Belgium
 

We are fortunate enough to have previously spent a full day each in Brugge & Gent and 2 days in Brussels, so we have seen the standard tourist sights. In the week of 6/18 - 6/25, My husband & I have 1 full day (6am - 11pm) to sight- see, plus I have several half days away from work. We are in our early 50's and are in good physical condition! What do you recommend? Thanks, D

There's a lot of 20th century history in Belgium, from the killing fields of Flanders to the fearsome hollows of the Ardennes, man's folly has seeded the terrain with forests of white crosses.

We enjoyed the genever museum in Hasselt, the outdoor museum (sorry, don't remember the name) in northeastern belgium, and driving around the ardennes forest and villages. the american memorial in bastogne was very moving. also, the castle in bouillon was very cool, interesting crusades history.

We spent a couple of days relaxing in a manor house near Spa. From there we did short day trips to Liege - which has a nice cathedral and a couple of cute museums - and Aachen (to see some Charlemagne remains).

The outdoor museum ChrissyJ refers to is called Bokrijk - info on http://www.limburg.be/bokrijk/eng/ht...chtmuseum.html

Have you been to Antwerp? If you enjoyed the other cities, you will also enjoy Antwerp.

North of Antwerp there's a vast nature reserve called Kalmthoutse Heide which is lovely for long walks or bike tours.

A few smaller cities that are very nice are Leuven and Lier.

This year is the 175th anniversary of the independance of Belgium. On this occasion there's a very interesting and diverse exhibition "MADE IN BELGIUM" displaying everything that has played an important role in those 175 years (events, characters, objects of value, history, fashion, art, science, ...). It's in the centre of Brussels.