There are so many railways in Belgium, that you actually have options. My train story is: I'm from a city called Roeselare. Back in the days when they started laying the railways, the priests in Roeselare didn't want the "bad influences" of the capital in Roeselare, the consequence was that they laid the direct line to Brussels in a backwater village 10 km north of Roeselare called Lichtervelde. Here's where I come in: I went to university in Ghent. There's a direct train from Ghent to Roeselare, but the path of that train is an almost L shape via Kortrijk. The fastest way to get home from me, wasn't to take that train which had 'Roeselare' as a stop. It was to take Lichtervelde. Once you hopped off in Lichtervelde, a few minutes later you could take the train from Bruges to Kortrijk which also stopped in Roeselare. And that train always waited for the Ghent one to arrive before departing in case of (minor) delays. It happened a few times that I arrived in Lichtervelde, saw that the train to Roeselare was already there, and then people started racing to the stairs to the corridor below the tracks to race back up the next stairs to hop on the train.
Correction. Every national train that passes through central also goes through midi and north. Only international trains don't stop in central and you can easily take a 6 minutes train from central to midi.
Many years ago I was travelling from Dublin to Geneva via Amsterdam. Due to some snow in Dublin I missed my connection in Amsterdam. I was rerouted via Brussels with a 90 minute stopover. I thought I'd use the time to sample some Belgian beer. But it was 9 pm and everything in Brussels Airport was closed!
+1 to add Leuven to the list. Some nice historical buildings and a great bar and Restaurant scene. Also the Ardennes as a region is very worthwhile of a visit for the nature lover.
Great Grote Markt! The shopping street from the train station to the grote markt is great, too. Also has a lot of students-so watch out for the bikes 🚴 Have a drink by the guid halls and people watch!
I'm an international student here in Belgium. I watched half of your video and had to subscribe right away. Very straight to the point and informative.
Subscribed. Thanks for getting right down to the point and sharing what you skip. We want to take our kids, and this will be the fussy time in Europe for us. We are excited!
Perhaps consider adding Leuven to your list for this summer. You could spend half a day in the city itself (some beautiful buildings) and you could perhaps spend the rest of the day in the beautiful forest near Leuven. It's not very touristy at all and a great place to cool down on a hot summer afternoon (it is called Heverleebos by the way). If you are interested, feel free to ask for more information.
I’m from Tienen, just on the linguistic boarder between flinders and Wallonia. As you mention, you could spend weeks here visiting great things. Just try asking locals so you don’t find yourself stuck in Tourist-trap hotspots that will charge you way over what locals will pay. You forgot the great foods, beers, seaside, Ardennens, countryside, history, our crazy politics and governments situation, art history, music scene and I do probably forget lots still ;) And a small tip when travelling to Belgium, try finding a hotel outside of a touristy city like Brussels. Look for one in Leuven, Mechelen maybe even Oostend as you will probably be paying half of what you are paying in Brussels. Might save you a lot of money you could spend on a hires car to get you even to less touristy places.
I have wanted to go to Leuven for years, but somehow the people I travel with always pick other places. But next year I'm insisting 😉 Could I just ask you: would Leuven work as a stop in a longer cycling tour? I was thinking of maybe starting around Roermond and then going South to Maastricht and across to Leuven, but I'm not sure what around Leuven would be nice to go by (scenery and/or other stops to make). If you have any ideas, I'd love to hear from you :) I have been to Brussels, Gent and Antwerpen before so those aren't "must visit" to me (although I'm certainly not opposed to seeing them again :))
The nightlife in Belgium is actually enormous and active if you know where to look, as for most things in Belgium.. While Brugge indeed closes at around 6 pm is because that is more like a Belgium experience 'amusement park' mostly to attract tourism, not so much a true fully functional city like, Antwerpen, Ghent or Brussel for example..
Brugge does not close at 6pm. There's hundreds of restaurants, bars, cafés,... Smaller than the big cities, yes, but fully functional as much as any other.
You should visit Leuven! It contains nice old buildings/architecture, like Gent, as well as the biggest and oldest university in Belgium (one of the oldest in whole Europe), namely KU Leuven. The city is not that big, but because it is a real student town (half of the inhabitants are actually students), it has a very active night life ;-)
Hey Camden, I don't comment often, but I wanted to let you know that you earned a new subscriber, I love your style, informative and nice to listen to! Continue your good work!
Aw, thanks so much for the support! Happy to have you in our little community :) Let me know if you ever have any suggestions or want to see something different!
One to add : if you want a typical Belgian day-at-the-seaside on a sunny day take a train to Blankenberge. Exiting the station the main (shopping) street leading to the "Dijk" (dyke), beach and sea is straight in front of you. Watch out for the nearly silent trams though. The old pre-1980 trams used to be so loud you could hear them coming for miles but the new er ones are so silent they have to use a blaring claxon instead.
About the nightlife: it's a common mistake to stay in the center of Brussels and do day trips from there. I always recommend to stay in Ghent and do the day trips from there because Ghent has a great and diverse night life which is more accessible than Brussels because everything is more central. And you still have the advantage of the great connections to Bruges, Antwerp, Brussels.
@@shibamdas915 There's a train connection that will take you from Brussels Airport to "Gent-Sint-Pieters" (the train station of Ghent) in a little under an hour if all goes well.
A few more places : Bouillon castle : large medieval castle in the very south of the country. Beers to try : Rochefort and Orval brands. Gaasbeek castle : about 15 km southwest of Brussels, can be reached by bus. Refurbished in the 19th -20th century by the last private owner. Rich collection inside. Beers to try : Geuze and Kriek type beers for which this region (Pajottenland) is renowned. Beersel castle : about 15 km southeast of Brussels, still in its medieval configuration. Can be reached by train. Beers to try : Geuze and Kriek type beers. There is a brewery nearby. Bokrijk : theme park in the province of Limburg with vintage buildings taken down elsewhere in the country and reconstructed here.
I spent a month in Brussels in the summer of 2022 working remote, and you are dead on with your comments. This country is freakin' awesome, and you can get to every major city in no time for a day trip. I mean, the battle of Waterloo (where Napoleon met his demise) is less then 20 minutes from Brussels. And you were right about Ghent. Hands down my favorite town in Belgium. Also, you can get to Paris in less than 2 hours, London is less than 3 hours, Amsterdam in 3 hours. Heck, If I move to Europe I'm going to live in Brussels. It is the perfect location.
@@camdendavid She won't find her way arround in 5 day's, i'll take her every day to see 4 things (also you have to eat drink etc) and you seen half of it. Recommend a daytrip for a breef impression. @ Kristy choose wisely.
You can buy a decent Cote d'Or chocolate bar (many varieties) in about any shop or supermarket. Unlike those fancy shops they won't cost you a fortune.
Hi Camden, there are really things to do after 6PM in Bruges. Being locals, we're happy to share our know-how with you if you consider a new trip to Brugge. Cheers!
not much in the historical center though right? because i've been many times it is a daytime town, something no doubt stays open here and there or special occasions like the christmas markets but it could use a night life, which is hard to do because the residents have gotten used to the system in place, and there isn't really any room outside of it
@@istoppedcaring6209 The best cities in Belgium for nightlife are hands down Leuven and Ghent. They both have the biggest universities in Belgium and have a big and diverse nightlife throughout the entire year (it dies down a bit during exams and vacations).
As a belgian you made a great video! Btw I don't even know why tourist would assume piere marcolini is popular under locals😂. We are the most proud of our beers and fries with side dishes
Filou, gulden draak (classic and brewmaster), westmalle tripel, tripel d'anvers, ter dolen tripel, tripel de garre, troubadour magma, affligem (tripel and blond)... just to name a few. If you coun't all different beers seperately belgium has above 10k different beers so just to much choice😅
Well Matthias mentioned, there are over 10K beers probably. And each month new come to the market and several disappear. Just walk into any bar/cafe outside local hotspots and you can find a great selection. And every Belgium mostly has their favourites, mine are Geusse beers. Very sour but you got to like them. We do have great trappist beers also. But be careful are most beers are WAY more alcohol than most tourists suspect and a heavy head the next day may always be on the menu :D
Another thing you may have missed: Pairi Daiza (speak the words, you’ll understand): it’s a top notch animal theme park / Zoo. It takes more than one day to see and experience it all.
@@camdendavidIt is very expensive, but well done. Be prepared for lots of stairs and hills. At least 25,000 steps. And bring your lunch if you want to avoid long lines at the buffet restaurants. There are plenty of places to sit down and eat. You can pay extra to ride the train around the park as well.
I did my erasmus exchange in Belgium and I'm so happy I did. The country is wonderful and as you said, it's so easy to get around the country by train. I personally love Brussels but if I came as a tourist I would focus on Ghent and Brugge (Bruges) as those are the most beautiful cities in the country. For a day trip and a nice beer out in the sun, try visiting my home away from home, Leuven ❤
I can fix this…. Did I mention the BEER??? Huge variety, they get served in glasses specific to the beer, and they taste great! One of my personal favorites - Kwak (yes I sounded like a duck when ordering with my American accent). How’s that?!
I live just outside Bruges, but personally I prefer Ghent and Leuven. As for chocolate, you should try Neuhaus. Jean Neuhaus opened a pharmacy in the Queen's Gallery (Royal Gallery) in Brussels in 1857, but he covered his medicines in a thin layer of chocolate. In 1912 his grandson invented the first real belgian chocolate as we know them today. The shop in the Queen's Gallery still exists and it's only meters away from Pierre Marcolini.
@@ececew It mostly depends on what you're planning to do. You just have to take into account that the weather is very unpredictable in Belgium, but in general it's best from early May till the end of September. If you're planning to do outdoor activities, you might want to aim for that period. If you're just visiting the cities, there isn't really a bad period. February is probably a quieter period since it's after the holidays and before the Easter period, but it's not really a bad period.
Why not visit the Wallonie region of Belgium, you have Dinant, Namur, Bastogne, and many more beautiful places to visit, it’s not just about the Flemish part of Belgium, as beautiful as it may be!
hm. Dinant is basically a street, Namur is 4 streets and a citadelle, Bastogne is.. what is there to visit there ? They're porbably worth visiting if you've really done all the other cities, but really, appart from some forests I guess, wallonia doesn't have much to offer. Also, most walloon cities have not been pedestrionised, which makes them much less attractive than they already are. I guess Tournai is nice to visit though. That's one city lol
@@liszters8935There's so much beautiful castle in wallonia bruh. Walzin, La hulpe, Bouillon, etc... As much monument as in Flanders in Mons, Namur, Tournai, Liège. The nature is preserved, there's a reason why Flemish and Dutch people come in Wallonia every year. Even in Bastogne, one beautiful street + the museum, but nature over there is absolutly beautiful in summer if you like hiking. There's Durbuy, La Roche en Ardenne too.
Actually Pierre Marcolini is considered as one of the finest chocolatier. It is indeed pricy, but the quality of the cacao is very high, giving it its bitter-sweet taste (as belgians love their food and beers)
So I've heard! As a chocolate novice (at best), I'm certain I wasn't able to identify and appreciate the complexity of Marcoloni cacao. I'll give them another try in my next visit :)
Exactly. It is definitely not mainstream. You definitely take your time to savor one. Not like a Neuhaus, Léonidas, Mary where you'd eat a few. Don't get me wrong, those are delicious too.
Very surprised you did not mentionthe magnificent City of Liege in the Frecnh-speaking Walloonian region......the people are such a treasure and the history is phenomenal!
You're right to undescore that most tourists plan waaay too little time in Belgium - simply because they often hardly know anything about the country. Belgium is an underrated gem and tourists should certainly plan much more time to visit it. N.B.: make sure to travel to less popular places such as Mons, Dinant, Mechlin (Mechelen), Louvain (Leuven) and, in terms of greenery, the vast open sceneries of the Namur, Liège and Luxemburg provinces, in the East and South of the country.
People always forget that Limburg exists and that it has the only natural reservate and a big history of the coal mines that played a huge part in making the country rich (asides from the Congo which was a less nice way to get rich).
If your homebase is Brussels. And you want to visit Belgium by train get get the NMBS standard multi ticket. It has 10 journeys for 9,60 each journey. If you're older than 65 get a senoir ticket. Only €7,80 go and back. Younger than 26 than you get the Youth multi (10 journeys). Only 5,90 euro each journey. And remember you can change trains in 1 journey. Why walk from central to midi?
You are one of many, you also overlooked Antwerp, Belgium is no. 1 Antwerp, no. 2 Bruges, and then the other cities (Mechelen, Hasselt, Brussels, Gent…).
Many chocolates will taste great in Belgium, until you try the ones from "The Chocolate Line" in Bruges. They are next level and an amazing experience. They're all made by hand and have some of the best combinations of flavours you'll find.
Like one already said, Brussels Central offers trains to pretty much all of Belgium and even to the Netherlands. Only the high speed trains don't stop there. What one may want to know is that while trains between cities are pretty fast, they are very slow to cross Brussels because they usually stop 3 times (Midi, Central, North). So, if you're targeting West and South Belgium (Ghent, Brugge, coast / Tournai, Mons, Charleroi) you better take the train in Midi. If you're targeting North and East Belgium (Antwerpen, Mechelen, Leuven, Liège) better take the train at North station. And if you're targeting South-East Belgium (Namur, Dinant, Arlon) take the train at Luxemburg station. While you can catch every train at Midi or Central, it'll save you some time :)
Actually for dat trips it does not make a blind bit of difference which station in Brussels you go to. The trains to Antwerp and Ghent and Bruges etc.go through all three. Just in a different order. For international trains it does make a difference. They leave from the Gare du Midi.
I didn't know about the Comic strip trails till I watched your video. My wife and I are off to Brussels for a week next week; I'm gonna try and fit at least one one of them in :)
So much to see and taste or drink in Belgium,the coastal areas, the center or the Arden's, the Flanders region we lost to the french, with small villages,and so much is easily looked or past over,in this great little country,there are many more medieval towns in west flanders besides, Brugge that tourist " rarely" visit,with their traditional square markets , places like Veurne or Ieper, or places like " Sy" in the Arden's if you like climbing? It all depends what your looking for, it has the most diverse and best collection of farm and factory cheeses in the world! And the same can be said about Beers, from little breweries to factory's,to ancient "pater" Beers ! Pale ale, double trippel, you will never find better beers than here! If beer is your fancy do visit " west Vleteren" and its trappist beer!!! simply unique in the world.i grew up in a fairground family, and there is little that I haven't seen, drunk and tasted, between ' Amsterdam ' ( Holland) and 'saint Quintin' ( North France) and the regions here and it's dialects are so divers an different that you can call them a region in itself! A hidden gem !
I visited Brussels a few years ago and loved it. So much that on my next European trip, I returned and added Bruges for several days. Next trip I'll add Ghent. This video is short, to the point, and informative. Next time maybe add foods of Belgium: moules, waffles, frites, etc.
Why always Bruges and Ghent. The most beautiful places are in the south of my country. You didn't mentioned cities like Liège, Dinant, Namur or even Eupen.
Subbed! Can't wait to check out your other videos and get an idea of where I want to travel next! I went to the Old Hot Chocolate House last November when I stayed in Bruges. Ugggh, so good, haha.
We ae visiting Belgium in April; it is the last country we haven't visited in Western Europe. Before watching this video, I had planned to break up our time in Bruges and Brussels, tour those cities and take day trips to Ghent, Antwerp and Flanders Field. Does that not work?
Same trip planned here, same month, last country of W. Europe too! I’m thinking of basing in Ghent, and visiting Bruges and Brussels. Not sure what else! I love medieval architecture. Any underground adventures? And what to do on Easter Sunday!
Lovely video David. Could you please let me know how to buy all day travel tickets (tram, buses & metro) from Midi and how much the actual price. Kind Regards
Best place for train tickets is the SNCB official website: www.belgiantrain.be/en And STIB official website should have you covered for the rest: www.stib-mivb.be/abon_tickets.html?l=en Hope this helps :)
I would make one modification. Make Antwerp the base instead of Brussels. Antwerp is in between Gent and Brussels but large enough so you can also get to Amsterdam and other international destinations.
Appreciate the support! Lots of great folks out there but Wolters World is one of my favorites. Great source of knowledge, awesome guy, always giving honest/authentic tips, and he has videos on soooo many destinations. Hope that helps :)
I think the Belgium you visited is called Flanders . I must admit they have more preserved cities as they haven't been exposed to war like the southern cities . You need to visit Tournai, Mons , Namur and even Liège and Charleroi and the Arden region .
absolutely, Gent is by far the best city and you probably did not see half of it. Did you know it was the largest city except for Paris north of the Alps in medieval times. Also in Gent, things are really open late, both in the unversity's quarters (Overpoort) as in the city's center. By the way, also in Brussels if you know where to go. Bruges, on the other hand, is dead at night. So you kinda got the wrong image based on Bruges. Btw Gent also has a mean hot chocolate bar in the University's quarters.
Ghent was indeed the Manhattan of the middle ages, however that is not necessarily that relevant anymore today. Antwerp took that same honor in the 16th century and is until today the most vibrant city of Flanders. Antwerp and Brussels are the only two metropolitan / cosmopolitan cities in Belgium
@@camdendavid I think he's referring to Mayana. Just google "Mayana Gent" to find their website. Tip: even if you like dark chocolate, Mayana offers chocolate that is much much darker than "dark". Don't pick the 85% chocolate, unless you really like very dark and bitter chocolate. Many people make this mistake and order the darkest chocolate, while expecting "normal" dark chocolate.
I've spent a limited amount of time in Belgium but I'd say it's well worth a visit in the autumn and winter. The Christmas markets are wonderful and the cities have a different energy that time of year. I think it's really about asking yourself about how long you'd like to visit if the weather is chilly :)
@@istoppedcaring6209 Each student was selected either a french region, or a mostly french speaking country. And my teacher selected Belgium for me, therefore I was reasearching to learn about belgiums architecture and its main cities. Thank you for this info!
@@camdendavid Thank you very much!! It went amazing, and I was surprised how exciting it was to present it to my class, I was super nervous! Thanks again!
I've only been in August once and it wasn't overwhelming by any means. A town like Bruges will likely have a crowd in the late morning/early afternoon but it's nothing like what you'd see in some of the big European cities. It's possible this August will be busier with the Olympics happening in Paris for the first 11 days of the month -- Probably worth booking things in advance. Hope you have a great trip :)
July will probably be the busiest month while August may be a bit less crowded. Nonetheless, I would rather recommend September as July and August are the school holiday months and always are inherantly more busy. Also, it depends a bit what you want to visit (Bruges, Brussels Grand Place, ... things like that are always pretty busy, especially on weekends). Edit: typooooos.
Oh dear....EVERY national train that stops in Central station in Brussels also stops in Midi (South Station). There are one or two international trains that only stop in South Station. The Eurostar train to London is a good example.
Hi one important question....how is Brussels when it is a public holiday? From info i get ya the shops is close but what about restaurants nd tourist spots?
I haven't spent any time there during a public holiday but I imagine the restaurants and most tourist spots would still be open (maybe with limited hours). Hoping a local will chime in here to help :)
Bars and restaurants are mostly open on sundays and holidays. Some supermarkets are open, but only in the morning. Shops are generally closed, but there are some exceptions, like certain shopping malls, coastal cities (Ostend, Knokke-Heist...) or dedicated 'shopping streets' in tourist areas.
You're right (I was rounding down from the 26 minutes on the fastest train). But now all I can think about is traveling that route by Concorde and I've gone down quite the rabbit hole here... If my math is right (not likely), I think that trip would be under a minute and a half if we were maintaining the 1300 MPH cruising speed. But there's only one way to test that... Any interest in taking a VERY expensive 2-minute flight haha? I'll bring my camera gear!
I’m going to Brussels this summer and I’m totally hung up on the day trips vs spending the nights there. For instance I want to visit Ghent and Bruges - would I be better off taking day trips to each or just minimize the back and forth and just spend the night in Bruges and visit Ghent on our way back? Totally don’t know what to do. Thanks! 0:29
Hey i'm from Belgium and i recommend staying in Bruges for just a day but would stay a night in Ghent tough, its super gorgeous and has alot to offer! :)
I second what @Belgy said! While you could easily take day trips, I found the late evenings to be a unique experience in Ghent and Bruges. Far less touristy as the night goes on and something to be experienced if you have the time :) Hope you have a great trip!
When you visit Ghent in summer ... Gentse Feesten (festival all over town) takes place from 14th to 23rd July. Very crowded, but worthtwhile. Be sure to book your :hotel or hostel in time or travel from one place to anpther by train/bus. If you are interested in the architecture and culture and not fond of festivals, better choose a different period.
Great video. Very interesting because I was looking at spending just like 3 days there. Guess I should look into some of the other places you named. Doing the day trips there do the trains run late?
You said you move to different country in the space of a month ... Can you help me to relocate to Canada/Belgium/ Australia or any European country... Need your reply ple
Might I recommended Limburg? Absolutely beautiful nature! You have the barefeet path in Zutendaal, life over 100 years ago in Bokrijk, kayaking on the Meuse, gallo-romain Museum in the oldest city of the lowlands, connectera which is the biggest entrance to the first natural Parc Hoge Kempen, you can cycle over a big pond (literally a stroke to cycle on going through water), you have Terhills Resort which is literally recharging in the natural Parc but in a very luxurious setting with the most amazing beautiful wellness 'Elaisa' where you can get full zen, Japanese garden in Hasselt, blueberries field where you can walk through blueberry fields and during season pick them along with a shop with all blueberry foods and a place to eat everything with blueberries (tea, cake, even an amazing nacho sauce and many more), summer bars, beautiful blossoms and fruit trees in the south, just overall walking and cycling through beautiful and tranquil landscapes, rich mining history, marl caves and many more! Oh and just over the border in the Netherlands (also called province of Limburg) there's Maastricht which is such a beautiful city with many many shops close to eachother, great food, a treasury at St. Sevatius basilica with Christian treasures from all over the world, the basilica is also beautiful as is the tiny basilica sterre der zee with beautiful dome ceiling paintings. During the winter I recommend going to Valkenburg close by Maastricht with the biggest underground Christmas market of Europe in the caves and just a magical city overall with the beautiful yellow buildings.
Thank you so much for these recommendations! I really appreciate you taking the time to share this and I'll add all these to my list. Hoping to visit at some point this summer :)
If you visit belgium, please don't get the touristic and expensive waffles and chocolate in the main street in big cities like Brussels 😅. They are usually not even that tasty, just there to bring money in from tourists. Find a nice brasserie or restaurant in a less touristic place and take your time to enjoy some food. Also be aware of your belongings in big cities like brussels, antwerp etc. best to keep your phone, passport and bank passes in your hand. There are a lot of beatiful places worth a visit. I like Leuven and Hasselt to. But there are also nice places in walonie and de vlaamse ardennen for people who like nature.
Not a lot of late night entertainment ? Belgium has the most pubs and concertvenues per capita in the whole of Europe. There are even pubs which never close ! And in Brussels you can go and see a great rock concert every day if you wish !
@@camdendavid Belgium is well known for their trappist beers. They are brewed in monasteries by monks. My favorite one is the Orval. There are other ones like Rochefort, Westmalle, Chimay. They also have ones that are created in the Trappist style but not made by monks. They are called "abbey beer". Averbode is a very good one and it's available here in Canada where I live. If you ever go back to Belgium, I highly suggest you go visit the Bier Central pub which has a fantastic catalog of 300 beers. There are locations in Ghent, Antwerpen and Brussels. Everything you said in the video is on point. I really miss Belgium. :)
If I hear you talk, I actually would recommend making Ghent the homebase. It is in the middle of train networks easily connecting to Brussels, Bruges, Antwerp, Courtrai, etc. Also you should've tried the Chocolate Line in Bruges!
Nope. Brussels is very much the central hub of the railway network, even the most cursory look at a network map makes this abundantly clear. Basing in Ghent is only good advice if you intend on visiting just the North-Western part of the country, maybe up to Antwerp and Brussels, but not really beyond. If you want to go to Hasselt, Arlon, Liege, Namur that will be much more efficient from Brussels than from Ghent. Also if you want to maybe go further afield and take a high speed train for a daytrip to Lille (40 minutes), Rotterdam (1h10), Paris (1h20), or Cologne (1h50), this is possible from Bruxelles-Midi, but not so much from Ghent, unless you add about an hour each way to go to/from Brussels and make the transfer.
@@mariusdufour9186 Why te hell would you send a tourist to other country's, oh its not far ok. the time they have is gold worth, you can not visit a land in a week, unless its only for beer, chocolat and fries, our culture heritage is enooormus, a daytrip to paris? what they gonne do there ? visit the louvre? this place by itself takes more than a day.
7 important things to know while in Belgium? 1,Deurne,(vliegtuig) 2 zaventem,(vliegtuig),3 Brussels (train),4 ,5,6,7,boarder crossings,France ,Germany,Netherlands, Luxembourg,fast car,and then chose ,and leave Belguim as quickly as possible.
why base yourself in brussels, take a town two or three train stops out and it should be way cheaper and not much more difficult, also likely more relaxed
@@camdendavid Can I recommend Maastricht (Netherlands), which is just over the border in the very east of the country? Search it on youtube, you won't regret it.
@@camdendavid And that's the best time to go. Antwerp is the 2nd port of Europe, it's a pocket size metropole and very intenational. It doesn't just live of tourism, it's an economical hub, it's alive and relevant in the present, yet it's also an old city with a river a lot of history and many beautiful buildings. All in all a charming an cosy vibe. Another overlooked gem. Make sure to arrive by train in the central station, you will not believe what you see. Take care!
It's almost all true what you are telling - except for the nightlife, cafés and bars stay open usually till very late (especially in Brussels, Antwerp, Gent, Leuven) and in Brussels, Gent and Antwerp there's a vivid nightclub scene, but as usual you have to know where you have to be and do your research...
In Brussels and Antwerp you could go to fancy restaurants, clubs, pubs, musea, beautiful parks, concerts, festivals etc, never boring there @@camdendavid
kinda weird that they went with pierre marcolini which does not sound Belgian at all but italian /french names for fancy luxury commodities are all the rage in the US so maybe that was the thinking or it was an italian (or swiss) setting up shop believing the chocolate was mostly hype,
One thing he said is incorrect about train though. He said you need to go to Bruxelles Midi. That's not correct, Bruxelles midi is south west of Brussels meaning basically if you want to go somewhere in the south (like Paris not in Belgium but we got a fast train and it's not like as a tourist if you want to go to Charleroi )or on the west side (Brugges and the sea), you need to go there. However Bruxelles nord (so north station) is where you need to go if you want to go in the north like Antwerp, Gent (or Amsterdam if you want to go fast to the Netherlands). That being said, the 3 stations are connected so you have trains going from Bruxelles-Midi to Bruxelles-Nord and passing by Bruxelles-Central. So there is no need to run desesperatly by foot to catch your train if you are on the wrong one...
In gent they can’t say the letter G and pronounce it as H. Gent= “hent” Goed= “hoed” what also means hat in Dutch. There more words with G but I don’t want to get my dictionary in this. How do I know this? I visited it once and I live in Belgium.
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Hi can we talk more please likely going to leave my country to Belgium and stay
There are so many railways in Belgium, that you actually have options. My train story is: I'm from a city called Roeselare. Back in the days when they started laying the railways, the priests in Roeselare didn't want the "bad influences" of the capital in Roeselare, the consequence was that they laid the direct line to Brussels in a backwater village 10 km north of Roeselare called Lichtervelde. Here's where I come in: I went to university in Ghent. There's a direct train from Ghent to Roeselare, but the path of that train is an almost L shape via Kortrijk. The fastest way to get home from me, wasn't to take that train which had 'Roeselare' as a stop. It was to take Lichtervelde. Once you hopped off in Lichtervelde, a few minutes later you could take the train from Bruges to Kortrijk which also stopped in Roeselare. And that train always waited for the Ghent one to arrive before departing in case of (minor) delays. It happened a few times that I arrived in Lichtervelde, saw that the train to Roeselare was already there, and then people started racing to the stairs to the corridor below the tracks to race back up the next stairs to hop on the train.
Correction. Every national train that passes through central also goes through midi and north. Only international trains don't stop in central and you can easily take a 6 minutes train from central to midi.
Ah good to know. Thanks for the clarification!
@@camdendavid Also note that the 3 stations are one "zone" . Your ticket will mostly be valid for the 3 stations.
@@flitsertheo All train stations in brussels are "brussels zone" except for the zaventem airport, so yes its valid all throughout
Many years ago I was travelling from Dublin to Geneva via Amsterdam. Due to some snow in Dublin I missed my connection in Amsterdam. I was rerouted via Brussels with a 90 minute stopover. I thought I'd use the time to sample some Belgian beer. But it was 9 pm and everything in Brussels Airport was closed!
About the zone's. This is true for most cities. Zone gent, zone brussel, zone antwerpen, ...
I'm going tomorrow. For one day. Booked it yesterday. This is by far the most spontaneous thing I have ever done!!
Love that! Hope you have a great time!!
How was it? I love Belgium. I am from Canada
Oh! I live in Belgium!!
Going this week!
+1 to add Leuven to the list. Some nice historical buildings and a great bar and Restaurant scene. Also the Ardennes as a region is very worthwhile of a visit for the nature lover.
Added!
Great Grote Markt! The shopping street from the train station to the grote markt is great, too. Also has a lot of students-so watch out for the bikes 🚴 Have a drink by the guid halls and people watch!
I'm an international student here in Belgium. I watched half of your video and had to subscribe right away. Very straight to the point and informative.
Appreciate that Azmi! Lots of new content coming soon
Where are you from and how are you enjoying Belgium?
Hey, i'm an ESN volunteer, what town do you study in?
Subscribed. Thanks for getting right down to the point and sharing what you skip. We want to take our kids, and this will be the fussy time in Europe for us. We are excited!
Welcome to the channel! Hope you all have a great trip!
Number 8 is that you never may say there “French Fries” because we don’t like that in Belgium. Because Fries are invented in Belgium in Brugge
it's false, a Belgian historian said that it comes from Paris. the other legend speaks of the banks of the Meuse near Namur. Never Brugge.
Perhaps consider adding Leuven to your list for this summer. You could spend half a day in the city itself (some beautiful buildings) and you could perhaps spend the rest of the day in the beautiful forest near Leuven. It's not very touristy at all and a great place to cool down on a hot summer afternoon (it is called Heverleebos by the way). If you are interested, feel free to ask for more information.
Thanks for the tip! I'll be sure to check it out and may have some questions for you as we get closer to summer :)
Wait I’m going to Belgium in October! I must know more about Leuven 😅
@@cbcarter0 What would you like to know about Leuven? Are you going there as a student or as a tourist?
I’m from Tienen, just on the linguistic boarder between flinders and Wallonia. As you mention, you could spend weeks here visiting great things. Just try asking locals so you don’t find yourself stuck in Tourist-trap hotspots that will charge you way over what locals will pay. You forgot the great foods, beers, seaside, Ardennens, countryside, history, our crazy politics and governments situation, art history, music scene and I do probably forget lots still ;)
And a small tip when travelling to Belgium, try finding a hotel outside of a touristy city like Brussels. Look for one in Leuven, Mechelen maybe even Oostend as you will probably be paying half of what you are paying in Brussels. Might save you a lot of money you could spend on a hires car to get you even to less touristy places.
I have wanted to go to Leuven for years, but somehow the people I travel with always pick other places. But next year I'm insisting 😉 Could I just ask you: would Leuven work as a stop in a longer cycling tour? I was thinking of maybe starting around Roermond and then going South to Maastricht and across to Leuven, but I'm not sure what around Leuven would be nice to go by (scenery and/or other stops to make). If you have any ideas, I'd love to hear from you :) I have been to Brussels, Gent and Antwerpen before so those aren't "must visit" to me (although I'm certainly not opposed to seeing them again :))
The nightlife in Belgium is actually enormous and active if you know where to look, as for most things in Belgium.. While Brugge indeed closes at around 6 pm is because that is more like a Belgium experience 'amusement park' mostly to attract tourism, not so much a true fully functional city like, Antwerpen, Ghent or Brussel for example..
Ahhhh I see. Thanks for this!
Brugge does not close at 6pm. There's hundreds of restaurants, bars, cafés,... Smaller than the big cities, yes, but fully functional as much as any other.
Bruges is definitely a fully functional city lmao, bad opinion. Its just not as big as those other cities thats all
What are some bars/ clubs that you’d recommend? I’m going in January :)
@@ariesgirl4ever which city will you be in and what's your age ?
You should visit Leuven! It contains nice old buildings/architecture, like Gent, as well as the biggest and oldest university in Belgium (one of the oldest in whole Europe), namely KU Leuven. The city is not that big, but because it is a real student town (half of the inhabitants are actually students), it has a very active night life ;-)
I'll add it to my list! Thanks for the suggestion :)
One should visit Bruges and Ghent as much as possible. They love that.
Beautiful places
This was really helpful. I'm planning a trip to Europe and had only scheduled 2 days in Brussels. Now I know I should plan for a couple more.
Glad it was helpful! Hope you have a great trip :)
Did you like it?
Hey Camden, I don't comment often, but I wanted to let you know that you earned a new subscriber, I love your style, informative and nice to listen to! Continue your good work!
Aw, thanks so much for the support! Happy to have you in our little community :) Let me know if you ever have any suggestions or want to see something different!
One to add : if you want a typical Belgian day-at-the-seaside on a sunny day take a train to Blankenberge. Exiting the station the main (shopping) street leading to the "Dijk" (dyke), beach and sea is straight in front of you. Watch out for the nearly silent trams though. The old pre-1980 trams used to be so loud you could hear them coming for miles but the new er ones are so silent they have to use a blaring claxon instead.
Thanks for this!
About the nightlife: it's a common mistake to stay in the center of Brussels and do day trips from there. I always recommend to stay in Ghent and do the day trips from there because Ghent has a great and diverse night life which is more accessible than Brussels because everything is more central. And you still have the advantage of the great connections to Bruges, Antwerp, Brussels.
You are right about Gent, but you should have kept it secret.
Ahhhhh, thanks for sharing this!!!
can u suggest some sites to book hostels at ghent? and what are the feasible ways to reach ghant from Brussels airport?
@@shibamdas915 There's a train connection that will take you from Brussels Airport to "Gent-Sint-Pieters" (the train station of Ghent) in a little under an hour if all goes well.
Amazing, tip about Ghent’s nightlife. Thank you!!!
Skipping around Europe for 10 days soon. Spending 3 days in Belgium will definitely be day tripping to some of the outside towns. Thank you.
Thanks for watching! Hope you have a great time on your trip!
You are so much fun to watch and I will definitely take your advice on board when I visit next month.
Much appreciated -- Hope you have a great time!
A few more places :
Bouillon castle : large medieval castle in the very south of the country. Beers to try : Rochefort and Orval brands.
Gaasbeek castle : about 15 km southwest of Brussels, can be reached by bus. Refurbished in the 19th -20th century by the last private owner. Rich collection inside. Beers to try : Geuze and Kriek type beers for which this region (Pajottenland) is renowned.
Beersel castle : about 15 km southeast of Brussels, still in its medieval configuration. Can be reached by train. Beers to try : Geuze and Kriek type beers. There is a brewery nearby.
Bokrijk : theme park in the province of Limburg with vintage buildings taken down elsewhere in the country and reconstructed here.
Thanks for these! Adding them to my list :)
Belgium is indeed much more than two cities...
I spent a month in Brussels in the summer of 2022 working remote, and you are dead on with your comments. This country is freakin' awesome, and you can get to every major city in no time for a day trip. I mean, the battle of Waterloo (where Napoleon met his demise) is less then 20 minutes from Brussels. And you were right about Ghent. Hands down my favorite town in Belgium. Also, you can get to Paris in less than 2 hours, London is less than 3 hours, Amsterdam in 3 hours. Heck, If I move to Europe I'm going to live in Brussels. It is the perfect location.
Glad to hear that!! Which neighborhood of Brussels did you base yourself in?
@@camdendavid Watermael-Boitsfort. I found a monthly AirBnB for about $1200. It was a great value.
Great idea to base in Brussels and do day trips, thanks!
Glad it was helpful!
@@camdendavid She won't find her way arround in 5 day's, i'll take her every day to see 4 things (also you have to eat drink etc) and you seen half of it. Recommend a daytrip for a breef impression. @ Kristy choose wisely.
You can buy a decent Cote d'Or chocolate bar (many varieties) in about any shop or supermarket. Unlike those fancy shops they won't cost you a fortune.
Pro tip right there! Thanks for this :)
Planning on visiting Belgium, specifically Brussels and Brugges, later this year. This video is awesome. Thanks!
Hope you have a great trip! And thanks for the support!
Do not skip Ghent, one of the most beautiful and interesting cities of the continent.
I hope you enjoy! I live in there
Hi Camden, there are really things to do after 6PM in Bruges. Being locals, we're happy to share our know-how with you if you consider a new trip to Brugge. Cheers!
I'd love to learn more and am open to any suggestions for my next trip! Thanks for the support :)
not much in the historical center though right?
because i've been many times it is a daytime town, something no doubt stays open here and there or special occasions like the christmas markets but it could use a night life, which is hard to do because the residents have gotten used to the system in place, and there isn't really any room outside of it
@@istoppedcaring6209 The best cities in Belgium for nightlife are hands down Leuven and Ghent. They both have the biggest universities in Belgium and have a big and diverse nightlife throughout the entire year (it dies down a bit during exams and vacations).
As a belgian you made a great video! Btw I don't even know why tourist would assume piere marcolini is popular under locals😂. We are the most proud of our beers and fries with side dishes
Any local beers you’d recommend?Thanks for watching!!
Filou, gulden draak (classic and brewmaster), westmalle tripel, tripel d'anvers, ter dolen tripel, tripel de garre, troubadour magma, affligem (tripel and blond)... just to name a few. If you coun't all different beers seperately belgium has above 10k different beers so just to much choice😅
@@matthiasbeyen7209 Thanks for these! Sounds like it'd take a lifetime to get through all the choices haha
Well Matthias mentioned, there are over 10K beers probably. And each month new come to the market and several disappear. Just walk into any bar/cafe outside local hotspots and you can find a great selection. And every Belgium mostly has their favourites, mine are Geusse beers. Very sour but you got to like them. We do have great trappist beers also. But be careful are most beers are WAY more alcohol than most tourists suspect and a heavy head the next day may always be on the menu :D
@@camdendavid Duvel, Hoegaarden and frites with "stoofvleessaus" beefstewsauce!
Another thing you may have missed: Pairi Daiza (speak the words, you’ll understand): it’s a top notch animal theme park / Zoo. It takes more than one day to see and experience it all.
Thanks!
@@camdendavidIt is very expensive, but well done. Be prepared for lots of stairs and hills. At least 25,000 steps. And bring your lunch if you want to avoid long lines at the buffet restaurants. There are plenty of places to sit down and eat. You can pay extra to ride the train around the park as well.
I did my erasmus exchange in Belgium and I'm so happy I did. The country is wonderful and as you said, it's so easy to get around the country by train. I personally love Brussels but if I came as a tourist I would focus on Ghent and Brugge (Bruges) as those are the most beautiful cities in the country. For a day trip and a nice beer out in the sun, try visiting my home away from home, Leuven ❤
Thanks for the suggestion! I’ll make sure to hit Leuven on my next trip :)
Wow, I really liked this video. The tips are actually useful and I like your enthusiasm. You've got yourself a new subscriber!
Glad you found it useful and really appreciate the kind words and support!
You forget mentioning the huge variety of beers in Belgium.
I can fix this…. Did I mention the BEER??? Huge variety, they get served in glasses specific to the beer, and they taste great! One of my personal favorites - Kwak (yes I sounded like a duck when ordering with my American accent). How’s that?!
I live just outside Bruges, but personally I prefer Ghent and Leuven. As for chocolate, you should try Neuhaus. Jean Neuhaus opened a pharmacy in the Queen's Gallery (Royal Gallery) in Brussels in 1857, but he covered his medicines in a thin layer of chocolate. In 1912 his grandson invented the first real belgian chocolate as we know them today. The shop in the Queen's Gallery still exists and it's only meters away from Pierre Marcolini.
Thanks for this :)
when is the best time to visit belgium, is February a bad time? i am asking you cause you mentioned you live there, sorry for bothering 🌝
@@ececew It mostly depends on what you're planning to do. You just have to take into account that the weather is very unpredictable in Belgium, but in general it's best from early May till the end of September. If you're planning to do outdoor activities, you might want to aim for that period. If you're just visiting the cities, there isn't really a bad period. February is probably a quieter period since it's after the holidays and before the Easter period, but it's not really a bad period.
@@mdesmet9111 thank you so much for the detailed info! I really appreciate it.
@@ececew No worries, just let me know if you have any other questions
Why not visit the Wallonie region of Belgium, you have Dinant, Namur, Bastogne, and many more beautiful places to visit, it’s not just about the Flemish part of Belgium, as beautiful as it may be!
Thanks for the tips Garry! I'll add them to my list and will try to visit this year
hm. Dinant is basically a street, Namur is 4 streets and a citadelle, Bastogne is.. what is there to visit there ?
They're porbably worth visiting if you've really done all the other cities, but really, appart from some forests I guess, wallonia doesn't have much to offer.
Also, most walloon cities have not been pedestrionised, which makes them much less attractive than they already are.
I guess Tournai is nice to visit though. That's one city lol
@@liszters8935 Bastogne is for those interested in the Battle of the Bulge.
@@liszters8935There's so much beautiful castle in wallonia bruh. Walzin, La hulpe, Bouillon, etc... As much monument as in Flanders in Mons, Namur, Tournai, Liège. The nature is preserved, there's a reason why Flemish and Dutch people come in Wallonia every year. Even in Bastogne, one beautiful street + the museum, but nature over there is absolutly beautiful in summer if you like hiking. There's Durbuy, La Roche en Ardenne too.
@@liszters8935 Have you ever actually been there ?
Actually Pierre Marcolini is considered as one of the finest chocolatier. It is indeed pricy, but the quality of the cacao is very high, giving it its bitter-sweet taste (as belgians love their food and beers)
So I've heard! As a chocolate novice (at best), I'm certain I wasn't able to identify and appreciate the complexity of Marcoloni cacao. I'll give them another try in my next visit :)
Exactly. It is definitely not mainstream. You definitely take your time to savor one. Not like a Neuhaus, Léonidas, Mary where you'd eat a few. Don't get me wrong, those are delicious too.
You forgot to mention cities like Namur or Dinant, south of Brussels. The scenery in the south of the country is so much prettier than Flanders.
Best video I've seen on Belgium, thank you.
I appreciate the kind words :)
Great video! Small remark though: all domestic trains travel through Brussels Central station too 😉
Good to know! Thanks for watching Vincent!!!
Very surprised you did not mentionthe magnificent City of Liege in the Frecnh-speaking Walloonian region......the people are such a treasure and the history is phenomenal!
Thanks for mentioning this! Looking forward to spending more time in those regions :)
Planning to visit belgium soon. Thanks for the tips.
Glad they were helpful! Hope you have a great trip :)
You're right to undescore that most tourists plan waaay too little time in Belgium - simply because they often hardly know anything about the country. Belgium is an underrated gem and tourists should certainly plan much more time to visit it. N.B.: make sure to travel to less popular places such as Mons, Dinant, Mechlin (Mechelen), Louvain (Leuven) and, in terms of greenery, the vast open sceneries of the Namur, Liège and Luxemburg provinces, in the East and South of the country.
Agreed! And thanks for the list. Can't wait to get back and explore some of those places!
People always forget that Limburg exists and that it has the only natural reservate and a big history of the coal mines that played a huge part in making the country rich (asides from the Congo which was a less nice way to get rich).
Appreciate this Big Dawg!
please go to the iron tower in Diksmuide, its really wonderful you got a whole museum about the first war and a lot more.
Thanks for this! I'll add it to my list :)
@@camdendavid thank you
You can take the same trains in brussels midi and brussels central to Bruges.
If your homebase is Brussels. And you want to visit Belgium by train get get the NMBS standard multi ticket. It has 10 journeys for 9,60 each journey. If you're older than 65 get a senoir ticket. Only €7,80 go and back. Younger than 26 than you get the Youth multi (10 journeys). Only 5,90 euro each journey. And remember you can change trains in 1 journey. Why walk from central to midi?
Ahhhhh this makes sense. I enjoyed the walk but great to know for the future. Thanks!
I loved Neuhaus dark chocolates. Godiva are too sweet for me.
You are one of many, you also overlooked Antwerp, Belgium is no. 1 Antwerp, no. 2 Bruges, and then the other cities (Mechelen, Hasselt, Brussels, Gent…).
Thanks! I'll add those to my list :)
A must see city everyone (except the british) ignores is Ypres.
Alleen een Antwerpenaar zet Antwerpen op nr1. De rest is parking? 🙃
Many chocolates will taste great in Belgium, until you try the ones from "The Chocolate Line" in Bruges. They are next level and an amazing experience. They're all made by hand and have some of the best combinations of flavours you'll find.
Like one already said, Brussels Central offers trains to pretty much all of Belgium and even to the Netherlands. Only the high speed trains don't stop there.
What one may want to know is that while trains between cities are pretty fast, they are very slow to cross Brussels because they usually stop 3 times (Midi, Central, North). So, if you're targeting West and South Belgium (Ghent, Brugge, coast / Tournai, Mons, Charleroi) you better take the train in Midi. If you're targeting North and East Belgium (Antwerpen, Mechelen, Leuven, Liège) better take the train at North station. And if you're targeting South-East Belgium (Namur, Dinant, Arlon) take the train at Luxemburg station. While you can catch every train at Midi or Central, it'll save you some time :)
Awesome tips here! Thanks Ralph!!!
When you talk about chocolate, remember to thank the countries that supplies them, Ghana, Nigeria, Ecuador etc
THANK YOU :)
Actually for dat trips it does not make a blind bit of difference which station in Brussels you go to. The trains to Antwerp and Ghent and Bruges etc.go through all three. Just in a different order. For international trains it does make a difference. They leave from the Gare du Midi.
Ahhh, thanks for the clarification!
Thanks buddy nice recommendation
Glad it was helpful
Yes. Day trips. I would have done more of them when I went. I did Brussels and Bruges. Didn't go to Ghent sigh
I didn't know about the Comic strip trails till I watched your video. My wife and I are off to Brussels for a week next week; I'm gonna try and fit at least one one of them in :)
Hope you have a great time!
@camdendavid We certainly will enjoy it 😁 Brussels is quite a lovely place I think
So much to see and taste or drink in Belgium,the coastal areas, the center or the Arden's, the Flanders region we lost to the french, with small villages,and so much is easily looked or past over,in this great little country,there are many more medieval towns in west flanders besides, Brugge that tourist " rarely" visit,with their traditional square markets , places like Veurne or Ieper, or places like " Sy" in the Arden's if you like climbing? It all depends what your looking for, it has the most diverse and best collection of farm and factory cheeses in the world! And the same can be said about Beers, from little breweries to factory's,to ancient "pater" Beers ! Pale ale, double trippel, you will never find better beers than here! If beer is your fancy do visit " west Vleteren" and its trappist beer!!! simply unique in the world.i grew up in a fairground family, and there is little that I haven't seen, drunk and tasted, between ' Amsterdam ' ( Holland) and 'saint Quintin' ( North France) and the regions here and it's dialects are so divers an different that you can call them a region in itself!
A hidden gem !
Thanks for sharing this! Looking forward to checking out some of those spots :)
I visited Brussels a few years ago and loved it. So much that on my next European trip, I returned and added Bruges for several days. Next trip I'll add Ghent. This video is short, to the point, and informative. Next time maybe add foods of Belgium: moules, waffles, frites, etc.
I appreciate the support. I'll try to add those next time :) Happy travels!
I was in Belgium last July. Plesant discovery. Based in Brussels for 3 nights and Ghent for 3 nights with day trips to Brugges and Antwerp.
Why always Bruges and Ghent. The most beautiful places are in the south of my country. You didn't mentioned cities like Liège, Dinant, Namur or even Eupen.
I'll add them to my list!
Subbed! Can't wait to check out your other videos and get an idea of where I want to travel next! I went to the Old Hot Chocolate House last November when I stayed in Bruges. Ugggh, so good, haha.
Perfect time of year for the Hot Chocolate House! Welcome to the community :)
We ae visiting Belgium in April; it is the last country we haven't visited in Western Europe. Before watching this video, I had planned to break up our time in Bruges and Brussels, tour those cities and take day trips to Ghent, Antwerp and Flanders Field. Does that not work?
I think that would work well! I'm sure a few locals will chime in here as well. Hope you have a wonderful trip!
Same trip planned here, same month, last country of W. Europe too!
I’m thinking of basing in Ghent, and visiting Bruges and Brussels. Not sure what else! I love medieval architecture. Any underground adventures? And what to do on Easter Sunday!
Lovely video David. Could you please let me know how to buy all day travel tickets (tram, buses & metro) from Midi and how much the actual price. Kind Regards
Best place for train tickets is the SNCB official website: www.belgiantrain.be/en
And STIB official website should have you covered for the rest: www.stib-mivb.be/abon_tickets.html?l=en
Hope this helps :)
@@camdendavid Thanks David
I am from Belgium, and can confirm Marys chocolate is very nice! 👍
Glad to hear I'm not the only one!
There are also quite a few things to see in the southern part of Belgium.
Looking forward to exploring during my next visit :)
Our stores close very early but the bars & restaurants are open late.
Seems like a fair tradeoff
I would make one modification. Make Antwerp the base instead of Brussels. Antwerp is in between Gent and Brussels but large enough so you can also get to Amsterdam and other international destinations.
GREAT WORK!..is there other youtubers similar towards your videos you like or youtubers who do itenary/guides for different cities
Appreciate the support! Lots of great folks out there but Wolters World is one of my favorites. Great source of knowledge, awesome guy, always giving honest/authentic tips, and he has videos on soooo many destinations. Hope that helps :)
I'm considering going to Belgium next month, but still have my doubts hahaha, greetings from Colombia.
Greetings! What's your hesitation?
Thanks!
Thank YOU! Really appreciate the support!!!
I think the Belgium you visited is called Flanders . I must admit they have more preserved cities as they haven't been exposed to war like the southern cities . You need to visit Tournai, Mons , Namur and even Liège and Charleroi and the Arden region .
Added all those to my list :)
So glad to see Tournai in a comment :o Usually, even belgians forget about us :')
I mean, ofc it is easy to get around. Flanders, the Dutch parts of Belgium, is smaller than New Jersey
Small but filled with great places and wonderful people :)
When you Visiting Belgium you can visit Netherlands and even German Cities like aachen
Agreed!
absolutely, Gent is by far the best city and you probably did not see half of it. Did you know it was the largest city except for Paris north of the Alps in medieval times.
Also in Gent, things are really open late, both in the unversity's quarters (Overpoort) as in the city's center. By the way, also in Brussels if you know where to go. Bruges, on the other hand, is dead at night. So you kinda got the wrong image based on Bruges.
Btw Gent also has a mean hot chocolate bar in the University's quarters.
Thanks for the tips! What's the hot chocolate bar called? Might have to go try some in July
Ghent was indeed the Manhattan of the middle ages, however that is not necessarily that relevant anymore today.
Antwerp took that same honor in the 16th century and is until today the most vibrant city of Flanders.
Antwerp and Brussels are the only two metropolitan / cosmopolitan cities in Belgium
@@camdendavid I think he's referring to Mayana. Just google "Mayana Gent" to find their website. Tip: even if you like dark chocolate, Mayana offers chocolate that is much much darker than "dark". Don't pick the 85% chocolate, unless you really like very dark and bitter chocolate. Many people make this mistake and order the darkest chocolate, while expecting "normal" dark chocolate.
hello :-) it's the winter good autumn for trips in the city ?lot's cold or rain ..!!
I've spent a limited amount of time in Belgium but I'd say it's well worth a visit in the autumn and winter. The Christmas markets are wonderful and the cities have a different energy that time of year. I think it's really about asking yourself about how long you'd like to visit if the weather is chilly :)
One more to add : Villers-La-Ville impressive abbey ruins. South of Brussels.
Thanks for letting us know! I'm surprised that we need to skip chocolates haha! Also needed this for my school project so thanks again!
You got it! Hope the project goes well :)
what was the project about?
@@istoppedcaring6209 Each student was selected either a french region, or a mostly french speaking country. And my teacher selected Belgium for me, therefore I was reasearching to learn about belgiums architecture and its main cities. Thank you for this info!
@@camdendavid Thank you very much!! It went amazing, and I was surprised how exciting it was to present it to my class, I was super nervous! Thanks again!
@@BabyRubyIsReal So glad to hear that!!!
The 3 Railways stations are link in Bruxelles Bruxelles Midi/Zuid, Bruxelles Centrale/Centraale, Bruxelles Nord/Noord!
Thanks!
Thanks for the helpful tips! I'm thinking of visiting Belgium in August. Does it get busy in August?
I've only been in August once and it wasn't overwhelming by any means. A town like Bruges will likely have a crowd in the late morning/early afternoon but it's nothing like what you'd see in some of the big European cities. It's possible this August will be busier with the Olympics happening in Paris for the first 11 days of the month -- Probably worth booking things in advance. Hope you have a great trip :)
July will probably be the busiest month while August may be a bit less crowded. Nonetheless, I would rather recommend September as July and August are the school holiday months and always are inherantly more busy. Also, it depends a bit what you want to visit (Bruges, Brussels Grand Place, ... things like that are always pretty busy, especially on weekends).
Edit: typooooos.
Pro Tip from Belgian here : try to avoid Bruxelles Midi station if you can, literally a warzone
Good to know haha
Please do not exaggerate. It isn't the most attractive train hub but I've seen much worse in Europe than Bxl Midi, believe me.
Can you give me examples? So I can avoid them 😂
@@MrPygargueBxXL Paris Nord, Roma Termini, ...
Why? Is that where Belgian people go to hurt tourists and each other ?
Wallonie and Mechelen (Malines) are great too.
Thanks for the tip!
Oh dear....EVERY national train that stops in Central station in Brussels also stops in Midi (South Station). There are one or two international trains that only stop in South Station. The Eurostar train to London is a good example.
Thanks for the clarification :)
Ghent is wonderful. I like it best.
Great spot to be :)
Hi one important question....how is Brussels when it is a public holiday? From info i get ya the shops is close but what about restaurants nd tourist spots?
I haven't spent any time there during a public holiday but I imagine the restaurants and most tourist spots would still be open (maybe with limited hours). Hoping a local will chime in here to help :)
Bars and restaurants are mostly open on sundays and holidays. Some supermarkets are open, but only in the morning. Shops are generally closed, but there are some exceptions, like certain shopping malls, coastal cities (Ostend, Knokke-Heist...) or dedicated 'shopping streets' in tourist areas.
@@mdesmet9111 thank you fro the info
What do you mean Gent is 20 min away from Brugge? By Concorde? :D
You're right (I was rounding down from the 26 minutes on the fastest train). But now all I can think about is traveling that route by Concorde and I've gone down quite the rabbit hole here... If my math is right (not likely), I think that trip would be under a minute and a half if we were maintaining the 1300 MPH cruising speed. But there's only one way to test that... Any interest in taking a VERY expensive 2-minute flight haha? I'll bring my camera gear!
I’m going to Brussels this summer and I’m totally hung up on the day trips vs spending the nights there. For instance I want to visit Ghent and Bruges - would I be better off taking day trips to each or just minimize the back and forth and just spend the night in Bruges and visit Ghent on our way back? Totally don’t know what to do. Thanks! 0:29
Hey i'm from Belgium and i recommend staying in Bruges for just a day but would stay a night in Ghent tough, its super gorgeous and has alot to offer! :)
I second what @Belgy said! While you could easily take day trips, I found the late evenings to be a unique experience in Ghent and Bruges. Far less touristy as the night goes on and something to be experienced if you have the time :)
Hope you have a great trip!
When you visit Ghent in summer ... Gentse Feesten (festival all over town) takes place from 14th to 23rd July. Very crowded, but worthtwhile. Be sure to book your :hotel or hostel in time or travel from one place to anpther by train/bus. If you are interested in the architecture and culture and not fond of festivals, better choose a different period.
@@lindakerremans2729 that’s the exact time I’ll be there. Haha.
Great video. Very interesting because I was looking at spending just like 3 days there. Guess I should look into some of the other places you named. Doing the day trips there do the trains run late?
There should be options running until about 11:30 PM each night. Hope you have a great time :)
@@camdendavid Thank you
how did you mannage to have sunny pictures ??
Got lucky I guess haha
You said you move to different country in the space of a month ... Can you help me to relocate to Canada/Belgium/ Australia or any European country... Need your reply ple
Hey hey! I'm doing all of this on tourist visas but am happy to share anything I've learned :) Where are you from?
Informative 👍🏼
Appreciate the support!
Might I recommended Limburg? Absolutely beautiful nature! You have the barefeet path in Zutendaal, life over 100 years ago in Bokrijk, kayaking on the Meuse, gallo-romain Museum in the oldest city of the lowlands, connectera which is the biggest entrance to the first natural Parc Hoge Kempen, you can cycle over a big pond (literally a stroke to cycle on going through water), you have Terhills Resort which is literally recharging in the natural Parc but in a very luxurious setting with the most amazing beautiful wellness 'Elaisa' where you can get full zen, Japanese garden in Hasselt, blueberries field where you can walk through blueberry fields and during season pick them along with a shop with all blueberry foods and a place to eat everything with blueberries (tea, cake, even an amazing nacho sauce and many more), summer bars, beautiful blossoms and fruit trees in the south, just overall walking and cycling through beautiful and tranquil landscapes, rich mining history, marl caves and many more!
Oh and just over the border in the Netherlands (also called province of Limburg) there's Maastricht which is such a beautiful city with many many shops close to eachother, great food, a treasury at St. Sevatius basilica with Christian treasures from all over the world, the basilica is also beautiful as is the tiny basilica sterre der zee with beautiful dome ceiling paintings.
During the winter I recommend going to Valkenburg close by Maastricht with the biggest underground Christmas market of Europe in the caves and just a magical city overall with the beautiful yellow buildings.
Thank you so much for these recommendations! I really appreciate you taking the time to share this and I'll add all these to my list. Hoping to visit at some point this summer :)
I looooove Belgique. So magical.
If you visit belgium, please don't get the touristic and expensive waffles and chocolate in the main street in big cities like Brussels 😅. They are usually not even that tasty, just there to bring money in from tourists. Find a nice brasserie or restaurant in a less touristic place and take your time to enjoy some food. Also be aware of your belongings in big cities like brussels, antwerp etc. best to keep your phone, passport and bank passes in your hand.
There are a lot of beatiful places worth a visit. I like Leuven and Hasselt to. But there are also nice places in walonie and de vlaamse ardennen for people who like nature.
Great tips in here - thanks!
Not a lot of late night entertainment ? Belgium has the most pubs and concertvenues per capita in the whole of Europe. There are even pubs which never close ! And in Brussels you can go and see a great rock concert every day if you wish !
Thanks for this! Any venues you'd recommend for the concerts?
AB, Botanique, Madeleine, Bozar, Cirque Royal, Passage 44 ... @@camdendavid
Thanks! @@wanneske1969
Hey! Great places! You forgot to mention the beers! :D Belgium is the best place for beers lovers...lolll :)
Hahah do you have any favorites you'd recommend?
@@camdendavid Belgium is well known for their trappist beers. They are brewed in monasteries by monks. My favorite one is the Orval. There are other ones like Rochefort, Westmalle, Chimay. They also have ones that are created in the Trappist style but not made by monks. They are called "abbey beer". Averbode is a very good one and it's available here in Canada where I live. If you ever go back to Belgium, I highly suggest you go visit the Bier Central pub which has a fantastic catalog of 300 beers. There are locations in Ghent, Antwerpen and Brussels. Everything you said in the video is on point. I really miss Belgium. :)
@@samt.1369 Awesome tips! I'll definitely check those out during my next visit. Much appreciated! Hope you get back to Belgium soon :)
i like this video. i like your style. more power to your youtube channel.
Much appreciated. Let me know if there's ever anything different you'd like to see
one thing youre gona like to go to ostend if you go again
I'll add it to my list - thanks!
If I hear you talk, I actually would recommend making Ghent the homebase. It is in the middle of train networks easily connecting to Brussels, Bruges, Antwerp, Courtrai, etc. Also you should've tried the Chocolate Line in Bruges!
Nope. Brussels is very much the central hub of the railway network, even the most cursory look at a network map makes this abundantly clear. Basing in Ghent is only good advice if you intend on visiting just the North-Western part of the country, maybe up to Antwerp and Brussels, but not really beyond. If you want to go to Hasselt, Arlon, Liege, Namur that will be much more efficient from Brussels than from Ghent. Also if you want to maybe go further afield and take a high speed train for a daytrip to Lille (40 minutes), Rotterdam (1h10), Paris (1h20), or Cologne (1h50), this is possible from Bruxelles-Midi, but not so much from Ghent, unless you add about an hour each way to go to/from Brussels and make the transfer.
@@mariusdufour9186 My answer was also based on the assumption that primarily Flanders is visited. Otherwise you are right.
I'll add Chocolate Line to my trip this summer. Thanks for the tip!
@@mariusdufour9186 Why te hell would you send a tourist to other country's, oh its not far ok. the time they have is gold worth, you can not visit a land in a week, unless its only for beer, chocolat and fries, our culture heritage is enooormus, a daytrip to paris? what they gonne do there ? visit the louvre? this place by itself takes more than a day.
7 important things to know while in Belgium? 1,Deurne,(vliegtuig) 2 zaventem,(vliegtuig),3 Brussels (train),4 ,5,6,7,boarder crossings,France ,Germany,Netherlands, Luxembourg,fast car,and then chose ,and leave Belguim as quickly as possible.
I'm actually in Brussels now and craving some authentic mussels. Can you recommend a great local spot, away from the tourist traps?"
I don’t but maybe a local will see this and help out 😃
why base yourself in brussels, take a town two or three train stops out and it should be way cheaper and not much more difficult, also likely more relaxed
Fair point. Brussel was just the most convienet option for us at the time :)
Cool video! But I hope next time you don't skip Antwerp, it's the second largest city of Belgium and it's absolutely beautiful and fun.
Antwerp is definitely on my list for our next visit! Planning on making it there in July :)
@@camdendavid Can I recommend Maastricht (Netherlands), which is just over the border in the very east of the country? Search it on youtube, you won't regret it.
@@camdendavid And that's the best time to go. Antwerp is the 2nd port of Europe, it's a pocket size metropole and very intenational. It doesn't just live of tourism, it's an economical hub, it's alive and relevant in the present, yet it's also an old city with a river a lot of history and many beautiful buildings. All in all a charming an cosy vibe. Another overlooked gem. Make sure to arrive by train in the central station, you will not believe what you see. Take care!
It's almost all true what you are telling - except for the nightlife, cafés and bars stay open usually till very late (especially in Brussels, Antwerp, Gent, Leuven) and in Brussels, Gent and Antwerp there's a vivid nightclub scene, but as usual you have to know where you have to be and do your research...
Thanks for this!
Basicly every city with a decent (large) university will have a vivid nightlife.
Why would you stay only one day in Brussels or Antwerp ? You could spend an entire week there
Agreed! I had a boat to catch in Amsterdam so I just didn't have the time. Can't wait to get back and spend more time in Belgium
In Brussels and Antwerp you could go to fancy restaurants, clubs, pubs, musea, beautiful parks, concerts, festivals etc, never boring there @@camdendavid
kinda weird that they went with pierre marcolini which does not sound Belgian at all but italian /french names for fancy luxury commodities are all the rage in the US so maybe that was the thinking or it was an italian (or swiss) setting up shop believing the chocolate was mostly hype,
I'm sure there's a story behind it haha
One thing he said is incorrect about train though. He said you need to go to Bruxelles Midi. That's not correct, Bruxelles midi is south west of Brussels meaning basically if you want to go somewhere in the south (like Paris not in Belgium but we got a fast train and it's not like as a tourist if you want to go to Charleroi )or on the west side (Brugges and the sea), you need to go there. However Bruxelles nord (so north station) is where you need to go if you want to go in the north like Antwerp, Gent (or Amsterdam if you want to go fast to the Netherlands). That being said, the 3 stations are connected so you have trains going from Bruxelles-Midi to Bruxelles-Nord and passing by Bruxelles-Central. So there is no need to run desesperatly by foot to catch your train if you are on the wrong one...
Thanks for the correction :)
In gent they can’t say the letter G and pronounce it as H.
Gent= “hent”
Goed= “hoed” what also means hat in Dutch.
There more words with G but I don’t want to get my dictionary in this.
How do I know this? I visited it once and I live in Belgium.