Belgium Recommendations

While it’s still fresh in my mind, wanted to compile a list of all our Belgium recommendations. In general, Belgium is so easy to get around, there are lots of great places to visit, and everyone is very friendly.

Belgian cities to visit (starting with our most favorite): Brugges, Brussels, Leuven, Antwerp, and Ghent.

Chocolate: Neuhaus (top tier) and Mary

Beer: Stella Artois, Duvel, and Jupiler

Fries: Visit a Frituur and get some fries with mayo, they’re everywhere

Brugges

• Things to do:
  • Canal tour
• Food/Drink:
  • Jean de Bruges chocolatier for great truffles

Brussels

• Things to do:
  • Grand-Place (Grote Markt)
  • Royal Palace of Brussels
  • Manneken pis
  • Free walking tour
• Food/Drink
  • Delirium Cafe bar for a meter of beers
  • Mappa Mundo bar and fun area
  • Maison Dandoy for waffles
  • NONA Pasta for an Italian dinner
  • Wolf Sharing Food Market for lunch

Leuven

• Things to do:
  • Stella Artois brewery tour (books out pretty far in advance)Free Botanical GardensGo to a Leuven Bears basketball game (duh 😉 )
  • White Oak Spa (outside of the city but the best spa we have ever went to, so much fun to get a day pass there and relax)
• Food/Drink:
  • Oude Market (a bunch of bars/fun going out area)
  • Leo Pancakes for brunch
  • Madmum for coffee/brunch
  • Baracca for dinner (if you could only go to one place in Leuven, we’d recommend this one. Make a reservation beforehand)
  • Zoff restaurant for Italian
  • SUD SUD Bistro: Mediterranean tapas
  • De Hoorn restaurant for dinner (note: outside of city center)
  • World Kitchen for Indian (this is far away from city center but has a great outdoor seating and the nicest owner)

Ghent

• View the Ghent Altarpiece, also called the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb

FYI, the Thalys is a French-Belgian high-speed train that can take you from Brussels-Midi to Paris or Amsterdam in under two hours.