Have been to my fathers birthplace Gent,Belgium often and although born in the UK feel at home there.?

Question

At last have pesuaded my wife to go on a plane next March to Gent we are both sixtyish what should I show her there,She also wishes to go to Ypres.

I would like her to see the best of Belgium besides the freindly people and culture I have grown to love,Danke wel.

Answer 1

As Belgium is divided into 3 major parts, each part has its own culinary specialitites and special offers (architecture, musea, nature.)

North : Seaside

White sandy beaches, beautiful Art Nouveau buildings, countryside with interesting architecture, WW1 & WW2 preserved sites, etc...

food : mostly fish and shellfish specialities)

language : Flemish (Dutch)

Ieper/Ypres

If you are really interested in WW, the place to be is the city called Ieper/Ypres in the Flanders and the surrounding areas between Ieper and the Belgian coast.

Musea, open trenches, the Famous arch where they still call the "beating of the retreat"every night at 8h00 -which remains very emotional-even for people who are not interested in WW stories/history. You feel this little pinch in your heart when you realize that some WW veterans still come here, on a regular basis, to pay their respect to their dead comrades.

Also, in this area, the cheese factory called "Passendaal". This factory, turned into a museum, is quite interesting with or without a degustation of some cheese products.

Bruges = Brugge

is a very interesting place to visit : it is a medieval city, very well maintained with lots of beautiful buildings and canals. You can go along the canals and visit the center of Brugge sitting in a boat with a guide speaking your own language. There is a huge open flea Sunday market, lots of cafés, restaurants and shops of all kinds.

Churches ( one has a statue sculpted by Michel Angelo)There is also a brewery that you can visit and which is very interesting, indeed. One of the guides has a great sense of humour and knows how to captivate his cosmopolitan audience - especially the Brits -. It is lots of fun as is the Boudewijn Park.

If you want nature, you can go to the village of DAMME, visit the Boudewijn Park in the neighbourhood of Brugge.  

There is a website giving all the details about the seaside and its "arrière-pays"= all kind of interesting villages & cities not far from the coast/on the coast e.g. Hamme, Brugge, Yper, Oostende, De Panne, etc... (see below)

Centre :

Brussels = capital of Belgium & of Europe

downtown :

medieval city center with lots of musea, cafes, restaurants and beautiful architecture to admire and buildings to visit (churches, musea, etc...), Royal Palace, Atomium, Brussels lace, Brussels waffles.

Midtown  (as I like to call it) : Quartier du Sablon/Rue Haute

Sablon, le Petit Sablon : architecture, cafés, chocolate shops & antique chops, art galeries, etc...

Eglise des Minimes,

Rue Haute, Place du Jeu de Balle = very busy area especially on Sunday as there is this big open flea market, lots of activities in cafés - local bands playing - as early as 5 am, restaurants, deco shops.

Uptown :

poshy shopping area (Avenue Louise, Toison d'Or, Porte de Namur)

Brussels area : city, parcs & forests, musea, medieval buildings, royal palace, etc....

food : a bit of everything

language : Flemish and French but with a majority of French speakers

Antwerp (cathedral & surrounding streets with antique & bric-à-brac shops open on Sunday, restaurants, musea, Duvel beer factory, etc..)

Mons

old city center,

WW1 & WW2 cemeteries in the surrounding countryside.

Binche : depending on the time you are Belgium, this place is known for its carnival.

Namur

city center = medieval town/museum/shopping street/big busy square w/ cafes & restaurants, etc...

the Citadelle -fort/medieval castle-, perfume factory - the only 1 in Belgium-

Liège

old city center, cathedral

South : Ardennes

forests, rivers, natural beauty, castles

food : mostly game and fish specialities

language : French

Han-sur-Lesse, Ardennes (underground caves + wildlife parc)

Durbuy, Ardennes

smallest town in Belgium if my memory serves me right.

The road from any part of Belgium to go to the Ardennes reads just like a postcard : beautiful scenery, castles, inns (farms transformed into inns), nature, wild life, etc...

Each city has its own food specialities and its own beauty.

You'll find castles all over Belgium too.

One can't list the places from best to okay as each place has something special to offer but only 2 really jump out :

Bruges & Brussels if you are short of time and want to see a maximum in a short limited time period because

-of all the interesting things they can offer tourists

-you can visit the most interesting places on foot, no need for transportation.

A small part of Belgium on the Eastern side is German speaking and is worth a visit too.

Here are some useful websites which are, in general, in 4 languages so it will not be a problem to find the info you are looking for :

http://www.Ieper/Belgium

http://www.belgiancoast.be

e-Brussels website

http://www.europeanexplorer.com-belgium

http://www.tourismewallonie.be (this will also give you links to other sites

http://www.visitflanders.com

Tip : try to wear sturdy and comfortable shoes as most city centers still have cobbled streets.

Sorry, if this is a bit long-winded, but I hope it will give you some insight of all the things  one might want to see and visit in this beautiful country of mine.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

You already got a lot of tips above (which are definitely OK), if you are in Gent you should definitely go to the Dutch part "zeeuws Vlaanderen", it's only 45km away from Gent and it has a completely different feeling. Also worthwhile to visit is Lille, just over the border in France. If you go already to Ypres you are almost in France.

If you are lucky and the weather has been good you might even want to visit Flander's fruit region "haspengouw" which is about 1h30 away from Gent by train. The area around Sint-Truiden is transformed in a sea of blossoms, don't visit this area on Sunday afternoon because it will be crowded, but on week days it's perfect to go cycling and hiking.   The tourist office in Sint-Truiden rents bicycles, even electric ones if you want to cycle more comfortably.

Enjoy your stay in Belgium!

Answer 3

Hello Francis, Gent is just lovely. If I were you I would not plan too much, travelling is always so much more surprising and rewarding if you just let yourself be surprised. Besides Gent I would take the train to the flemish cities of Antwerp and Bruges (both representing something different: calm versus bubbly, picturesque versus stylish and hip). And then indeed, for something again completely different, take a bus to small towns in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen (in holland) or, if you can, take the ferry in Breskens to the previous island of Walcheren... and visit Veere !  

All that is just a maximum of 40 minutes from Gent.

Graag gedaan :)