Decided to spend a week in Belgium.

JoeF1

JoeF1

JoeF1

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Hey hey.

So I posted a thread up about a week ago asking for ideas for a week away in the UK and it turns out its soo overly expensive I decided to look abroad.

I picked Belgium mainly for its £43 return flights :D

Me and the GF will be hiring a car and pick a city a day I think (this is not set in stone and its were you come in). So car out of 5 days we have

1.Brussels
2. Ghent
3. Bruges
4. Either a city we love and want to go back or to Knokke-Heist (the coast) then to Antwerp finishing in;
5.Charleroi (for the overnight stay before coming home).

Apart from the main places above is there any little places out of the big places to go for a couple?

Also anything to remember driving apart from the opposite side of the road :D (first time driving out of the UK).

Joe.
 
You don't need long in Brussels, it's a dump.

Ghent/Bruges is nice. Bruges is very touristy but beautiful.

Belgian beer is incredible, have one (12) for me.
 
We went to Belgium when I was a kid and it rained solidly for 10 days. I remember this because I'd taken a new pair of white trainers which I kept obsessively clean (using fairy liquid as the soap) and on one of the days the rain was so ferocious and constant that my shoes started foaming in a Belgian open air market.
 
If you have a car you can go to Cologne, Aachen, Lille for the day or even Maastricht which is also a nice city

Don't have to stay in Belgium (unless car hire policy says otherwise....)

Just remember shops are closed on Sundays and restaurants are closed on Mondays (except in very touristy areas)
 
Brussels is far from being a dump.... I live in Ixelles and there are some fantastic parts to Brussels. Sure there are dodgy areas but name one city in the world that does not have dodgy areas.

Some might say London is a complete dump too. Yet there is a lot London has to offer too.

Anyways regarding road rules there is a very weird rule where you give way to the right.... So you can be on a main road and a minor road from your right joins. People coming out of the right have right of way so make sure you slow down !!! Some drivers just fly out of minor roads. It’s quite chaotic driving (especially in Brussels) but you get used to it.

Also Leuven is a really nice place to visit if you get the time it’s not far from Brussels.

As Jas72 mentioned most places are closed on sundays so keep that in mind.
 
Went to Brussels last month for the open air jazz festival (celebrating my sisters 21st), it's such a nice city! It's a bit like been in France without the principle problem of France (the French people) along with everywhere else in Europe thrown in for good measure.

Lots of good stuff to see there (especially if you like tintin and comics in that style) and the beer is out of this world :) (make sure you somehow bring back some, but if you are flying that'll be a pig).

Heard Bruges is like a fairy tail...

Anyway I have nothing but nice things to say about Belgium as a place, speaks 3 national languages (at a guess) and pretty much everyone is ok with a bit of english.
 
Brussels isn't a dump and it has a few cool thing too;

  • The atomium is worth a visit
  • Delirium bar is incredible
  • EU parliament museum is alright
  • Bars on the main square are nice but pricey
  • Mannakin pis which everyone goes to but there are two more similar ones, one of a girl and one of a dog, can't remember where they are.
 
How can you spend a week in Belgium? There isn't really a week's worth of stuff there. You would be better off going to Germany.
 
Surely it would have made more sense to drive to Belgium, seeing as it's only next door?

I can't quite work out the point of flying to Belgium (with all the associated baggage restrictions, inconveniences and wasted time), only to then hire a car and drive around?
 
paradigm said:
Surely it would have made more sense to drive to Belgium, seeing as it's only next door?

I can't quite work out the point of flying to Belgium (with all the associated baggage restrictions, inconveniences and wasted time), only to then hire a car and drive around?
Click to expand...

Because I had a very small budget mate. The flights alone to Germany are what the flights and week car hire cost from Belgium. Im sure if we get bored we can travel to Germany this way. I cannot drive to Belgium with my car being a 02 Astra which wouldn't of got us there :D.

I haven't booked the hotels remember so (if the car hire is okay with it in the T&Cs) ill be venturing over to Germany for a few nights then? I never thought of this.
 
jas72 said:
If you have a car you can go to Cologne, Aachen, Lille for the day or even Maastricht which is also a nice city

Don't have to stay in Belgium (unless car hire policy says otherwise....)

Just remember shops are closed on Sundays and restaurants are closed on Mondays (except in very touristy areas)
Click to expand...

I think it does. This is on the bottom of my insurance certificate from the hire car people. Can i be dumb and make sure this lets me go to Germany etc.

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Bruges is great. Nice and chilled out. If you get some good weather just hang around on one of the street bars/restaurants and relax with a beer, sunshine and good company. I thoroughly enjoyed my (albeit brief) time there.
 
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