There is talk of relocating Victoria Coach Station, but it's such an iconic location, I think some are dragging their heels. It's also a listed building, so finding an alternative use would be a challenge. As for 'nice' coach stations, Glasgow's Buchanan Coach Station is bright, airy and efficient and one of the best I've come across. Between our two reviews, I think getting National Express seat 2A is going to be pretty tricky in future!
Victoria Coach station more than any other coach/bus and train station makes me feel unsafe. Wouldn't use it again. I used Leicester once as I was getting a train to Derby (on one of my run event adventures!) and it was quite nice!
Excellent video Steve! We took Eurostar from London to Paris when we were there for a quick daytrip. We left our London hotel early in the morning, got off the train in central Paris by 10;00 local, hit the tourist high spots, back on the train by 18;00, and we were tucked into our beds in London by 22;00. Brilliant way to travel, better than flying!
I once had a hilariously bad Eurostar trip from Brussels to Liverpool. A chap locked himself in the train loo and we had an extended stop in Lille. It took 10 armed French police, 4 guards and a bloke with a crowbar to get him out. It was farcically funny. Anyway, I missed my (then) Virgin train connection and they let me on the later train as I went to Eurostar at St Pancras and they stamped my ticket (I was on an advance 1st class ticket valid for a specific train and Virgin were very good about it). Filed under "you couldn't make it up" there was a freight train on fire near Stafford so we went on another diversion. It took me about 8 hours to get home and the next time I went I flew home!
As a Belgium-loving german that hasn't been to Scotland for way too long, this ist the content I really enjoy. Hope to be able to make the trip up to Scotland later this year. Keep up the great content!
@@steve-marsh- I loved the Scottish landscape views beginning @ 19:00 after you turned off the motorway toward Edinburgh. Even wet the scenes were terrific.
I can recommend Leicester St Margarets Bus/coach Station, knocked down and rebuilt and is essentially a brand new coach station, it's nice and airy and has frequent connections to the Rail Station and is served by National Express
You do put yourself through it sometimes, Steve, for our entertainment and edification! I visited Brussels during my cycle racing career in the 1960's and 70's when the home town of Tintin still had some of the atmosphere of those Herge cartoons, though I believe it is different now. In 1969, a pal and I realised that we could follow the first week of that year's Tour de France travelling between the stage towns by rail. What a travel video that would have made! The surviving 35mm slides bring back such memories of that trip. After seeing Eddy Merckx, who grew up in Brussels, take his first ever Yellow Jersey at the end of the first day's racing in crowd scenes bordering on a riot, we were walking back to the city centre when about half a dozen of the Tour's Gendarmerie motorcycle escort came roaring to a halt beside us. We thought we were in trouble, but they only asked if we could direct them to their hotel. Luckily it was near ours in the Nord area so in my basic French I was able to help. Next morning as we made our way to the Midi station to catch our train to watch the stage to Maastricht, we entered the Grand Place where to our amazement the team cars of Merckx's Faema team were corralled in the centre around the mecano's who were preparing the team's beautiful white and red bikes for the day's stage. We looked on in fascination, while around us Brussels business folk hurried past on their way to their Monday morning offices. At that time, cycling was such a " cinderella " sport in Britain, we could never imagine such a thing happening back home in London. The fascinating mediaeval city of Ghent was where I lodged with my team mates during our racing visits to Belgium, but on occasions when we were going to follow the Tour of Flanders classic on the first Sunday in April, we'd stay in Brussels on the Saturday night and the Grand Place was where we looked for our evening's entertainment. Like you, our first call was at Leonidas to buy some of their fabulous chocolates for the wives and girlfriends we'd abandoned for the weekend. ( Did you get some for Alicja? On second thoughts, they'd probably have melted in the heat you experienced on your journey before you got them home!) Next requirement was for a few beers in the bars around the Place. My favourite was the local Brussels Geuze Lambic. Afterwards we'd go to the Rue des Bouchers area behind the Place where there were numerous restaurants serving many kinds of cuisine as well as the traditional Moules followed by steak and frites. They were unforgettable weekends with companions, many of whom are sadly no longer with us . You baulked at the idea of an overnight coach journey to Frankfurt, but in our early married years, Henia and made a number of journeys between Victoria and Warsaw. Leaving around midday, in pre-Tunnel days this included a Dover-Calais ferry crossing and a drive through Germany overnight before an early afternoon arrival in Warsaw. An adventure then, but not something I'd relish nowadays!
Sorry - did you get my reply to this? Not sure - I definitely posted one but it may be lost somewhere. I was just saying how the thought of following the tour through Europe sounds fantastic. Would love to do it some day. And that Alicja got a big 10 euro bag of those truffles :D
@@steve-marsh it takes a lot of organisation and preparation to follow the Tour especially in the mountains. Some of the camper vans you see at the side of the parcours on the big climbs have been there for days to secure their positions, though they say the parties that go on while they're waiting are awesome, which probably accounts for many of the "over-excited" fans you see at the roadside! The Tour was big back in the time I followed it, but it's almost outgrown itself now.
I’ve literally just booked a trip on the Eurostar thanks to this video! Always wanted to give it a go. I done an overnight bus trip with Flixbus to London from Edinburgh in July. Got to admit it was great but then with them you can book the seat next to you for a small fee! Coach was half empty anyway but seems like a good idea! Cheers again mate.
Great to see you out and about again. I found the whole Euro Star experience a very expensive let down - probably because they have a monopoly I came back premium class, so plenty of 'free' wine to enjoy. Scott at TPA is great!
Cheers Robin! Totally agree. I have faint memories of using them just when they were shiny and new, very different these days. The locomotives are cutting edge, but the experience for passengers could be so much better in my opinion.
Just saw this video but a few comments, If you think the Eurostar looks jaded then you should try the car train.A bit of advice if you are travelling from Folkestone to Calais or reverse make sure you go to the toilet before getting on the train. the toilet can best be described as industrial and when I travelled in June/July only a few were open so when I found one there was a queue. Victoria bus station while not that great is still a major improvment on its earlier version. When I first used the overnight bus to London and back the passenger areas were completely open to the bus bays and had limited seating. Waiting for a bus on New Years Eve was not fun, no heating and open to any draughts. The last time I travelled overnight to London and back was on one of the Megabus sleeper coaches, full of bunk beds and no seating area so you were in the bunk for the whole trip, at least the toilet was open and quite good. The problem was that the lower bunks had a very low headroom, just about enough to turn over with at the most around a couple of inches between your shoulders and the bed above. Probably the most uncomfortable bed I have ever used, coming back I was over the rear axle so every bump could be felt. The earlier buses used one of the bendy buses so there was a seating area as well as the bunks.
Thanks so much for your comments and observations! Oh I always wanted to try the sleeper bus (especially now I have a channel) shame it's no longer around!
Excellent as always Steve. The coach trip brought back memories stuck on a school coach trip to Holland from Larne. Drive down from Stranraer to Dover was an eternity with 35 other hooligans 🤣.
Really enjoyed this one Steve. An insight as to how easy it is to get over to Belgium (and back). In the school holidays when I was a child my mum used to put me on a coach from 'down south' to spend my holidays with my Aunt who lived in Glasgow. I remember then thinking 'it's such a long way!'. But really your trip didn't seem too long, and it was great you were able to get some shut-eye. Thanks for taking us with you on this adventure. Love your content. Fabulous editing 🥰
Great video as always Steve, definitely my favorite travel channel on RUclips! A real honest review in every video and very interesting sightseeing too! Keep it up mate
Love the variety in you videos. Always look forward to Saturday Mornings, never knowing where your going to take us. Loved the bonus Red Arrows display the other week. Was lucky to see them every year at Hoylake RNLI open day growing up. Keep up the great work!
Really enjoyed that one Steve, thanks as always. Very useful as im doing the Channel Tunnel myself, first time experience end of Feb. Will likely do exactly what you recommended and scoot up to Brussels Centraal for my hour or 2 i will have in Brussels, that seems like sound advice. You will probably think Im a right nutter but in 2 days my itinerary is (I'm calling it my Leap Year Special) : Belfast to Luton EasyJet, Airport coach/Rail/Tube/Rail to Stansted via St Pancras and Tottenham Hale. Then RyanAir STN to Eindhoven (£14.99). As well as the cost saving against flying into Rotterdam the fiddly connection via Luton also gets me almost 3 hours extra in bed, rather than go for a 6am start direct into Stansted which then would have left me with almost a 7 hour wait for RyanAir. After that it's train to Rotterdam. Overnight in Holiday Inn Express adjacent to the train station. Next day it's : Train Rotterdam to Brussels via Eurostar, kill those few hours as mentioned and onwards to St Pancras Int'l, Tottenham Hale Underground and Stansted for EasyJet last flight of the day back to Belfast. If I was anywhere near as good and brave as you I might travel blog it but I will leave such thngs to the experts I think. :) Happy Burns' Night! :D
Another class video Steve. You try out the Glasgow to Donegal coach service someday, which are operated by Mc Ginley Coach Travel, Bus Feda and Doherty's Travel and also the London Victoria to Dublin service operated by Expressway, they have Bernard Kavanagh & Sons Coaches operating that service so should try them out. Look forward to watching more videos. Best wishes to yous both. ☘️☘️
Very nice as always . Surprised that anybody could dislike Brussels; some chocolates and 'French fries' can surely ameliorate the disgruntled folks . Good tip from Scotty there helped to ease out the last lap . Thanks for the trip .
I went to Brussels a few years back and got off at Bruxelles Midi thinking it was the centre. If only I'd watched RUclips back then! Great little video Steve, hope you sleeped well after the coach
I'll be traveling overnight from Edinburgh to London in a couple months while I'm on vacation from the States. Figured I'd do that to save money from not having to book a hotel for one night. The clencher was finding out about National Express and seat 2A. I'm 6 foot 7 so that extra legroom made it a no-brainer to book. Thanks for your videos.
Great update once again Steve and pleased to hear you know Ken from Planes trains and everything as me and my wife watch you both , keep up the good work and say Hi to Alicja for us
Another enjoyable Journey. At least I wasn't sweating in the cars alongside everyone else! Thank you once again for the work that you do to make these for our entertainment. Say hi to Alicja for me. Be well, stay safe, travel far, love from Texas.
Fab video loved it as usual. I did the caoch journey way back when I was a young thing & I remember how uncomfortable it was, and I was cold! Never again! Now that my daughter has been to Edinburgh (for the Xmas mkt) & says she 'loves Scotland' I'm hoping we might go together on my bucket list tour!! 😉
Believe it or not, Boston and Washington, DC both have pretty decent coach stations. Buuuut those are the only two I can think of! Great vid as always Steve!
Oof Respect Peter! Although it would have been nice to break the journey and stretch the legs on the ferry! Doing a coach/ferry combo next week actually! (trip next week, it'll take a wee while to hit the channel)
@@steve-marsh you did get to stretch your legs or have a sleep on the ferry. It was just convenient that you didn't have to take all of your belongings up into the ferry as your luggage stayed in the hold of the coach whilst you was on the ferry. Shame that the service was discontinued after so many years as was convenient to me. Could travel from Heathrow to dungarvan via Victoria for like £79 return. Looking forward to see that journey whenever if gets published. Take care of yourself
@@peterdnreynolds777 The London - Dublin route was reinstated last month, just twice a week though. Sadly it's not likely the Cork will return though, National Express cancelled it before covid.
Fantastic video as always Steve, thank you!! Many years ago I did a similar trip taking Eurostar from London going to Brussels and had a wonderful 3 days there. I was glad for the ability to use my Eurostar ticket to go elsewhere in Belgium and ended up spending a day in Antwerp and Bruges. And I share your review of the Victoria Coach terminal, but I have never seen a "nice" bus terminal either in the UK nor here in the States. I did an overnight bus from there up to Glasgow but I can't recall how good or bad the ride was other than I liked the fact Glasgow's terminal is centrally located. It's all an adventure.
I really like your last sentence there Raymond :) I hadn't realised my Eurostar ticket could take me even further, although with the limit of time I couldn't do much on this trip. Good to know for future though! Aw the best
Takes me back to 2019. Eurostar Paris to London then a Victoria Coach Station bus tour. Thx for providing me with memories. ☺️ I love 🏴. Back there in a month.
Haha fair point :D Cheers for coming along - I swear, when I finished this trip I thought I might not have enough footage for a video, so glad I was able to pull something together :)
Never apologize for your efforts, merley say I hope you have enjoyed this video, see you next time. I have liked all of your videos and maybe next year I can accompany you. Cheers
Seeing the inside of Victoria coach station brought back the nightmares, why go to Heathrow, usually it would be watford way, thanks for that Steve, but day train for me
Hi Steve, I've also travelled Eurostar from both Paris and Brussels. The Brussels trip was unique as only one of the channel tunnels was open, due to a fire on a lorry shuttle earlier, so we had to travel through the wrong tunnel (although hard to know once you're in it) due to only a single line being open. I can also confirm the seedy nature of the area around Midi. My hotel was only a few blocks away so I walked it and saw the local wildlife (got the tram back). Don't think I'd fancy the bus heading north though. Last time I did the whole way back to Edinburgh I booked a hotel in London for the night and took the train the next morning. By the way I love your new channel makeover with its Scottish blue banner (however I'm not too sure I would just call Alicja a sidekick!!). I will admit to being unfaithful and sometimes watching Mr Trains/Planes/Everything. In one video he even mentions you by name and says people tell him your videos are better (might have been on the bus trip to Glasgow you mentioned). Of course your videos are much better and lots more fun! Great trip as ever, Allan
Cheers Allan! Haha if I call Alicja anything other than a sidekick, people will be expecting her in every video :D and I tell you what - she was MORE THAN HAPPY to swerve a trip like this one. She thinks I'm a bit mad sometimes :) I would also much prefer the train to get back to Edinburgh (and then onto Montrose) but the price when I checked was crazy! I was ruled by my wallet for this one :D Aye, I remember Scott's shout-out (which was very appreciated) it was on the 'Flying Editing to Glasgow' video :)
Hello Steve - as you found E* is very busy this month as a lot of people have shunned air in favour of rail. On some days you can find one or more trains fully booked in *all* classes !
Great Vlog @Steve. Was in Brussels several times. But only went down to the Manneken Pis and Grand plaza once, We used to have the coach parked near the Hilton and let the people walk down. That was in the 80's. I also used to do a service out of Victoria to Tralle in Irl and back that night. We used to park just near Gloucester Road Tube station an Empty site until it was baught. I think there is a massive Sainsbury's on it now. You had a decent drive up to Edinburh. Huge difference in the price of the bus and the train!
@@steve-marsh When I said back that night, I meant for the sailing to Fisguard, we did not arrive in London until 6-7am the following morning. Yea! Owners that time did not worry too much about driving well over hours.
Much has changed in Brussels, the centre has largely been pedestrianised, including the main north-south lane. A coach - if even allowed - would have trouble navigating the narrow(ed) streets with their slowing-down obstacles and layouts. Not to mention the maximum "speed" of 30 km/ almost everywhere.
Quite a video Steve. Appending the bus trip back to Edinburgh (to this video) was a good call. Bet you slept for 12 hours after that one. That was a nice panorama shot while in old town Brussels. Interesting food combination though, good chocolate, followed by chip's. Lots of good content and the perspective really puts the viewer on the street. The beer in that horn glass, souvenir?
Cheers Frank! Really enjoyed that wee trip, but would you believe I still had almost 2 hours drive to get home to Montrose after the overnighter. Haha would have loved to sneak that glass home!
Another very enjoyable video. I'm a Londoner by birth and have always hated Victoria Coach Station. I left and haven't been back since 1991 and cannot believe it has not yet been updated. It was great to see/hear Scott getting some recognition too. I know it's not a great area but I love wandering around the weekend markets at Brussels Midi. I hope that you and Alicija are settling into your new home in Montrose, I went once and tried cycling around the basin but got lost on the way. Thanks again, all the best, Michael
Cheers Michael! Oh would love to visit the markets! Alicja is desperate to walk round the basin, we were just talking about it today in fact, wishing that there was a whole loop around it for walking/cycling - I can understand how easy it would be to get lost! We are absolutely loving it and getting our new home all cosy for the winter that will be with us soon! :D
@@srfurley I stayed in Blackpool for a while in 1990 and took a regular coach to London via Birmingham, the bus waited in an underground car park in Birmingham but I never alighted, that may be the coach station you mean?
That coach journey didn't seem so bad! I used to travel up to the north east of England in the early 80's on National Express, 3 hours to Cheltenham then 7 hours to Middlesborough. Today any north east trip if not done in the car is with LNER! Great video Steve
Interesting video, stop with the food Steve, I put pounds on just looking at it! Can’t compete with the chocolate truffles, but I have the best fish & chips in Derby’s coming my way curtesy of my daughter, have enjoyed the travel experience, but couldn’t do Euro-tunnel in a million years, have a lovely weekend and best regards to Alicja 🤗
Thank you so much for your adventures We really look forward to them .. better than watching the rubbish on TV .. hope that you settle into your new home in Montrose !! Best wishes sent to you .. Chris June
@@steve-marsh Hi Steve, unfortunately made the return trip on the coach as well, wasn’t any better,don’t think I slept at all, it seemed the seat in front was getting closer and closer 😀 It was 1982, so things are maybe better now. I take the train now 😀
Saturday evening in Brisbane and a new video from you, thanks for a great journey but you should have seen your blood shot eyes when you where doing your piece to camera after arriving in Edinburgh, you may have had some sleep on the bus but I bet you where out like a light when you got into your own bed. Thanks again and stay safe, cheers.
Haha so true mate, that's the side effect of 30+ hours with only a couple of short naps! Hey, I still had to drive Edinburgh - Montrose, but boy was my bed a welcome sight when I got there!
Great entertainment Steve been to Brussels once with work had to eat a fish that still had its head on yugh 40 years since did the overnight bus, in them days they had two drivers who swapped regularly while the bus was moving. Keep up the good work
Hi Steve. We have one thing in common, apart from You Tube, the Bank Card !! I worked for the Clydesdale Bank for 34 years, which is of course now Virgin Money, so much as I regret the passing the name of Clydesdale Bank I can claim affinity with Virgin Money through he continuation of the business. Keep up the good work keeping your followers of the best places to go, and the best way to travel on a sensible budget.
Steve, town center looked very interesting of course truffles chips(without mayo please) beer what could be better. Your right not a fan of heat train a bit crowed but your bus ride to London kool stay safe cheers😘
Great Video Steve, yes I have been to Brussels a few times, but flew with Ryanair from Prestwick to Brussels charleroi when the airfare was 1 pence fare plus tax £17.00 return - not anymore. The Eurostar looks good, I would certainly upgrade to first class or premium. A lot of travelling for you!!!!
Cheers David! I used Ryanair as well to get over there, but didn't film that bit. The bus Charleroi to Brussels was still more than the airfare though! :D
i don’t drink alcohol but can understand a drink on a warm day and done to say that you did it…i’d break my personal anti-alcohol vow for the sake of saying that i tried it once! and these little side quests are fun, especially as you get treats from them in multiple ways 😉🤣
I love Brussels, my eldest boy lives in Koekelberg and we visit regularly ! We've just been last month, but flew with KLM, although I have travelled it by coach all the way from Aberdeen ! I also love the female voice that does the train and metro destination announcements, it's a really great voice ! Great city, the transport system is fantastic. If you go to Belgium again, hop over to Liege - fantastic place, busier and better than Bruges. Enjoy some of their famous meatballs, and visit Le Pot au Lait - weird pub but great !
Thanks Steve - I think we might have to add Belgium to our itinerary! Doing at least one trip through the tunnel seems like a good addition to our travel experiences.
Yeah that's what I thought too :) Belgium is a wonderful country, but if I'd had time I much prefer the small towns, and when it's a wee bit cooler! :)
@@steve-marsh 28 is a pretty standard temperature here in Adelaide, we consider that just perfect. A few patches of consecutive days in the low to mid 40’s are usual for summers here, but we do manage that with most homes and pretty much all shops having air conditioning. I know that’s where the UK really struggled with the high temps this summer as air conditioning is not very common in many places still - I’d say air conditioning installations will increase dramatically over the next couple of years with what you guys went through this year!
I wasn't a huge fan of Brussels when we were there a couple of years ago Steve. The main sites are cool but I found much of the city very corporate. Bruges was lovely mind you. I would love to go back there. Your coach trip looked very scenic once you got across the border to the promised land 😊👍
Aye, know what you mean mate. I love Belgium, but much prefer the smaller towns. Haha aye, as soon as the sun came up, we had a gorgeous drive into Edinburgh :)
A very enjoyable overview of your trip, you must have been really exhausted by the time you reached home. I’ve not actually been into Brussels myself, just driven past it on the motorway a number of times when travelling from a ferry port to the Netherlands, France or Spain. Our first trip beyond the UK since pre-pandemic will be in a couple of weeks, travelling on the ferry Newcastle/Amsterdam (starting point is Broughty Ferry) then driving on to the very southern part of the Netherlands on a family trip to visit relatives there, although we’ll break our return journey in Utrecht for a few days as neither of us has been there before.
Bill that sounds absolutely fantastic! Hoping to do that very ferry at some point, just waiting for favourable prices. Your trip through NL sounds incredible - would love to travel more widely there. ps. took Alicja to Broughty Ferry recently and I think she fell in love with the place :)
@@steve-marsh Yes, Broughty Ferry and other towns east/north of there are very attractive to visit, as is Fife of course. I live in Nairn (a pretty place too) but my partner lives in BF for work/study reasons so we mostly split our time between the two, but we’re both looking forward to our first trip abroad since February/March 2020.
There is talk of relocating Victoria Coach Station, but it's such an iconic location, I think some are dragging their heels. It's also a listed building, so finding an alternative use would be a challenge. As for 'nice' coach stations, Glasgow's Buchanan Coach Station is bright, airy and efficient and one of the best I've come across. Between our two reviews, I think getting National Express seat 2A is going to be pretty tricky in future!
Haha so true mate! :D The coach journey wasn't too bad eh? Fancy a longer one next time :) Good call on Buchanan Station!
Victoria Coach station more than any other coach/bus and train station makes me feel unsafe. Wouldn't use it again. I used Leicester once as I was getting a train to Derby (on one of my run event adventures!) and it was quite nice!
As bus stations go Leeds and Coventry are not bad
Excellent video Steve! We took Eurostar from London to Paris when we were there for a quick daytrip. We left our London hotel early in the morning, got off the train in central Paris by 10;00 local, hit the tourist high spots, back on the train by 18;00, and we were tucked into our beds in London by 22;00. Brilliant way to travel, better than flying!
I once had a hilariously bad Eurostar trip from Brussels to Liverpool. A chap locked himself in the train loo and we had an extended stop in Lille. It took 10 armed French police, 4 guards and a bloke with a crowbar to get him out. It was farcically funny. Anyway, I missed my (then) Virgin train connection and they let me on the later train as I went to Eurostar at St Pancras and they stamped my ticket (I was on an advance 1st class ticket valid for a specific train and Virgin were very good about it).
Filed under "you couldn't make it up" there was a freight train on fire near Stafford so we went on another diversion.
It took me about 8 hours to get home and the next time I went I flew home!
Haha what an experience! You'll certainly not forget that trip (and neither will a certain other guy either) :D
@@steve-marsh Just glad I got home. I'm really enjoying your channel, thanks 👍
As a Belgium-loving german that hasn't been to Scotland for way too long, this ist the content I really enjoy. Hope to be able to make the trip up to Scotland later this year.
Keep up the great content!
Haha perfect! Cheers, and all the best with your trip to Scotland :)
@@steve-marsh- I loved the Scottish landscape views beginning @ 19:00 after you turned off the motorway toward Edinburgh. Even wet the scenes were terrific.
Looking out the dirty windows ….😂 👏 Steve, your one liners are funny. Great video.
Cheers Poppy 🙃
Looks like a lot more leg room on the coach than on Eurostar! Interesting video, thanks!
Cheers Paul! Although I spent so little time in the Eurostar seat I barely noticed :)
Treated ourselves to premium economy with return trip to Amsterdam and glad we did. Extra space and food appreciated. Be happy to do that trip again.
That's for sure the way to go! :)
Greetings Steve from Albury NSW Australia. As always, another great video.
Cheers Richard! Hope the winter is going well, probably better weather than what's out my window today :D
I can recommend Leicester St Margarets Bus/coach Station, knocked down and rebuilt and is essentially a brand new coach station, it's nice and airy and has frequent connections to the Rail Station and is served by National Express
You do put yourself through it sometimes, Steve, for our entertainment and edification!
I visited Brussels during my cycle racing career in the 1960's and 70's when the home town of Tintin still had some of the atmosphere of those Herge cartoons, though I believe it is different now.
In 1969, a pal and I realised that we could follow the first week of that year's Tour de France travelling between the stage towns by rail. What a travel video that would have made! The surviving 35mm slides bring back such memories of that trip.
After seeing Eddy Merckx, who grew up in Brussels, take his first ever Yellow Jersey at the end of the first day's racing in crowd scenes bordering on a riot, we were walking back to the city centre when about half a dozen of the Tour's Gendarmerie motorcycle escort came roaring to a halt beside us. We thought we were in trouble, but they only asked if we could direct them to their hotel. Luckily it was near ours in the Nord area so in my basic French I was able to help.
Next morning as we made our way to the Midi station to catch our train to watch the stage to Maastricht, we entered the Grand Place where to our amazement the team cars of Merckx's Faema team were corralled in the centre around the mecano's who were preparing the team's beautiful white and red bikes for the day's stage. We looked on in fascination, while around us Brussels business folk hurried past on their way to their Monday morning offices. At that time, cycling was such a " cinderella " sport in Britain, we could never imagine such a thing happening back home in London.
The fascinating mediaeval city of Ghent was where I lodged with my team mates during our racing visits to Belgium, but on occasions when we were going to follow the Tour of Flanders classic on the first Sunday in April, we'd stay in Brussels on the Saturday night and the Grand Place was where we looked for our evening's entertainment. Like you, our first call was at Leonidas to buy some of their fabulous chocolates for the wives and girlfriends we'd abandoned for the weekend. ( Did you get some for Alicja? On second thoughts, they'd probably have melted in the heat you experienced on your journey before you got them home!)
Next requirement was for a few beers in the bars around the Place. My favourite was the local Brussels Geuze Lambic. Afterwards we'd go to the Rue des Bouchers area behind the Place where there were numerous restaurants serving many kinds of cuisine as well as the traditional Moules followed by steak and frites. They were unforgettable weekends with companions, many of whom are sadly no longer with us .
You baulked at the idea of an overnight coach journey to Frankfurt, but in our early married years, Henia and made a number of journeys between Victoria and Warsaw. Leaving around midday, in pre-Tunnel days this included a Dover-Calais ferry crossing and a drive through Germany overnight before an early afternoon arrival in Warsaw. An adventure then, but not something I'd relish nowadays!
Sorry - did you get my reply to this? Not sure - I definitely posted one but it may be lost somewhere. I was just saying how the thought of following the tour through Europe sounds fantastic. Would love to do it some day. And that Alicja got a big 10 euro bag of those truffles :D
@@steve-marsh I was editing my response, and I think hit a delete instead. Sorry, glad Alicja got her truffles!
@@steve-marsh it takes a lot of organisation and preparation to follow the Tour especially in the mountains. Some of the camper vans you see at the side of the parcours on the big climbs have been there for days to secure their positions, though they say the parties that go on while they're waiting are awesome, which probably accounts for many of the "over-excited" fans you see at the roadside! The Tour was big back in the time I followed it, but it's almost outgrown itself now.
Nice of the pipers to welcome you at the border🤣 Interesting video
They seem to follow me everywhere 🤷🏼♂️🤣 cheers
I’ve literally just booked a trip on the Eurostar thanks to this video! Always wanted to give it a go. I done an overnight bus trip with Flixbus to London from Edinburgh in July. Got to admit it was great but then with them you can book the seat next to you for a small fee! Coach was half empty anyway but seems like a good idea! Cheers again mate.
Amazing! Have a fantastic trip! Aye, I'd sure need the seat next to me as well to stretch out a bit, fancy reviewing them soon as well :)
Nice seat on the coach! Needed a seat like that on the Eurostar 😀
Haha yes! Although on Eurostar I was only in my seat for the first 5 minutes :D
Great to see you out and about again. I found the whole Euro Star experience a very expensive let down - probably because they have a monopoly
I came back premium class, so plenty of 'free' wine to enjoy. Scott at TPA is great!
Cheers Robin! Totally agree. I have faint memories of using them just when they were shiny and new, very different these days. The locomotives are cutting edge, but the experience for passengers could be so much better in my opinion.
Great video as always, so happy your coach seat selection worked out well for extra legroom.👍
Cheers David! Aye, it could have been a different story if the knees got sore in a limited legroom seat!
Oh the beautiful scenery as you entered bonny Scotland!
That was a great combination of train and bus and I'm glad you took us along for the ride. Thanks.
Cheers for coming along with me :)
Just saw this video but a few comments, If you think the Eurostar looks jaded then you should try the car train.A bit of advice if you are travelling from Folkestone to Calais or reverse make sure you go to the toilet before getting on the train. the toilet can best be described as industrial and when I travelled in June/July only a few were open so when I found one there was a queue.
Victoria bus station while not that great is still a major improvment on its earlier version. When I first used the overnight bus to London and back the passenger areas were completely open to the bus bays and had limited seating. Waiting for a bus on New Years Eve was not fun, no heating and open to any draughts.
The last time I travelled overnight to London and back was on one of the Megabus sleeper coaches, full of bunk beds and no seating area so you were in the bunk for the whole trip, at least the toilet was open and quite good. The problem was that the lower bunks had a very low headroom, just about enough to turn over with at the most around a couple of inches between your shoulders and the bed above. Probably the most uncomfortable bed I have ever used, coming back I was over the rear axle so every bump could be felt. The earlier buses used one of the bendy buses so there was a seating area as well as the bunks.
Thanks so much for your comments and observations! Oh I always wanted to try the sleeper bus (especially now I have a channel) shame it's no longer around!
Excellent as always Steve. The coach trip brought back memories stuck on a school coach trip to Holland from Larne. Drive down from Stranraer to Dover was an eternity with 35 other hooligans 🤣.
Oof the things you do as a kid eh?! I bet you were super excited for it until the reality set in :D
You could say that🤣. It was a cracking good week
Brought back memories of being on a 2 and a half hour bus trip from 1 side of England to the other at the narrowest
Really enjoyed this one Steve. An insight as to how easy it is to get over to Belgium (and back). In the school holidays when I was a child my mum used to put me on a coach from 'down south' to spend my holidays with my Aunt who lived in Glasgow. I remember then thinking 'it's such a long way!'. But really your trip didn't seem too long, and it was great you were able to get some shut-eye. Thanks for taking us with you on this adventure. Love your content. Fabulous editing 🥰
Seeing a working train toilet and no ahem liquids flowing down the carriage was so refreshing after recent scotrail experiences
I tend to avoid train toilets altogether for this reason :D
Great video as always Steve, definitely my favorite travel channel on RUclips! A real honest review in every video and very interesting sightseeing too! Keep it up mate
Matthew thanks again mate :)
Love the trip from St. Pancreas to Edinburgh.
When you said about holding your breath, it put me in mind of when I used to do it in the Clyde Tunnel when I was a kid.
Haha yes! :)
Thanks again for a wonderful journey to areas I can only dream about. You make them amazing.
Wow cheers Steve!
Love the variety in you videos. Always look forward to Saturday Mornings, never knowing where your going to take us. Loved the bonus Red Arrows display the other week. Was lucky to see them every year at Hoylake RNLI open day growing up. Keep up the great work!
Cheers Mike! Doing my best to keep to this Saturday Morning schedule, and LOTS of variety to come I promise :)
Really enjoyed that one Steve, thanks as always. Very useful as im doing the Channel Tunnel myself, first time experience end of Feb. Will likely do exactly what you recommended and scoot up to Brussels Centraal for my hour or 2 i will have in Brussels, that seems like sound advice. You will probably think Im a right nutter but in 2 days my itinerary is (I'm calling it my Leap Year Special) : Belfast to Luton EasyJet, Airport coach/Rail/Tube/Rail to Stansted via St Pancras and Tottenham Hale. Then RyanAir STN to Eindhoven (£14.99). As well as the cost saving against flying into Rotterdam the fiddly connection via Luton also gets me almost 3 hours extra in bed, rather than go for a 6am start direct into Stansted which then would have left me with almost a 7 hour wait for RyanAir. After that it's train to Rotterdam. Overnight in Holiday Inn Express adjacent to the train station. Next day it's : Train Rotterdam to Brussels via Eurostar, kill those few hours as mentioned and onwards to St Pancras Int'l, Tottenham Hale Underground and Stansted for EasyJet last flight of the day back to Belfast. If I was anywhere near as good and brave as you I might travel blog it but I will leave such thngs to the experts I think. :)
Happy Burns' Night! :D
Another class video Steve. You try out the Glasgow to Donegal coach service someday, which are operated by Mc Ginley Coach Travel, Bus Feda and Doherty's Travel and also the London Victoria to Dublin service operated by Expressway, they have Bernard Kavanagh & Sons Coaches operating that service so should try them out. Look forward to watching more videos. Best wishes to yous both. ☘️☘️
Thanks so much Ryan! Noted for future travels :)
Very nice as always . Surprised that anybody could dislike Brussels; some chocolates and 'French fries' can surely ameliorate the disgruntled folks . Good tip from Scotty there helped to ease out the last lap . Thanks for the trip .
This looks like an itinerary I'd want to recreate . If you use Eurostar again , use any nectar points towards it !
I went to Brussels a few years back and got off at Bruxelles Midi thinking it was the centre. If only I'd watched RUclips back then! Great little video Steve, hope you sleeped well after the coach
Cheers Daz! Still had a 1 1/2 hour drive after that would you believe just to get home :O
I'll be traveling overnight from Edinburgh to London in a couple months while I'm on vacation from the States. Figured I'd do that to save money from not having to book a hotel for one night.
The clencher was finding out about National Express and seat 2A. I'm 6 foot 7 so that extra legroom made it a no-brainer to book.
Thanks for your videos.
I did the atonium back in 1993 with my dad. Great trip Steve 👌
A 9.5 hour coach journey from London to Edinburgh...you are brave! Great days journey to watch though.
Great update once again Steve and pleased to hear you know Ken from Planes trains and everything as me and my wife watch you both , keep up the good work and say Hi to Alicja for us
Cheers Jim! Alicja was very happy to swerve this trip :D
@@steve-marsh I bet she was Steve lol 😂
Always fun watching your videos. You crack me up!
Thanks so much :D
Another enjoyable Journey. At least I wasn't sweating in the cars alongside everyone else! Thank you once again for the work that you do to make these for our entertainment. Say hi to Alicja for me. Be well, stay safe, travel far, love from Texas.
Thanks Kate! Alicja was quite happy to swerve this one :D
Really!?! I assumed she was up for anything travel related. Be well, stay safe, love from texas.
Another brilliant video Steve, excellent, you cant beat the cool air of Edinburgh.
Cheers Bryan! Ohhh after the humidity of Brussels, the Edinburgh Aircon was beautiful!
Love the look of old town Brussels. And, that was an amazing tip you got on that bus seat! On to the next adventure!
Cheers Erin! Oh I don't know what me and my dodgy knees would have done without that top tip!
Interesting journey Steve
The bus trip looked like something I'd never do, but good on you for being intrepid!
Haha I'd never do it again either Kelley! :D
Wow what a journey Steve.
I don't think i would like to do that.
Thanks for taking us on your journey.
Cheers Tim! In no hurry to repeat! :)
Smashing video Steve! No Belgian chocolates for your good lady? Oh dear!
Ian she got a 10euro bag of them (although I was very good at helping eat them)
Fab video loved it as usual. I did the caoch journey way back when I was a young thing & I remember how uncomfortable it was, and I was cold! Never again! Now that my daughter has been to Edinburgh (for the Xmas mkt) & says she 'loves Scotland' I'm hoping we might go together on my bucket list tour!! 😉
Really enjoyed this video Steve x thanks
I think id pay up for premier on Eurostar! Congrats on 100k!
Thanks for sharing Steve.
You're so welcome, thanks for coming along! :)
Great video Steve cheers for that one.🍺🍺👍
Another Saturday treat, love the murals in brussels, and that is some unusual beer glass, always wanted to see or try Eurostar so thanks Steve
Cheers John! A very memorable trip, after about 20 hours sleep after I can look back with a smile :)
Send the Scottish weather here! Was in the low 90's (F) today. Great start to Autumn, haha. Great video. Hope to get to your great country one day.
Been looking forward to a new video mate! Makes the pouring rain in Clydebank a bit better 😎
Aye, weather not the best today, but still better than the humidity of Brussels believe me 🤣 enjoy mate! Cheers!
What a beautiful place. Didn’t envy you the coach trip home though ❤️xx
So now for something different...MOST ENJOYABLE. Cheers
Great video mate. Always a pleasure to watch 🙂
Thanks so much Helen!
@@steve-marsh watched a few of your videos now.
Really enjoying them. Even got hubby watching them now too 🙂
Believe it or not, Boston and Washington, DC both have pretty decent coach stations. Buuuut those are the only two I can think of!
Great vid as always Steve!
Oh, I'll need to do a bus trip between them one day :)
Informative......as usual. (Surprised how luxurious the bus is/was)
Aye it was really nice, and a comfy seat. The only downside to the bus of course is not being able to get up and walk about
Brilliant vlog as always!! The coach journey feels like the one I had from Victoria to Ireland... 16 hours in total including 4 hours on the ferry
Oof Respect Peter! Although it would have been nice to break the journey and stretch the legs on the ferry! Doing a coach/ferry combo next week actually! (trip next week, it'll take a wee while to hit the channel)
@@steve-marsh you did get to stretch your legs or have a sleep on the ferry. It was just convenient that you didn't have to take all of your belongings up into the ferry as your luggage stayed in the hold of the coach whilst you was on the ferry. Shame that the service was discontinued after so many years as was convenient to me. Could travel from Heathrow to dungarvan via Victoria for like £79 return. Looking forward to see that journey whenever if gets published. Take care of yourself
@@peterdnreynolds777 The London - Dublin route was reinstated last month, just twice a week though. Sadly it's not likely the Cork will return though, National Express cancelled it before covid.
Fantastic video as always Steve, thank you!! Many years ago I did a similar trip taking Eurostar from London going to Brussels and had a wonderful 3 days there. I was glad for the ability to use my Eurostar ticket to go elsewhere in Belgium and ended up spending a day in Antwerp and Bruges. And I share your review of the Victoria Coach terminal, but I have never seen a "nice" bus terminal either in the UK nor here in the States. I did an overnight bus from there up to Glasgow but I can't recall how good or bad the ride was other than I liked the fact Glasgow's terminal is centrally located. It's all an adventure.
I really like your last sentence there Raymond :) I hadn't realised my Eurostar ticket could take me even further, although with the limit of time I couldn't do much on this trip. Good to know for future though! Aw the best
Takes me back to 2019. Eurostar Paris to London then a Victoria Coach Station bus tour. Thx for providing me with memories. ☺️ I love 🏴. Back there in a month.
Thanks Anne! A pleasure to take you back to somewhere very familiar :)
Your sprouting up all over place Steve 😊 enjoyed video
Haha true :D
Very good and interesting thank you ....👍..loved that bus
Cheers mate! The bus wasn’t as bad an experience as I expected!
Feeling a bit nostalgic watching this, used to spend lots of time in Brussels, the place was like a second home to me. Great video.
Cheers Stephen! I was a bit of a shameless tourist, I'm sure you could have pointed me to some pretty cool corners of the city!
Brilliant vlog again Steve 😎 Can I just add, that it rains just as much in Scotland as it does in Manchester! 😤😘
Haha fair point :D Cheers for coming along - I swear, when I finished this trip I thought I might not have enough footage for a video, so glad I was able to pull something together :)
Never apologize for your efforts, merley say I hope you have enjoyed this video, see you next time. I have liked all of your videos and maybe next year I can accompany you. Cheers
Fantastic mate! Cheers!
Fond memories of the overnight Heathrow to Glasgow service never a dull journey!! Done that once a fortnight
Oof Respect!!!
One word WONDERFUL!! 😊
Hey thanks so much Patricia!
Thanks Steve that was a brilliant video I enjoyed watching the whole trip 😀
Cheers James! :)
Great video as always. I did appreciate the it’s cold I love it. Still waiting for it to get below 85 degrees here I. The states
Cheers Robert! Stay cool mate!
Seeing the inside of Victoria coach station brought back the nightmares, why go to Heathrow, usually it would be watford way, thanks for that Steve, but day train for me
I'd tend to agree! Aye, the route was a bit weird for sure!
Hi Steve, I've also travelled Eurostar from both Paris and Brussels. The Brussels trip was unique as only one of the channel tunnels was open, due to a fire on a lorry shuttle earlier, so we had to travel through the wrong tunnel (although hard to know once you're in it) due to only a single line being open. I can also confirm the seedy nature of the area around Midi. My hotel was only a few blocks away so I walked it and saw the local wildlife (got the tram back). Don't think I'd fancy the bus heading north though. Last time I did the whole way back to Edinburgh I booked a hotel in London for the night and took the train the next morning. By the way I love your new channel makeover with its Scottish blue banner (however I'm not too sure I would just call Alicja a sidekick!!). I will admit to being unfaithful and sometimes watching Mr Trains/Planes/Everything. In one video he even mentions you by name and says people tell him your videos are better (might have been on the bus trip to Glasgow you mentioned). Of course your videos are much better and lots more fun! Great trip as ever, Allan
Cheers Allan! Haha if I call Alicja anything other than a sidekick, people will be expecting her in every video :D and I tell you what - she was MORE THAN HAPPY to swerve a trip like this one. She thinks I'm a bit mad sometimes :) I would also much prefer the train to get back to Edinburgh (and then onto Montrose) but the price when I checked was crazy! I was ruled by my wallet for this one :D Aye, I remember Scott's shout-out (which was very appreciated) it was on the 'Flying Editing to Glasgow' video :)
Hello Steve - as you found E* is very busy this month as a lot of people have shunned air in favour of rail. On some days you can find one or more trains fully booked in *all* classes !
Good point! Never even thought about that. I spent so little time in my seat so I could film without disturbing other pax
Great Vlog @Steve. Was in Brussels several times. But only went down to the Manneken Pis and Grand plaza once, We used to have the coach parked near the Hilton and let the people walk down. That was in the 80's. I also used to do a service out of Victoria to Tralle in Irl and back that night. We used to park just near Gloucester Road Tube station an Empty site until it was baught. I think there is a massive Sainsbury's on it now. You had a decent drive up to Edinburh. Huge difference in the price of the bus and the train!
That's some haul mate, scenic in that part of Ireland? Aye, the train fare was a big reason why I was on this bus!
@@steve-marsh When I said back that night, I meant for the sailing to Fisguard, we did not arrive in London until 6-7am the following morning. Yea! Owners that time did not worry too much about driving well over hours.
Much has changed in Brussels, the centre has largely been pedestrianised, including the main north-south lane. A coach - if even allowed - would have trouble navigating the narrow(ed) streets with their slowing-down obstacles and layouts. Not to mention the maximum "speed" of 30 km/ almost everywhere.
@@flitsertheo My times there was in the early 80's
Another great video, thanks.
Cheers Paul!
Those are the refreshed trains :)
Brilliant vid 👏 cheers mate 👍
Quite a video Steve. Appending the bus trip back to Edinburgh (to this video) was a good call. Bet you slept for 12 hours after that one. That was a nice panorama shot while in old town Brussels. Interesting food combination though, good chocolate, followed by chip's. Lots of good content and the perspective really puts the viewer on the street. The beer in that horn glass, souvenir?
Cheers Frank! Really enjoyed that wee trip, but would you believe I still had almost 2 hours drive to get home to Montrose after the overnighter. Haha would have loved to sneak that glass home!
Ouch London to Edinburgh by coach is always brutal. I swore years ago it was the train or nothing lol. Never again!
I'm with you there Kerry! At least in the train you can go for a wander eh?!
Another very enjoyable video. I'm a Londoner by birth and have always hated Victoria Coach Station. I left and haven't been back since 1991 and cannot believe it has not yet been updated. It was great to see/hear Scott getting some recognition too. I know it's not a great area but I love wandering around the weekend markets at Brussels Midi. I hope that you and Alicija are settling into your new home in Montrose, I went once and tried cycling around the basin but got lost on the way. Thanks again, all the best, Michael
Cheers Michael! Oh would love to visit the markets! Alicja is desperate to walk round the basin, we were just talking about it today in fact, wishing that there was a whole loop around it for walking/cycling - I can understand how easy it would be to get lost! We are absolutely loving it and getting our new home all cosy for the winter that will be with us soon! :D
@@steve-marsh Thanks for such a personal reply. A cosy winter sounds ideal without the Edinburgh throng.
Did you ever use the old Digbeth Coach Station in Birmingham before it was rebuilt? It was a really terrible place.
@@srfurley I stayed in Blackpool for a while in 1990 and took a regular coach to London via Birmingham, the bus waited in an underground car park in Birmingham but I never alighted, that may be the coach station you mean?
That coach journey didn't seem so bad! I used to travel up to the north east of England in the early 80's on National Express, 3 hours to Cheltenham then 7 hours to Middlesborough. Today any north east trip if not done in the car is with LNER! Great video Steve
Cheers Andrew - aye, I think I could handle it again to be honest, maybe I'll need to push on for a longer challenge :D
@@steve-marsh FLIX?
A very nice vidoe,i think you did a super job.Thanks
Cheers for that! A tricky one to film, so appreciate it :)
Great trip Steve, but I would have declined the mayonnaise. Enjoyed the Edinburgh trip segment , coming home!
Aye, salt n sauce would win that one :)
Interesting video, stop with the food Steve, I put pounds on just looking at it! Can’t compete with the chocolate truffles, but I have the best fish & chips in Derby’s coming my way curtesy of my daughter, have enjoyed the travel experience, but couldn’t do Euro-tunnel in a million years, have a lovely weekend and best regards to Alicja 🤗
You have a great weekend too and enjoy the dinner, sounds awesome! Alicja was happy to pass on this travel experience 🤣
Great video and was good to see Brussels again. I like getting the coach but these days only for shorter distances.
Oh I'd agree, this was a journey too far for me :)
Really enjoyed the post 😊 don't know if I'd do o/n bus to Edin but didn't lk as bad!
Aye not as bad as I thought Susan! Cheers for coming along :)
Thank you so much for your adventures
We really look forward to them .. better than watching the rubbish on TV .. hope that you settle into your new home in Montrose !!
Best wishes sent to you .. Chris June
Thanks so much guys! Still LOVING Montrose, but Alicja was more than happy to swerve this kinda trip :D
Another great video, I only travelled once on the coach from Glasgow to London and return once, but it as hell, never again 😀
Wow you did the return as well? Respect!
@@steve-marsh Hi Steve, unfortunately made the return trip on the coach as well, wasn’t any better,don’t think I slept at all, it seemed the seat in front was getting closer and closer 😀 It was 1982, so things are maybe better now. I take the train now 😀
Thanks great video
😊👍
Cheers Peter!
My niece was sitting just to your right behind the driver, her dad just noticed 👍
Haha no way! Small world indeed! I hope she enjoyed the trip :)
Saturday evening in Brisbane and a new video from you, thanks for a great journey but you should have seen your blood shot eyes when you where doing your piece to camera after arriving in Edinburgh, you may have had some sleep on the bus but I bet you where out like a light when you got into your own bed. Thanks again and stay safe, cheers.
Haha so true mate, that's the side effect of 30+ hours with only a couple of short naps! Hey, I still had to drive Edinburgh - Montrose, but boy was my bed a welcome sight when I got there!
Great entertainment Steve been to Brussels once with work had to eat a fish that still had its head on yugh 40 years since did the overnight bus, in them days they had two drivers who swapped regularly while the bus was moving. Keep up the good work
Haha no way that's hilarious! :D
Hi Steve. We have one thing in common, apart from You Tube, the Bank Card !! I worked for the Clydesdale Bank for 34 years, which is of course now Virgin Money, so much as I regret the passing the name of Clydesdale Bank I can claim affinity with Virgin Money through he continuation of the business. Keep up the good work keeping your followers of the best places to go, and the best way to travel on a sensible budget.
Steve, town center looked very interesting of course truffles chips(without mayo please) beer what could be better. Your right not a fan of heat train a bit crowed but your bus ride to London kool stay safe cheers😘
Cheers Linda! The coach was not bad at all, the only downside is not being able to get up and go for a walk!
Great Video Steve, yes I have been to Brussels a few times, but flew with Ryanair from Prestwick to Brussels charleroi when the airfare was 1 pence fare plus tax £17.00 return - not anymore. The Eurostar looks good, I would certainly upgrade to first class or premium. A lot of travelling for you!!!!
Cheers David! I used Ryanair as well to get over there, but didn't film that bit. The bus Charleroi to Brussels was still more than the airfare though! :D
i don’t drink alcohol but can understand a drink on a warm day and done to say that you did it…i’d break my personal anti-alcohol vow for the sake of saying that i tried it once!
and these little side quests are fun, especially as you get treats from them in multiple ways 😉🤣
Cheers for that! I don't drink much but tell you what, that was a proper wee treat, so refreshing :)
I love Brussels, my eldest boy lives in Koekelberg and we visit regularly ! We've just been last month, but flew with KLM, although I have travelled it by coach all the way from Aberdeen ! I also love the female voice that does the train and metro destination announcements, it's a really great voice ! Great city, the transport system is fantastic. If you go to Belgium again, hop over to Liege - fantastic place, busier and better than Bruges. Enjoy some of their famous meatballs, and visit Le Pot au Lait - weird pub but great !
The people for the announcements are "voicepicked", not every employee can do this job.
Oh thanks so much for the tip! Awesome :) Would love to get back and explore some more :)
Thanks Steve - I think we might have to add Belgium to our itinerary! Doing at least one trip through the tunnel seems like a good addition to our travel experiences.
Yeah that's what I thought too :) Belgium is a wonderful country, but if I'd had time I much prefer the small towns, and when it's a wee bit cooler! :)
@@steve-marsh 28 is a pretty standard temperature here in Adelaide, we consider that just perfect. A few patches of consecutive days in the low to mid 40’s are usual for summers here, but we do manage that with most homes and pretty much all shops having air conditioning. I know that’s where the UK really struggled with the high temps this summer as air conditioning is not very common in many places still - I’d say air conditioning installations will increase dramatically over the next couple of years with what you guys went through this year!
Good video..except for the closing music! Glad it's improved over the years😂
I wasn't a huge fan of Brussels when we were there a couple of years ago Steve. The main sites are cool but I found much of the city very corporate. Bruges was lovely mind you. I would love to go back there. Your coach trip looked very scenic once you got across the border to the promised land 😊👍
Aye, know what you mean mate. I love Belgium, but much prefer the smaller towns. Haha aye, as soon as the sun came up, we had a gorgeous drive into Edinburgh :)
Agreed - it reminded us of Ottawa here in Canada - important and some key sites but generally not what you'd think of as a "tourist destination."
yes Bruges is super, its famous for textiles and has some fascinating museums and to round off matters has some super local craft beers, cheers!
I had to spend time in Brussels during the 1980s and back then, there were parts of the city that were rather scruffy.
can agree on the smaller places tourists don’t go, unless it’s a must-see attraction in the big cities i prefer smaller places
A very enjoyable overview of your trip, you must have been really exhausted by the time you reached home. I’ve not actually been into Brussels myself, just driven past it on the motorway a number of times when travelling from a ferry port to the Netherlands, France or Spain. Our first trip beyond the UK since pre-pandemic will be in a couple of weeks, travelling on the ferry Newcastle/Amsterdam (starting point is Broughty Ferry) then driving on to the very southern part of the Netherlands on a family trip to visit relatives there, although we’ll break our return journey in Utrecht for a few days as neither of us has been there before.
Bill that sounds absolutely fantastic! Hoping to do that very ferry at some point, just waiting for favourable prices. Your trip through NL sounds incredible - would love to travel more widely there. ps. took Alicja to Broughty Ferry recently and I think she fell in love with the place :)
@@steve-marsh Yes, Broughty Ferry and other towns east/north of there are very attractive to visit, as is Fife of course. I live in Nairn (a pretty place too) but my partner lives in BF for work/study reasons so we mostly split our time between the two, but we’re both looking forward to our first trip abroad since February/March 2020.
I don't know If I could manage that trip! Nice new profile By the way
Cheers Aiden!!! Aye, it was a bit brutal! :D