Mesmerizing Belgium

 Often overlooked by people visiting Western Europe, Belgium is actually one of the most interesting and beautiful places you could visit in Europe. Situated between the Netherlands, France, Germany, and, across the North Sea, England, it’s filled with historic sites, spectacular medieval cities, and some beautiful natural scenery, too.

These are my 10 favorite places to visit in Belgium, divided into the country’s three main regions, Dutch-speaking Flanders, French-speaking Wallonia, and multi-lingual Brussels:

FLANDERS

Bruges

UNESCO World Heritage-listed Old Town home to step-gabled houses, cobbled streets, canals, and a majestic belfry

Antwerp

Major historic city, former home of Peter Paul Rubens and renowned for its art and museums, diamond industry, fashion and shopping, a striking cathedral, castle, and town square

Ghent

Medieval college town featuring historic towers, churches, canals, merchant’s houses, and annual festivals

Ypres and Flanders Fields

Restored medieval town that was at the heart of the western front during World War I, with battlefields, war cemeteries, museums and preserved trenches

The North Sea coast

40-mile-long coast with sand beaches and dunes, towns, ports and nature reserves.

Leuven

Historic university city home to numerous bars, nightclubs, stunning medieval architecture and squares, and the Stella Artois brewery

WALLONIA

Ardennes Forest

Vast forest in southern Belgium, featuring hills, rivers and streams, old towns and stone villages, abbeys and castles

Waterloo

Famous battlefield just south of Brussels where Napoleon Bonaparte suffered his final defeat in 1815

Dinant

Charming riverside town renowned for its abbey beer and for being the former home of Adolphe Sax, the inventor of the saxophone

BRUSSELS

Capital of Belgium, boasting various great museums, the sensational Grand-Place with the majestic City Hall, historic streets and shopping malls