Belgium 2024 Travel Blog!

Belgium 2024 Travel Blog! 

This is Part #2 of our 2024 international trip – where we started with a big road trip through Scotland, and then finished with 4 days in Belgium! If you missed Scotland Part #1 blog, click HERE to read about that incredible country!!

I got to celebrate my birthday being in Scotland AND Belgium on the same day. No other way I’d rather spend my day (well, other than having my whole family there with me!!) 

We landed in Brussels, Belgium, and took the train straight from the airport to Brussels Centrale. Our Hotel Hubert was only a 5 minute walk from the station, and we LOVED our hotel, the location, the space – everything about it was awesome and we recommend! :)

Brussels is regionally both French and Flemish speaking – so look ahead of time at the train station names – because they are listed/announced with different names depending on what part of town you’re at! Since we were aware of that, it was no problem for us.

We a lot of time exploring around Brussels, and here were some of our favorite things:

• Galeries Royales St. Hubert (INCREDIBLE indoor space with the entire roof being skylights with upscale stores, chocolatiers, art galleries, and restaurants!) right across from our hotel!
• Grand Place (Grote Markt) – the most IMPRESSIVE “town center” that I’ve ever seen – and I’ve seen a lot! The gothic architecture in a 360º view is beyond incredible. I don’t even have words for how it was in person! 
• Eglise Notre Dame des Victoria – beautiful cathedral with stained glass windows
• The Royal Palace of Brussels (the inside is currently closed, but the outside is beautiful!)
• Parc du Cinquanteaire – massive park with beautiful Arc di Triomphe – great for a picnic, reading a book, or even going inside the museums there! 
• BarkBoy for the BEST iced coffee in all of Brussels (trust me)
• Waffles (both liege and brussels waffles) from Maison Dandoy
• Gelato at Amorino’s 
• Chocolate from Neuhaus Chocolate (or really anywhere – but we bought a lot here!) 
• Au pain chocolat croissants from Aux Merveilleux de Fred 

Antique shopping – 

If you love antiques like me – there’s a whole area of town that is FULL of antique stores. We started off at Place du Jeude Balle – a huge open air flea market (Phillip called trash, and I called it treasures!) and then we went to actual antique stores starting with Passage 125 Blaes. 

BRUGES 

We also took a day trip to the old town of Bruges! We took a 1 hour direct train from Centraal > Brugge – and it was easy! The walk into downtown was absolutely a fairytale. Cobblestone streets, narrow alleys, beautiful architecture – it was such a pretty walk!! 

Things we loved in Bruges:

• Market Place: The town center with beautiful architecture 
• A 30-min guided boat ride on the canal. This was a HIGHLIGHT for us! Seeing the city from the canals & hearing all about the history was so much fun. 
• Basicilia of Holy Blood 
• Church of our Lady (the 2^nd tallest brick building in ALL of Europe!) 
• Shopping in quaint little lace stores!
• Exploring around all the beautiful canal streets & bridges
• Iced coffee from Flavourrs 

We were so glad to go early, because by the time we left it was getting more filled with tourist groups! 

GHENT

We were planning on doing another train day trip to Ghent – but since it was our last day of a very busy 2-week trip, we were so tired of being on the road. So, we sadly decided to nix traveling to Ghent and stayed local in Brussels instead! Ghent is also a canal city – so if you have time, you should add this to your itinerary! 

All in all, we REALLY enjoyed Belgium. It had French vibes, it was a walkable city, delicious waffles/fries/chocolate (those are the 3 foods they’re known for!) and it was perfect for a short stay!

A reminder of a few basic, but important travel tips:

• Remember to bring a travel converter for all your electronics! Scotland & Belgium used different converters, so research & find one that works for your specific country!
• Ask your bank to order some local currency – most places took cards but it’s always nice to have cash for tips at restaurants & people who help with your luggage! Scotland uses Pounds, but Belgium used Euros.
• Join a free travel group on Facebook specifically for your country & read ALL the tips you can! I get so many lodging, food, car rental, and unique suggestions all from being in these groups & screenshotting ideas and using the “search” feature in these groups! 
• Read travel blogs & watch YouTubes for more ideas – it’s always best to get personal recommendations (and reading LOTS of reviews!) when planning trips yourselves to make sure you’re staying in safe places, and have the best experience! 
• Download your maps in advance so you can use them offline! This is important for both walking and driving!

I hope you enjoyed reading! Let me know if you have any specific Belgium questions :)