352 Best Sights in Belgium

This Benedictine abbey is just one of those remarkable sights you find in small Flemish cities like Dendermonde. The building is breathtaking, a vast rose redbrick, gabled facade in the Flemish neo-Renaissance style, interrupted only by the Gothic twin towers of the church. The interior may only be visited once a year, on Whit Monday (2–6 pm). You can, however, buy its tripel-style beer, which is made externally by Brewery de Block, at the Liturgisch Kunstapostolaat on Dijkstraat anytime.

There has been an abbey on this site since the 7th century, and during the Middle Ages this was one of the richest and most important in Flanders. Most of the Baroque buildings you see today were built in the 17th century, however, and now house the St. Peter's Abbey Arts Center. You can walk around the abbey, the ruined gardens, and the cellars, where there is an exhibition about the monks. There are also changing exhibitions upstairs ranging from painting to photography.

Not far from Meise, the neighboring town of Grimbergen is as famous for its abbey as the beer that (as of 2021) is once again brewed on its grounds. Sadly, like most abbeys in Belgium, visitors aren't welcome, though the Basilica of Saint Servatius is open to the public. It was even one of the few buildings to be spared by the wrath of the French Revolutionary army. The abbey has been destroyed and rebuilt three times in its history: first by the Lords of Grimbergen in 1142, then by Protestants in 1566, and lastly by the French in 1798. Only the church and rectory survived the last of these, a magnificent Baroque structure with a carillon of 48 bells.

Located in a former flower show hall, this edgy, contemporary art gallery couldn't be farther removed from its dainty origins. Known for housing the odd daring exhibition, together with a permanent collection that includes the likes of Warhol, Christo, and Hockney, it does what good contemporary art does best: it challenges the viewer to leave their preconceptions at the door.

Nicolaas Rockox and Frans Snijders were pivotal figures in Antwerp's art scene during the Baroque period. Rockox (1560–1640) was Rubens's friend and patron, as well as being seven-time mayor of Antwerp; Snijders (1579–1657) was a skilled painter of animals and still lifes. Together they lived side by side for 20 years in a pair of beautiful town houses on Keizerstraat, which have now been turned into a museum. It was here that humanist and art collector Rockox built an enviable art collection, and on display are two of Rubens's works: one is Madonna en Kind (Madonna and Child), a delicate portrait of Rubens's first wife, Isabella, and their son, Nicolaas, and the other is a sketch for the Kruisiging (Crucifixion). The collection also includes works by Van Dyck, Joachim Patinier, Jordaens, Pieter Bruegel (including his infamous Proverbs), and, of course, Snijders himself. The paintings are shown in the context of a pair of upper-class Baroque homes, furnished in the style of the period. Handheld tablets give you information on each painting.

The street leads up to the quay where goods from Spain were unloaded, near Jan van Eyckplein Square. The house at No. 9 was where St. Ignatius of Loyola stayed when he came to Flanders on holidays from his studies in Paris. Directly ahead are the three arches of the Augustijnenbrug. Dating from 1391, it's the oldest bridge in Bruges. On the other side of the canal, Augustijnenrei is one of the loveliest quays.

The 1914 Battle of Mons was a bloody affair, in which British forces (some 75,000) found themselves up against a German army twice that size. It was the first engagement of the two opposing forces in World War I, and saw the British swiftly retreat by evening. Four years later, the same pair would meet in reverse as the Germans were forced from the city on the day the armistice was signed. In between, in 1916, a German soldier looking for a plot of land to commemorate his fallen comrades met a local botanist who agreed to help him on the sole condition that the cemetery would respect all nationalities. Thus, 284 German and 229 Commonwealth soldiers are buried here, including the unfortunate Canadian private George Price, who was killed just two minutes before the 11 am armistice. It makes for a moving, contemplative stroll. 

The Town Hall is an early example of what excessive taxes can do for a city. In 1516, Antwerp's Domien de Waghemakere and Mechelen's Rombout Keldermans, two prominent architects, were called in to build a town hall that would put all others to shame. However, before the building could be completed, Emperor Charles V imposed new taxes that drained the city's resources. The architecture thus reflects the changing fortunes of the city: the side built in 1518–60 and facing Hoogpoort is in flamboyant Gothic style; when work resumed in 1580, during the short-lived Protestant Republic, the Botermarkt side was completed in a stricter and more economical Renaissance style. To take a look inside, you can enter the reception area during weekday working hours, but to delve deeper you will need to organize a group tour—see the website for details.

There is no grander Town Hall in Belgium than Leuven's 15th-century folly. Built to dazzle, the profits from its cloth trade were sunk into letting everyone know just how wealthy its merchants were. Some 235 individually carved stone figures decorate the outside, cut into small alcoves and giving the building a strange texture from afar. These figures were added after 1850, and each tells a different folk tale, bible parable, or story of the city; you'll also find grotesques of local nobles and dignitaries. Its daily tour has been put on hold while an extensive renovation takes place until 2029.

Overlooking the Grotemarkt stands the Stadhuis (town hall) and belfry. It was built originally as a cloth hall in the 14th century. However, like the rest of the town, it was destroyed in World War I, the belfry having collapsed onto the market square below. Only the outer walls and a few paintings survived. It was restored in the 1920s, when a new 49-bell carillon was bought for the belfry, which has recently also opened to visitors---it's 109 steps if you want to climb to the top for the view. 

Explore the history of Ghent through nine rooms, all documenting significant moments in the formation of the city. Each room addresses a different era, from the time human beings first settled in the area some 70,000 years ago, to the city's medieval-era clashes with the Dukes of Burgundy, right up to its modern industrial heritage. The tour winds its way through a 14th-century abbey, a 17th-century monastery, and the modern museum, and there is also a giant map room that allows you to see how the city has expanded over the years.

Few realize "Stella," the pilsner of choice among European soccer fans, is even Belgian, but it traces its Leuven roots back to 1726. These days, it's part of the massive AB InBev company, which owns everything from Budweiser to Leffe. As you'd expect, the brewery is highly automated, making for an interesting gear change to the usual small brewers most beer tours frequent. Two-hour English-language tours and tastings for individuals are held on Saturday from 3 pm and 5 pm and on Sunday from 1 pm and 3 pm, with online booking in advance advised if you want to get a slot.

Located in the Chapter House and cloisters of the adjacent church, the Teseum is the treasury of the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwebasiliek, and it contains arguably the the richest collection of religious art in the country. Highlights including a 6th-century ivory diptych of St. Paul, a Merovingian gold buckle from the same century, and a truly magnificent head of Christ sculpted in wood in the 11th century.

The Tour & Taxis complex on the riverfront is now home to a number of unusual days out. The Pixel Museum, the city's first-ever computer-game museum, charts the history of gaming from 1972 and is still the standout here, eliciting great waves of nostalgia among those who know their Atari from their ZX Spectrum. Some of its more unusual neighbors include WOM (World of Mind), an illusion-based museum; Bubble Planet, a mix of VR, illusions, and, yes, ball pits; and a kind of real-life Mario Kart, Battlekarts, which blends AR and karting.

Baudouin IV, Count of Hainaut, began construction of this Norman-style keep in 1166. Sandwiched between the two arms of the Dender, it was the perfect position to defend against his ambitious neighboring lord, the Count of Flanders. These days it overlooks a few utility buildings and an adjacent schoolyard—a less menacing threat! Inside are treasures of the age and a video on its history in the guard room, but interior visits are restricted to guided tours, which can be arranged via the tourism office (currently in Espace Gallo-Romain). 

A fascinating relic from the only time that England, driven by the ambitions of young Tudor king Henry VIII, invaded what is now Belgium. He captured two French cities before moving on to Tournai, which was seized in the Battle of Guinegate. Just a year later, Henry's advisor, Thomas Wolsey, would sue for peace, and England kept Tournai. This tower was built to house Henry's troops in 1515 and was part of a larger citadel. Under Henry's rule, the town maintained a representative in the English parliament, but locals never took to their new owners and it proved costly to maintain a town so far from Calais. In 1519, Tournai was sold back to the French for 600,000 gold crowns (a huge amount).

Three kilometers (2 miles) north from the Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917, the British cemetery Tyne Cot is---with almost 12,000 graves---the largest and best known of more than 170 military cemeteries in the area. In its awe-inspiring austerity, it evokes the agony of anonymous and unknown losses. A significant majority of the graves here are for unidentified casualties, and a curving wall lists the names of nearly 35,000 Commonwealth soldiers killed after August 1917 whose bodies and graves vanished in the turmoil of war. A large cross stands atop one of the German pillbox bunkers for which the site was named; British troops trying to gain the ridge dubbed it a cot, or cottage.

This quiet cobblestone lane in the center of Antwerp seems untouched by time. The mood and style of the 16th century are perfectly preserved here. There is no better time to linger than on a Monday night when the carillon concert is pealing from the cathedral. The alley ends in Pelgrimsstraat, where there is a great view of the cathedral spire.

The city museum is set within the old butcher's hall, built in the mid-15th century. Over the years, this building has filled just about every function a city requires: cloth hall, aldermen's house, prison, guild hall, theater, guardroom. The current museum was installed in the early 1900s and begins its exhibits in prehistory, working its way up to the end of the ancien régime and France's collapse into revolution in the late 1700s. It's an enjoyable grab bag of history, with a 28,000-year-old mammoth skeleton among its most engaging exhibits.

A row of 17th-century whitewashed almshouses originally built for retired shoemakers now holds an engaging Folklore Museum. Within each house is a reconstructed historic interior: a grocery shop, a living room, a tavern, a cobbler’s workshop, a classroom, a pharmacy, and a kitchen. Another wing holds a tailor’s shop and a collection of old advertising posters. You can end your tour at the suitably historic museum café, In de Zwarte Kat (the “Black Cat”).

This 14th-century tower was renamed for Louis Zimmer, who designed its astronomical clock with 11 faces in 1930. His studio, where 57 dials show the movements of the moon, the tides, the zodiac, and other cosmic phenomena, is inside the tower. A small museum beside the tower contains an exhibition on time and space.

Southeast of the city center, past Centraal Station, lies the most beautiful neighborhood in Antwerp: Zurenborg. It was one of few parts of the modern city that was actually planned—and not simply a result of industrial necessity—when it was transformed in the early 20th century with street after street of Belle Époque, Neoclassical, and Art Nouveau town houses. The highlight is Cogels-Osylei, a street famed for its elaborate Art Nouveau "flower" houses, all named after different flora. Its urban palaces once housed the city's bourgeoisie, while the larger Dageraadplaats was designed for the middle classes but remains no less ambitious and has long since been adopted by Antwerp's "bobo" set, with plenty of hip bars and cafés nearby. Historical walking tours are a good way to explore the area and are easily booked at the tourist information center.