Cheap flights to Belgium from EUR13*

“La rue est une musée pour tous!” or “The street is a museum for everyone!” Belgian cartoonist and Tintin creator Georges Prosper Remi, alias Hergé, once famously said. Taking a walk anywhere in his native Belgium, you’ll see how true his words ring. The cobbled alleys of Bruges, dubbed the “Venice of the North”, echo the sound of carriage horses' hooves as they make their way through the fairest of fairy-tale towns. The eclectic architectural ensemble of La Grand-Place (or Grote Markt), the beating heart of Brussels, tells both of incredible beauty and utter destruction and never fails to enthral. Antwerp’s bustling high streets take you into the thick of high life, high fashion, high art and high carats. The quaint alleyways of Namur’s riverside La Corbeille quarter are brimming with Namurois and tourists raising pints of Maredsous to each other in the shadow of a robust stone citadel. No matter what kind of holiday or city break you're after, remember: Belgium’s petite size doesn’t make the country any less action-packed. If anything, it only makes it easier to discover and inevitably fall in love with.

Travel to Belgium to:

• Marvel at the lavish edifices and guildhalls that embrace La Grande-Place, Brussel’s UNESCO-protected central square and most photographed site.
• Walk among the giants of art history in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, such as Pieter Bruegel, Peter Paul Rubens, Auguste Rodin and René Magritte.
• Travel back in time in Bruges, Belgium’s picture-perfect medieval town and visit the Belfry that also starred in the 2008 black comedy, In Bruges.
• Discover the pulsating art, culinary and music scene of Ghent, a vibrant university and port town, where old meets new and they get along great.
• Turn your Belgian city break into a foodscapade: sample local brews and pralines in all shapes, colours and sizes, as well as the most comforting of comfort foods, pommes frites.

 

Soul-stirring art, gastro adventures and fairy-tale towns

To say that the young Kingdom of Belgium (Koninkrijk België in Dutch and Royaume de Belgique in French) has had its fair share of highs and lows would be quite an understatement. As its nickname, the “Battleground of Europe” suggests, the history of Belgium is a history of war. Following the conquest of Gaul in 57 BC, Julius Caesar was the first to admit that the Belgae were by far the fiercest among the Gallic tribes. Not that it did them any favours at the time. Or after. For centuries to come, troops of virtually all major European powers have fought on or over its land, including the Franks, the Holy Roman Empire, Habsburgian Spain and Austria or France. In fact, Belgium only became a sovereign state, a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system to be precise, in 1830. The country is neatly divided into three parts: the Dutch-speaking Flemish region in the north, the French-speaking Wallonian region in the south and the Brussels-Capital region in the middle. It’s proudly bilingual and mind-blowingly multicultural, with its capital being the second most cosmopolitan city in the whole world.

 

Where art meets more art

Art in Belgium is everywhere. Little wonder: we’re talking about the country that gave us The Adventures of Tintin, the Art Nouveau movement, Dries van Noten and an entire dynasty of Brueghels. The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (Les Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique) in Brussels lays out the country’s complete art history from the early 15th century to modern times. The Oldmasters Museum is so full of big-hitting names it makes your head spin – think Hieronymus Bosch, Peter Paul Rubens and Pieter Brueghel the Elder. The Magritte Museum is dedicated to the wild and instantly recognisable works of surrealist mastermind René Magritte, while the Musée Fin-de-Siècle celebrates the myriad artistic movements that coexisted at the turn of the century, from impressionism to Art Nouveau. Never one to rest on its laurels, Belgium has contributed to the contemporary art scene, too. See how generously at Ghent’s SMAK and Antwerp’s M HKA. Wearable art is what you’re after? You’ve come to the right place. In the early 1980s, the designs of “The Antwerp Six”, aka Dries Van Noten, Ann Demeulemeester, Dirk Van Saene, Walter Van Beirendonck, Dirk Bikkembergs and Marina Yee, changed the world of fashion forever. Picture yourself in them at Antwerp’s fashion museum, MoMu.

 

Where beer, chocolate and fries are national treasures

Foodies and beer lovers had better come with an empty suitcase and an empty stomach. Case in point: Belgium originally invented the comfort food to end all comfort foods, fries. “Stop calling them ‘French’,” Belgian art history professor and fries enthusiast Paul Ilegems warns. He knows what he’s talking about, having authored four books on the subject, including a volume of poetry. If you can’t help but share his love of pommes frites, stop at any of the 5,000 (!) friteries across the country and enjoy a piece of culinary history as it was meant to be enjoyed: cut, twice fried and salted. If you feel like washing it down with something, don’t reach for your water bottle just yet. Belgium boasts over 200 active breweries, giant, nano, pico and micro alike, producing some 400 different beer brands in total. In fact, local beer culture has been added to UNESCO’s list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity. Make some time to join locals as they bravely fight their cenosillicaphobia, aka the actual fear of having an empty beer glass. And then there’s chocolate, of course. About 600,000 tons of it exactly, made by 2,000 Belgian chocolate companies and shops every year. Find your favourite. And second favourite. And maybe a third.

 

Where cities are straight out of a fairy tale

Some of Belgium’s beautifully preserved, picturesque towns are truly out of this world. Or rather out of this time. The medieval centre of Bruges (or Brugge), the capital of West Flanders in Belgium’s Flemish region, is a premier World Heritage Site of UNESCO. And deservedly so: rumour has it that Bruges’s original Gothic landmarks, cobblestoned alleyways and sprawling canals inspired Walt Disney when creating Disneyland. Another late medieval time capsule of a town, Ghent, is one of the country’s oldest cities and the historic capital of Flanders. During the Middle Ages it was in the same league with Paris in terms of prosperity and power, which is promptly reflected by its imposing architecture to this day. That being said, Ghent’s sizeable student population, vibrant canal-side hangouts, remarkable museums and busy event calendar make sure that the city stays young and full of life. While there, stop for a steaming bowl of Gentse Waterzooi, a hearty chicken and veggie soup-stew. Ready to visit a record-holder, too? Tucked away in the Belgian Ardennes, the Walloon city of Durbuy is the world’s self-acclaimed smallest town. True or not, it’s certainly one of Belgium’s most scenic ones, with winding streets, charming corners and a dreamy 17th-century château.