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Rain Sun Cobbles, Belgium

By Railbookers Thursday, November 12, 2015 Read time: 4 minutes

Brussels is fantastically well catered for in public transport terms, with their extensive bus, rail and metro routes. This makes it wonderfully accessible, cheap, and easy to get to each and every corner of the city and explore a fascinating mix of cultures and foods, from Flemish and French to Ethiopian and Lebanese, Brussels has everything to offer. Including “Moeder Lambic”, a typical Belgian bar featuring more than 40 draught beers, so you’re guaranteed to find something to excite your taste buds, although watch out as most Belgian beers start from 6.5% abv. We set off on foot to explore the stunning architecture, and strings of breathtaking canals lined with paved streets so typical of Belgium, worn down and uneven over centuries of punishment. As Bruges is a very compact city I felt it best to explore on foot in a place that really allows you to travel at your own pace, however, the local buses are cheap, easily accessible and service all the main hubs in and out of Bruges. If you are in the mood for something a little more traditional, horse and carriage taxis are a greener alternative, saving you from the uneven cobbles and allowing you to enjoy Bruges’s tranquil style as it was intended.

The following morning after a great dollop of Belgian culture the previous day, it was with incredible excitement that I jumped aboard the train for the 30 minute trip to Ghent.

Now Ghent for me is really where my passion for Belgium started an obscure place to love I know. People often ask me “why is it that you love Belgium so dearly? What is there to do there?” and I find myself time and again struggling to encapsulate exactly what it is. Trying to explain it to my colleague, who is from New Zealand had no concept of what to expect, made it all the more difficult. Upon arrival, though no explanation was needed, he instantly understood why I love this place so much. The striking gothic architecture is right in the picture-perfect heart of Ghent. Both St Michiels and St Niklaas churches framed by the wide-open canals and Gravensteen Castle truly epitomise the saying a picture paints a thousand words. We ate a fantastic lunch right on the main canal side, followed by a 40-minute boat tour of the beautiful former working waterways, once used daily as the primary transport route to bring all manner of essential goods into the city during the 19th and 20th centuries. Come the early evening, it was time for our onward journey to Brussels. We left content that we had distilled the very best of what this awe-inspiring city has to offer during our too brief visit. Destination Brussels is our final stopover, a huge cosmopolitan city, the complete opposite of Bruges and Ghent. Immediately you sense the change in pace, the culture, the diversity and you know you are in the capital city.

Synonymous with Brussels is the truly astonishing Grand Place, it is quite literally breathtaking, one of Europe’s most spectacular architectural triumphs, if not one of the most famous. Our accommodation was at the wonderful 4* family-run Leopold Hotel, just a short 15-20 minute walk through the picturesque Brussels park from the Central rail station. Brussels is fantastically well catered for in public transport terms, with their extensive bus, rail and metro routes. This makes it wonderfully accessible, cheap, and easy to get to each and every corner of the city and explore a beautiful mix of cultures and foods, from Flemish and French to Ethiopian and Lebanese, Brussels has everything to offer. Including “Moeder Lambic” a typical Belgian bar featuring more than 40 draught beers so you’re guaranteed to find something to excite your taste buds, although watch out as most Belgian beers start from 6.5% abv.