Belgium is a small country, but is has a lot to offer. Like many other countries, I did not know very much about it before I went there. Belgium hasn´t been on my travel list, but my husbandˋs friend from San Diego was in Brussels for a conference and we decided to meet him there for the weekend.

Normally I prefer going by train, but the connections from Hamburg to Brussels were inconvinient and expensive, so we took a flight and stayed at a hotel in Brussels the capital city.

Brussels is not big, so you can see a lot simply by walking around. The Grand Place is in the center of the city, so you will likely run into it at some point. When we found the Grand Place a festival was going on. It was a middle age festival and fun to watch. The square is surrounded by old baroque buildings and for the festival they have been lit up.

 

Besides amazing architecture you find great food in Belgium. The country is known for its chocolate, waffles and Belgian fries. Of course I tried all of it 🙂

The chocolate and the waffles are really great and you find stores like on the picture in every street. For a chocolate addict, like me it’s just awesome! 😀 I was not impressed by the Belgian Fries though, but maybe I just went to the wrong place. We got the fries at a touristy location, I guess the local restaurants would be better.

Just like in Copenhagen you can find, right next to amazing architecture, lots of beautiful parks in Brussels. All the parks are a little outside of the center, like the Parc du Cinquantenaire that you can see on this photo.

With it’s narrow streets, people sitting outside in bars and its baroque buildings, Brussels reminded me a little bit of Spain.

In Brussels you can see a lot in three days. We decided to spend one day in another place and we took a train to Bruges/Brugge. It is really easy to get there from Brussels and it takes about 1 h. On the way back we stoped in Gent, which is half way between Brugge and Brussels.

While Brussels reminded me of a Spanish city, Brugge reminded me of Amsterdam with the water canals, bridges and cute little houses. Besides that you can also see traditional windmills there.

If you have enough time it’s definitely worth doing a day trip to Brugge. Unfortunately I just spent a few hours in Gent on the way back, so I can’t really give you any recommendations. It is also easy to get to by train and takes 30 min from Brussels.

Have you been to Belgium yet? If so, I’d like to hear what you like about the country. I’m happy to read your comments!