Belgium Travel Guide to Top Tourist Attractions
Belgium might be little, but it's crammed full of amazing sights. UNESCO-famous sites in Brussels include ancient guildhalls that surround the graceful Grand Place to more modern Art Nouveau townhouses by Victor Horta.
Bruges is a big-time attraction for visitors, with its remarkably preserved medieval lanes rimming peaceful and calming canals which attract crowds of tourists every year. But many other towns in Belgium, especially Mechelen and Ghent, possess superb architectural examples dating as far back as the Middle Ages.
This small country has managed to be at the frontline of Europe's history, with several of the continent's seriously consequential events playing out across its "backyard," meaning its countryside.
For example, in Belgium it's where Napoleon met his history-making match, at the battle of Waterloo. Moreover, throughout the last major World Wars, this country was forced into the forefront. The battlefields of Ypres from World War l have become significant pilgrimage sites which are now among the most-visited places in Belgium.
Whether you want to travel here for either the ancient or modern history, or the architectural marvels scattered everywhere like gold dust, Belgium offers a massive chunk of European legacy within only a bite-sized slice of land. Now you can discover such wonders with the help of my Belgium travel guide to find the top tourist attractions in Belgium.
1) Grand Place. La Grand Place consists of beautifully preserved guildhalls and other grand structures that show off the country's vernacular architecture seemingly at its peak.
One side is monopolized by the elegant medieval town hall, which is a masterful of Gothic architecture. It received the UNESCO World Heritage Site badge due to its amazing representation of 17th-century architecture. The square is buzzing with locals and visitors throughout the year, but particularly in August month of alternate years, while the center gets filled with the extensive Flower Carpet, which took over 700,000 cut begonias to make.
2) The Canals and Belfry of Bruges. Bruges started on the banks of the lovely River Reie, but when it went on growing, so did a sequence of waterways linking it to the North Sea and the Zwin estuary.
Now, the canals serve to remind us of Bruges history, and walking or cruising along them is a very popular activity done in Belgium.
You could even download a clear walking tour map right from the tourism site to better explore the deeper canals so you can then discover beautiful views of stunning bridges and catch glimpses into concealed gardens. Or use a boat to tour the canals, and you may take from five different landings.
Some of the most familiar sites in Belgium happen to be the beautiful Halle and belfry, which dominate the central square of Bruges.
Going back from the medieval period, this magnificent structure functioned once as the number one town market hall. Since it has been incredibly preserved, tourists can now get a genuine taste of the architectural supremacy of the Middle Ages.
Descending all the narrow, winding 366 steps of the famed belfry is an extremely popular thing to do for visitors in Belgium. When reaching the top, the unrivaled views of steeple-roofs and church spires offer some of the country's most famous panoramas.
3) The Battlefields of Flanders. For several tourists, Belgium's game-changing role on the forefront during World War l, especially in the Battlefields of Flanders near Ypres happens to be the prime reason to justify a trip here.
Not just historically significant, the battlefields in themselves have become a chief pilgrimage site. While the well-preserved trenches continue for miles around the modest town of Ypres, this area is scattered with enormous cemeteries for the 1000s of soldiers dying so heroically here.
Both the German War Cemetery in Langemark and the Tyne Cot Cemetery remind us of the ferocious fighting that occurred around here in the Great War.
4) Ghent's Gravensteen. The massively stunning ancient fort was the grand place that the counts of Flanders once called home, who were inspired for castle-building by the huge castles that the Crusaders constructed in Syria.
Now, Gravensteen represents one of Europe's better surviving models of a moated fortress, which has been astonishingly well-preserved.
Its strong and spectacularly thick and tall walls rise from the river Lieve's waters in the center of the aged town of Ghent, towering beyond the rooftops of the adjacent, surrounding streets.
Inside, the huge chambers and arched halls contain displays of medieval life, except it happens to be the castle's striking architecture itself which is the true star stealing the show. Take the staircase to reach the roof and enjoy the beautiful panoramic views encompassing the town, before deciding to walk through Ghent's delightful stone-paved streets.
5) Horta Museum. Victor Horta became the most influential designer and architect of the early twenty-century style recognized as Art Nouveau.
Many of his impressive structures which survive in Brussels, today is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Start at the Horta Museum, situated in his former studio and house, which were preserved exactly as Victor designed them, all using the original woodwork, decorations, mosaics, and stained glass.
As a pioneer charting new terrain, the artistic revolution that he initiated, maximized, diffused natural light, as well as incorporated novel themes from nature that appeared in its windy curves. His aesthetic involved paying close attention to each detail in both construction and decoration, including from the design of the home to its furniture, plus even how doorknobs and hinges are decorated.
The two united structures, his studio and house, showcase Art Nouveau reaching its height, including his four chief town homes like Hotel van Eetveide, Hotel Tassel, Maison and Atelier Horta, and Hotel Solvay.
