About the region
Belgium is home to six of the world’s eleven Trappist breweries. Westvleteren 12 has led world rankings for decades. Orval, with its unique bottle ageing. Chimay, Rochefort and Westmalle: each abbey brewery has its own history, beginning centuries ago. A tasting within abbey walls is not a tasting but a pilgrimage.
Jean Neuhaus invented the praline in Brussels in 1912. Since then Belgian chocolate has become a worldwide benchmark: Neuhaus, Pierre Marcolini and Galler are not factories but houses of haute chocolaterie. You visit Bruges chocolate workshops and create your own pralines with a chocolatier.
Carbonnade flamande, beef braised in dark beer. Waterzooi, a delicate chicken or fish stew with cream. Moules-frites, mussels and chips, a Belgian invention. Stoemp, mashed potatoes with vegetables. Flemish cuisine combines French technique with northern generosity.
Belgium's medieval towns survive as living museums. Bruges is the Venice of the North, its entire historic centre protected by UNESCO. Ghent is the city of three towers and Europe's largest pedestrian zone. Antwerp is the capital of diamonds and Rubens's art. Brussels is Victor Horta's Art Nouveau.
What to see
Places from the personally designed tour programme. Swipe through: the map shows where you are.
Brussels
Your journey begins in Brussels, Europe’s capital and the heart of Belgian gastronomy. Meet at Zaventem Airport and transfer to a city-centre hotel. Grand Place, the world’s most beautiful square according to Victor Hugo, framed by golden guild houses and the Hôtel de Ville. A chocolate workshop in an atelier: create your own pralines with a chocolatier, learning tempering, fillings and decoration. Lunch in a restaurant: carbonnade flamande cooked in dark beer and a glass of Trappist beer. In the afternoon, a tour of beer-loving Brussels, including nineteenth-century cellars storing Gueuze and Lambic. Taste six Belgian beer styles with a certified beer sommelier. Dinner at a Michelin-starred restaurant: the chef’s interpretation of Belgian cuisine.
Bruges
A day in legendary Bruges, a city entirely listed by UNESCO. Morning transfer from Brussels (1 hour). A canal walk: Rozenhoedkaai, Belgium’s most photographed view. Climb the Belfort’s 366 steps for a city panorama and a 47-bell carillon. Visit a chocolate maker to see cocoa beans become pralines, from plantation to display case. Lunch in a historic restaurant: moules-frites and a glass of Brugse Zot, brewed in the city centre. A sunset canal cruise: bridges, swans and Gothic spires in golden light. Dinner on Burg square: chicken waterzooi and a glass of Straffe Hendrik Quadrupel.
Westvleteren
A day in West Flanders, the heart of Trappist brewing. Visit Westvleteren’s Sint-Sixtus Abbey, where monks brew Westvleteren 12, a beer that has topped world rankings for decades. It is not sold in shops, only at the abbey by advance appointment. Taste Westvleteren 8,12 and Blond at In de Vrede café opposite the abbey. Ypres: the Menin Gate First World War memorial and the Gothic Cloth Hall, rebuilt from ruins. Lunch in Ypres with potjevleesch, a Flemish meat terrine made with beer. Poperinge, Belgium’s hop capital: the National Hop Museum, fields and 19th-century hop kilns. A final Hommelbier tasting, a beer named for hops. Dinner in a village restaurant.
Ghent
A day in Ghent, the city of three towers and Europe's largest pedestrian zone. A 45-minute morning transfer. Graslei, the guildhall-lined waterfront on the Leie, one of Europe's most beautiful cityscapes. Sint-Baafs Cathedral and its great treasure, Jan van Eyck's Ghent Altarpiece (1432), the Northern Renaissance's most influential artwork. Gravensteen, the 12th-century fortress of the Counts of Flanders. Lunch: Gentse waterzooi, a creamy stew and the city's signature dish. Afterwards, travel to Pajottenland and the Senne Valley, home of lambic. Visit a family lambic blender to learn how spontaneous fermentation creates Gueuze. Tasting from the barrels: one-, two- and three-year-old Lambic and Gueuze, a blend of all three ages. A final tasting of Oude Gueuze and Oude Kriek. Dinner in a historic Ghent building.
Antwerp
A day in Antwerp, the city of diamonds, Rubens and beer culture. Morning transfer (45 minutes). Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal, the tallest cathedral in Belgium and the Benelux (123 m), with Rubens masterpieces. The Plantin-Moretus Museum, the world’s oldest printing house, UNESCO-listed. Lunch at Noordzee, a seafood bar on the square, where the freshest seafood is cooked before you. A tour of De Koninck, Antwerp’s city brewery: museum, Bolleke and Tripel d’Anvers tasting. A walk through the Diamond District, handling 85% of the world’s diamond trade. Dinner in Zurenborg, an Art Nouveau district, with traditional Antwerp dishes.
Leuven
A day in Leuven, home to the Low Countries’ oldest Catholic university and AB InBev’s world headquarters. Morning transfer (30 minutes). Tour the Stella Artois brewery, whose history began in 1366 at Den Hoorn. Taste Stella Artois fresh from production and special brews. A walk through Leuven: the Stadhuis, a Brabantine Gothic masterpiece with 236 façade statues. Oude Markt, ‘Europe’s longest bar’, with 40 cafés on one square. Lunch with Leuven specialities and local beer. After lunch, Mechelen, Margaret of Austria’s residential city. Sint-Rombouts Cathedral, with its 97-metre UNESCO-listed tower. Evening tasting in a historic 17th-century cellar: a final exploration of beer styles, Saison, Tripel, Quadrupel and Flanders Red.
Liège
The final day is in Liège, Belgium’s most Walloon city. Morning transfer, one hour from Brussels. La Batte, Europe’s largest Sunday market along the Meuse: cheeses, sausages, syrups, flowers and antiques. A waffle workshop making real Liège waffles with pearl sugar. Learn the difference between Brussels and Liège waffles and how to make both. The Curtius Museum, a grand 17th-century mansion with archaeology and art collections. Walk up Montagne de Bueren’s 374 steps for a panoramic view. A final gastronomic lunch: boulets liégeois, meatballs in syrup sauce, and a glass of Val-Dieu Tripel. A final tasting of Trappist, Lambic, Gueuze and Abbey, four worlds of Belgian beer. Farewell transfer to Brussels airport.
BELGIAN GASTRONOMY
A legendary Flemish dish: beef braised for hours in dark Belgian beer with onions, thyme and bay leaves. The meat becomes wonderfully tender and the sauce develops depth and caramel notes. Traditionally served with chips, yes, a Belgian invention.
Experiences
A pilgrimage to Sint-Sixtus: Westvleteren 12 has topped world rankings for decades. A tasting at the café opposite the abbey with monastic cheese: an experience people cross oceans for.
Create your own pralines with a Belgian chocolatier: tempering chocolate, ganache with different fillings, gianduja and decoration. Discover the history of pralines and take home a box of chocolates you made yourself.
A pilgrimage to Sint-Sixtus: Westvleteren 12 has topped world rankings for decades. A tasting at the café opposite the abbey with monastic cheese: an experience people cross oceans for.
Gaufres de Liège are waffles with pearl sugar that caramelises during baking. You learn to make real Liège waffles and understand how they differ from Brussels waffles.
The Senne Valley is the birthplace of spontaneous fermentation. A family blender where Lambic matures in oak barrels for years. Tastings straight from the barrel at one, two and three years, followed by a blended Oude Gueuze.
Bruges, the Venice of the North, entirely protected by UNESCO. Ghent, the city of three towers and the Ghent Altarpiece. Antwerp, Rubens’s cathedral and the Diamond District. Three cities, three masterpieces.
Europe's largest Sunday market: three kilometres along the Meuse waterfront. Herve cheeses, Ardennes ham, Liège syrup, flowers and antiques: an authentic Belgian market.
Art Wine Guide
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