    For cycle-racing enthusiasts the name Geraardsbergen is inextricably linked with the 'Muur' (Mur de Grammont in French), a steep cobbled rise that…

  • Centrum De Ronde van Vlaanderen

    Northwest Belgium

    Fans of the Tour of Flanders (De Ronde) – and lovers of cycling in general – shouldn't miss this state-of-the-art museum, featuring displays on the…

  • Rochehaut

    The Ardennes

    The scenery west of Bouillon reaches a memorable climax at Rochehaut, where a long balcony surveys a glorious view down across a perfect river curl…

  • Holy Blood Basilica in the Burg.

    Basiliek van het Heilig Bloed

    Bruges

    The western end of the stadhuis morphs into the Basiliek van het Heilig Bloed. The basilica takes its name from a phial supposedly containing a few drops…

  • Flanders Fields Museum, Ypres, Belgium

    Lakenhalle

    Ypres

    Dominating the Grote Markt, the enormous reconstructed Lakenhalle is one of Belgium’s most impressive buildings. Its 70m-high belfry has the vague…

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