Brussels
 

I'm heading to Brussels after Christmas, arriving the 27th and coming back to Wash. D.C. on the 30th. I have no clue on what to do there for three days. Are there any WWI battlefield tours worth taking?

Any lodging recommendations in Brussels would be welcome (up to 120 euros).

We've stayed at the Welcome and loved it. Another friend who travels to Brussels frequently also approves. And their restaurant is very good .

Haven't done any battlefield tours from there..we have always had our own car and done them on our own. But if there are some and you have time, I would certainly recommend them..I have never been so moved by anything. The Normandy beaches pale in comparison to the losses in WWI

Going to Brussels without seeing Brugge would be a mistake. It is about an hour west.

mrwunrfl: ekellyga is right. Take one day and do Brugge. It is less than an hour by train. There is enough to do in Brussels for a day, but Brugge is fantastic. The Hotel Welcome is a good three star with large rooms, friendly (read that fun), helpful staff and a great location five minutes from the Grand Place.
WW1 locations are down in The Ardennes. Bit of a haul. You could get down and back in a day. Don't know what will be available in December. But, you certainly wont come up short with Brussels and Brugge. Have a great trip.

Not all of the WWI sites are in the Ardennes. Ieper (Ypres), center of the battles of the Salient, is east of Brussels, about 1 1/2 hours away by train. There's a fairly new Flanders Field museum there that's supposed to be very good. There are lots of WWI cemetaries nearby -- Tyne Cot is especially sobering.

I was about to say, there'll be a Christmas market in St Katherine's but, not, presumably, after Christmas :(.

The architecture in the old town is worth wandering round; there are a range of art and other museums, inclding one for cartoons, one of the few things Belgium is famous for.

There's good shopping around Avenue Louise, and nice parks. I find it a pleasant place to chill, rather than rush round.

Depends on what your interests are. If you are only looking for walks in the historic center, then 1 day is enough. The next day you should undoubtedly go to Brugge by train (50 minutes).

As Brussels is a capital, you'll find a lot of "National Museum of...". If modern painting, or african history is your thing, the 1 day will certainly not be enough.

If you are really/especially interested in WW1 battlefields, then your port of call should be Brugge, which is a lot closer to the battlefield zone (60 km instead of 150km) and from where tours are organized by coach.
http://www.quasimodo.be/bustrips.htm will give you info on these kind of trips.
In this case you could spend 1 day in Brugge, one day on the WW1 bustrip and 1 day in Brussels or Antwerp by train.

If you would like a lodging recommendation for Brugge, I could suggest www.adornes.be

Oh, KT, Ieper is WEST of Brussels, at about 60 km from Brugge.

And, mrwunrfl, I was only talking from the Flemish (Ieper-side) battlefields and not from the Bastogne (eastern part) battlefields.

Thanks for all the great replies. The Hotel Welcome is definitely unique and looks like fun.

KT, thanks for the spelling Ieper "of Ypres" or I would never have found it on my Encarta map.

Brugge looks interesting. The Quasimodo tour is not running while I will be there, and I won't be getting a car, so maybe Ypres is out. I'm wondering if Waterloo is worth a visit.

Bastogne is definitely of interest. I made one minor attempt at finding a rail schedule between Brussels and Bastogne, but no success. Is the trip something like taking the Thalys to Namur and then a train south?

The place I really want to visit, though maybe unreasonably farther away from BRU, is Verdun.

One example, sorry fot the capital letters
BRUXELLES MIDI to LIBRAMONT D:09:36
A:11:44 train 2109 [IC], direction LUXEMBOURG
LIBRAMONT to BASTOGNE NORD D:11:55
A:12:33

Waterloo is just some Belgian pride over Napoleon, nothing special and nothing to de with WW1...

Verdun is in France, just check http://www.verduntourisme.com/en/index.htm.

Thanks, baldrick. So it is 3 hours each way between Brussels and Bastogne. I think I'll save that for a future trip along with Verdun. I think I've given up on a battlefield tour altogether. Two nights in Brussels, possibly with a day trip to Brugges. A Eurostar trip to London (day-trip or overnight) will probably be on my itinerary.

I don't want to insist on Brugge, but skip the 'possibly', if not you'll regret it.

Brugges is a must. We stayed at the hotel Welcome and loved it. You won't be sorry.

For those of you that are so insistant on Brugges, why? What is there to do there? What are the must-do's? My fiance and I were going to spend one night in Brussels, but have decided to stop in Brussels on our way to Brugge.

The Belgians would always say if you had only one day to spend in Belgium, Brugge would be the place. I've lived there on/off for 5 years, and I would have to agree.

Having said that, there are many lovely places in Belgium, including Brussels. ((b))

Baldrick, you're so right about where Ieper is. I do know where it is, and I've even been there, but I'm one of those people who doesn't know left from right nor, thanks to relocating from one coast to the other, east from west (the ocean is to the east, no wait, it's to the west, no wait...). Guess I should think twice next time before giving directions! ;-)

Okay, okay, if I <b><i>hafta</i></b> go to Brugges, I'll go! I just thought that, on Dec 29, it might be too cold. The canal boat won't be boating and the 50-min tour van is not touring. So, I guess I'll let you know what's up there, CEDS.

I've been to Brugges several times and have never done the boat trip. I don't see that I'm missing much. You can walk along the pretty canals and see just as much. I think you'll enjoy Brugges no matter what the weather.

Climb the belltower for a nice overview, especially of the colorful town center and its Flemish rooftops.
(366 narrow steps!)
The town may be a little dreary in winter, unless it has snowed!, but at least there won't be many people creating lines for anything...

This is a very nice website to illustrate what is special about Bruges:
http://www.trabel.com/brugge/bruges-tourvoorblad.htm

I too concur with the thought not to miss Brugges. Another short day trip by train from Brussels is to Antwerp, the home of Rubens. There are wonderful churches, museums and even a zoo to see. Also there are demonstrations of how diamonds are cut, polished, graded etc. Enjoy JN

What's the weather like in Brussels in mid March? Should I pack ultra warmies or just a sweater?

Just got back from three good days in Belgium. After checking in and unpacking in my room at the Radisson SAS, I went down to the lobby where I saw a tour bus sitting out front. I took tour, about three or four hours, and was really impressed by the city. After the tour, I took a walk up the Rue Nueve and found a waffle stand in a mall that baked the waffles while you waited. Wonderful. Saturday night around St. Catherine's church was quite busy with booths set up to sell crafts and snacks.

I searched quite a while for a restaraunt and finally settled on one, but the waitress twice tried to seat me at tables that were unacceptable so I left. Dinner at the Radisson was good but expensive. A couple of small tomatoes stuffed with langhostinos, fries, and Coke was E32.50. I was surpised by the excellent fries and delighted when the waitress offered mayonnaise and ketchup.

Sunday was cold and rainy. I slept in but eventually made it out to the art/history museum next to the tri-arch of triomphe. That was boring, but I defintely enjoyed the Musee Militaire. Could not find Autoworld. Simple dinner at the grill next to the Metropole hotel.

On Monday, I took the advice that I got here and visited Brugge. Took the bus tour from Brussels that stopped in Gent on the way. We only spent about an hour and a half in Gent, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and thought that it might be a nice place to stay overnight.

Brugge was marvelous. The place is definitely set up to process tourists. We walked into the town from the south. First stop was a lace store, of course, and a restaraunt for lunch. I ordered escargot, Flemish stew, and a Coke Light. I got a plate of tasty beef in gravy, a bowl fries, and the Coke at the astounding price of E19.30.

There are two squares in Brugge. At the smaller one, the guide pointed out the building around the square from the 13th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th (which, no surprisingly, looked like the 1737 building in Gent), and 19th centuries, and a 20th century hotel and a 21st century sculpture by a Japanese artist. I should have spent some time in this square instead of in the main square.

Had heard about the 366 steps in the tower on the main square, but it was gesloten op maandag, so I had a convenient excuse for not ascending them. Had a waffle on the square, but it was just a warmed over one and quite disappointing.

All in all, Brugge was a charming, attractive city, with architectural treasures and merchants who were quite delighted to take my money. Far too many horse carraiges, I almost got killed by one. Also, too many cars and small tour buses zipping around: the whole place could have been pedestrian traffic only.

On the outbound flight, United actually served me a cold dinner. I traded it for a too hot one. On the return flight, I waited a bit for the meal to cool down only to discover that it too was cold! I ate it anyway.

Thanks for your followup - it's always appreciated when someone returns to let others know how their trip was.