How to spend my week in Belgium
Aug 22nd, 2006, 09:18 AM
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How to spend my week in Belgium
My husband is attending a conference in Tongeren, Belgium at the end of September and will be busy from 8am to 6pm each day. I have been to Europe several times, but this trip I will have plenty of free time during the day to go and do as I please. I will be staying in Brussels my first two days, so I can cover that city then. I am looking for suggestions for day trips by train from Tongeren. I will have four days available. I love history and architecture, good food and beer, not big on museums. I have only been to Brussels before and I'm really looking forward to learning more about the rest of Belgium. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Aug 22nd, 2006, 09:51 AM
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ghent, antwerp or brugge, are traditional daytrips but are around 3 hours away.there are direct trains from tongeren (www.b-rail.be)
Aug 22nd, 2006, 11:19 AM
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Thi past spring, our groups spent a daytrip in Brugge, from Brussels, and it is a pretty town. I aggree with wilees about Brugge being full of tourists. The whole time that we were there, other than the restaurant servers and stores staff, the city is besieged by tourists in every corner, nook and cranny.
Antwerp is anoter nice daytrip destination. Actually, I would have prefered at least a night as there seem to be a lively nightlife in the city.
Antwerp is anoter nice daytrip destination. Actually, I would have prefered at least a night as there seem to be a lively nightlife in the city.
Aug 22nd, 2006, 11:20 AM
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For history, architecture and beer, you would definitely want to spend a little time in Leuven. The most historic part is an easy walk from the train station.
For small towns with good beer in your general region, consider Huy. It's less well known, but quite nice and ony 20 minutes from Liege by train. Has a fort you can reach by cable car.
Diest is kind of interesting, off the tourist track, and has its own beer. Ciney is another small beer town about 30 minutes from Namur by train. Also home to the largest cattle market in Belgium, don't know if that's a plus or minus for you (the cows of Ciney were even a cause for war in the Middle Ages).
http://www.eupedia.com/belgium/guerre_de_la_vache.shtml
And of course, you are not far from either Maastricht (NL) or Aachen, Germany. You could always go into to Aachen, see the cathedral, have lunch at one of the old town restaurants like the Rose am Dom and then treat yourself to a facial at the Babor salon near the cathedral (Babor is one of Germany's most noted skin care lines).
For small towns with good beer in your general region, consider Huy. It's less well known, but quite nice and ony 20 minutes from Liege by train. Has a fort you can reach by cable car.
Diest is kind of interesting, off the tourist track, and has its own beer. Ciney is another small beer town about 30 minutes from Namur by train. Also home to the largest cattle market in Belgium, don't know if that's a plus or minus for you (the cows of Ciney were even a cause for war in the Middle Ages).
http://www.eupedia.com/belgium/guerre_de_la_vache.shtml
And of course, you are not far from either Maastricht (NL) or Aachen, Germany. You could always go into to Aachen, see the cathedral, have lunch at one of the old town restaurants like the Rose am Dom and then treat yourself to a facial at the Babor salon near the cathedral (Babor is one of Germany's most noted skin care lines).
