Belgium

Belgium is small enough that you can sleep in one city and have lunch in another, yet each place has its own character. Brussels mixes the gilded guildhalls of the Grand-Place with Art Nouveau townhouses and the glass offices of the European institutions. Bruges, laced with canals and almost entirely medieval at its core, is the postcard. Ghent is livelier and less polished, a student city with a castle in the middle and the Van Eyck altarpiece in its cathedral. Antwerp brings diamonds, fashion and Rubens.

In our tours Belgium often sits between the Netherlands and France. The Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris rail route is a classic, with high-speed trains taking under two hours between each pair of cities. Private van tours and the Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg self-drive itinerary give more time in the smaller towns, and day trips from Brussels reach Bruges, Ghent and even Luxembourg.

Food and drink

Belgian cooking is generous and unfussy. Moules-frites, beef stewed in beer (carbonnade flamande), waterzooi from Ghent and, of course, frites served in a paper cone with mayonnaise. Chocolate shops line the old streets of every city, and the beer list in a good café can run to hundreds of bottles, including Trappist ales brewed by monks.

How to travel

Trains are frequent and short, so Belgium is ideal for rail travellers or a city break with day trips. A guided walk in Brussels or Bruges is the best way to understand the layers of history in the old centres. If you are planning a longer journey through the Low Countries, a private van tour handles the luggage and lets you add smaller stops along the way.