Top Things to do in Belgium
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10 Hidden Gems Things to do in Belgium That You Shouldn't Miss
From canal-laced, fairy-tale cities like Bruges and Ghent to the urban centers of Antwerp and Brussels, Belgium sits at the crossroads of medieval and modern Europe. The chance to sample famous exports such as chocolate and beer straight from the source only sweetens a visit.
Restaurants in Belgium
1. Francois Duesberg Museum
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 424 reviews
>>> OPEN ONLY BY APPOINTMENT <<< This outstanding museum of Decorative Arts (from 1775 to 1825) exhibits not only a prestigious collection of clocks (more than 300 ! ) including the largest ensemble of pendules "Au bon sauvage" (exotic subjects in patinated and ormoulu bronzes) in the world, but also exceptional French gilt bronzes,porcelains (from Paris and Brussels including marvels painted by viruoso Frederic-Theodor(e) FABER),silver,jewellery and other very rare objects. You will discover the way of living in Paris from the time of Louis XVI to Napoleon Ier and Charles X. An astonishing and dazzling beautiful visit !!! Michelin 2 stars for the whole Museum and above it: 2 specific stars for the "extraordinary collection of clocks" and, since 2015, 2 more stars for the "marvelous collections of porcelains" !!! 3 times worth seeing : a MUST !
Reviewed By macedonboy - Glasgow, United Kingdom
The Francois Duesberg, is a fantastic museum dedicated to 18th and 19th century decorative arts, with a fine collection of clocks, sculptures and porcelain, ceramics, pottery and jewellery. Some of the most outstanding pieces include rare ornamental clocks from Napoleonic times, fantastic collection of cameos, Neoclassical inspired sculptures, and lots more beautiful things to see. Inside, it’s almost like a palace that even without all the exhibits would be fit for a king to stay in. Myself and several other had to wait 45 minutes over the advertised opening time before being let in, which was a little annoying. The place was opened by an elderly gentleman, I think the owner of the museum. The dude is quite eccentric, tells us no photos, but taking photos seem to be fine if they include him. Normally, I’d deduct a star for this kind of thing, but the museum is awesome.
2. For Freedom Museum
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 271 reviews
Our Mission No inhabitant of the "Zwinstreek" and West Zeeland Flanders was spared repression and hardship between 1940 and 1944. This dark period in our history is the museum’s main theme. It is precisely this phase of our local past that we want to pass on to our children and grandchildren, in the hope that such war violence will not be repeated. Young people need to know that freedom has a price, a price our ancestors paid with hard currency. We must cherish freedom. This important message of peace and tolerance is given daily in the For Freedom Museum.
Reviewed By margotv310
One of the best WWII museums we ever visited! Very extended collection of military relics, beautiful real life stories, great audioguide and friendly staff. 100% recommended!
3. BASTOGNE BARRACKS
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 845 reviews
Visit our exhibition hall displaying Second World War vehicles and equipment Bastogne Barracks, one of the WHI sites, is situated to the north east of town, in the direction of La Roche-en-Ardennes and presents in a 2,350 m2 exhibition hall as well as in outside display a large array of Second World War track and wheel vehicles, artillery pieces and various equipment, both from the Allies and the Axis Powers. The circuit is totally secure. March/April/May/October/November: weekends June/July/August/September: from Wednesday through Sunday December: weekend 11-12 + Spring break: from 15 till 19/2 – Easter holidays: from 5 till 18/4 – Fall break: from 1 till 7/11
Reviewed By Swintooh - High Wycombe, United Kingdom
Visited on a family holiday in August. You need to show up at the gate at given hour. This is no "anytime entry, wonder by yourself museum" but active military base, where the whole group needs to be escorted at all times. Great Bastogne siege display/reconstruction, very knowledgable tour guide (a sargeant in Belgian army), then the main attraction - huge garage with all the great tanks and armoured vehicles. My boys were so happy. A must do for any World of Tanks player. The price of entry is very low - 8 EUR per adult (card payment only), kids go free! Excellent!!!
4. Felicien Rops Museum (Musee Felicien Rops)
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 251 reviews
Reviewed By periandro - Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
The building inside which there is the Museum is a nice house dating back to the seventeenth century situated in 12, rue Fumal to where it moved in the eighties of the twentieth century from the Hôtel de Gaiffer d’Hestroy. The Museum is located in the hub of Namur at a walking distance from the Cathedral. That can be clearly realized by casting a glance through the two looking boxes directed to Saint - Aubain Cathedral and St. Jean church, very interesting views by the way. The works by Rops displayed in that Museum represent a unique art conception encompassing divers types of slide arts. So, one can see there some lithographs which were published in the Uylenspiegel journal, such as the caricature of the French photographer Nadar and “La politique pour rire”. It’s amazing to realise how in the satirical drawings concerning the series to which the last mentioned lithographs belong Rops referred to the Belgian constitution and blended humour with parliamentary decisions. The “Uylenspiegel , journal des débats, artistiques et literaires” was a magazine founded by Rops himself and therefore the real starting point of his artistic career. His art production at that time wasn’t constricted to lithographs and the proof thereof is the oil painting “L’Entrée au bal”. It’s a striking picture in that Museum at the sight of which it’s easy to gather that Rops’s concerns didn’t fall within the academic teaching which enjoined geometric rigour and perfect identification of forms. Likewise the lithograph “La Médaille de Waterloo” is a striking work particularly as it depicts the army as a mass of absurd skeletons. This work is an example of Rops’s political commitments as it shows a dwarf senile Emperor supporting himself with a cane in the middle of a radiant Waterloo medal . “La Peine de Mort” is also a witness of the author’s political commitment as a contribution against death penalty. In his works within the scope of realism style the denouncement of the hypocrisy of certain people is outstanding. In them Rops painted what he saw. That’s why he was accused sometimes of making anticlerical works, as it was the case in connection with “Chez les Trappistes” and in “Un Enterrement en Pays Wallon”. Both litographs are eye catching as they denounce the perversity and the stupidity of the clergy respectively. The latter should be observed attentively in order to realise the solitude in which the little orphan in front of the grave finds himself as he doesn’t get a single gesture of consolation or tenderness from the other people attending the burial. The painting “Tête de Vieille Anversoise” is in realism style. In it the piercing and scrutinizing gaze of the elderly lady depicted in it is somewhat terrifying. Among Rops’s works somehow related to the French poet Charles Baudelaire exhibited in the Museum one could point out “La Mort qui danse”, “Les Épaves”, consisting in etching and dry-point, destined to be the frontispiece for Charles Baudelaire’s work “Les Épaves”, and “Satan semant l’ivraie”. The last one depicts a frightening scene in which the devil tramples on a freshly ploughed soil spreading away the rye grass that will destroy the farmers’ harvest. Rops was also very skilled in the technique of engraving what can be observed in two sketches exhibited in the Museum which he made to be used as a frontispiece for “Les Oeuvres Inutiles et Nuisibles” 1879 - 1880 consisting of two albums, the first one opening with a naked woman and the second album with the same drawing on the same woman dressed in her city dress. It’s amazing to watch these two drawings which somehow remind of the paintings of the Majas by Goya. Perhaps the most interesting sections of the Museum are the works having women as the main character. In the works included in one of those sections some prostitutes are portrayed as well as scenes in women’s bars, cabarets and brothels. The world of prostitution really fascinated the artist. That section consists of drawings, heliogravures prints, pastels and colour etchings. All the women represented in those works are beautiful as one can see in the following ones: “La Buveuse d’Absinthe”, “La Dèche”, “Le Gandin Ivre” and “Le Bouge à Matelots”. In another section Rops tried to reflect the fact that at the end of the nineteenth century women were often considered as manipulating. The charming character of all women depicted in those works is outstanding. Watching them one can be astounded at realising that women possess whatever is needed to procure for themselves all that they want from men. This can be clearly observed in Rops’s versions of “Dame au Pantin et à l’Éventail”, made each one of them using different techniques though the watercolour is present in all of them. In the fourth version, for instance, the lady carries a knife on her belt and, with a satisfied expression, holds up a puppet whose position calls up its submissive role. The picture “Pornocratés” ou “La Dame au cochon” is perhaps Rops’s most widely known work. It’s a stunning work depicting a lady dressed only in gloves, black stockings and a Gainsborough hat who walks proudly over the ancient arts that are sculpted and set into the marble. Three little cherubs try to seduce the woman, who continues its way guided by a pig. It’s a marvelous painting. Upon suggestion of Jules Noilly, Rops created more than a hundred sketches of lifestyles outlining the bourgeois hypocrisies of the time. In the Museum there are about twenty of them which are splendid artworks that can no doubt be admired by anyone having a bit of sensitiveness. One among the most interesting of them is perhaps “La Chanson de Chérubin” representing a scene in a boudoir saturated with red. That scene is about a vulgar bourgeois singing a serenade to a prostitute who has a vague look and is undressed. Another precious picture of that series is that called “La Toilette” showing a woman of doubtful reputation and morals dressing herself under the interested gaze of a dandy, lacing her corset, her eyes riveted on those of her lover. She reveals herself to be manipulating and dangerous. In the journeys that Rops made to evade himself from Paris and so discover other realities, he also continued carrying out his artistic activity. The most outstanding artworks displayed in the Museum in relation to those intervals are the oil on canvass paintings “La Plage de Heyst”, which is the impression of the atmosphere of a visit to the North Sea, and “Le Paysage Scandinave” in which he used a post-impressionist technique, as well as that called “Vue de Séville”. As far as the rest of the works to be admired in the Museum is concerned, that painting called “Avendre (Les Deux Amies)” is the most outstanding. It depicts two ladies, one of them consisting of a stunning nude comparable to those of Toulouse-Lautrec. Besides, on the day I visited the Museum, 14.01.2020, the temporary exhibition was also very interesting. It consisted of paintings borrowed from other Belgian museums and included even one by Ensor. As one can gather from the foregoing the Rops Museum is a unique art museum housing highly valuable works different from those which can be seen in most museums. Such works are both very peculiar and beautiful. In order to realize such qualities it’s therefore utterly recommendable to visit the Museum and watch attentively all the works there exhibited.
5. Groot Begijnhof
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,134 reviews
Reviewed By Vizoog - Belgium, null
If you are visiting the Grand-Beguinage (UNESCO world heritage site, now owned by the university) nearby you can find an hidden gem. ‘De Grote Spui’, a medieval river lock complex established in 1365 BC From the backyard of Bistro ‘The Spuye’ you have a spectacular view of the system consisting of four arches with wooden lock gates. How to get there: Take Volmolenlaan in the direction of the Ring road (Tervuursevest). You will find a tunnel for pedestrians and cyclists, where the road crosses the river Dyle. Here is the entrance of the University Sports Facilities (Universitair Sportcentrum). The place is popular among both students and locals.
6. ZOO Planckendael
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,084 reviews
7. Tongeren Flea Market
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 207 reviews
Reviewed By Tabby42 - Illinois, United States
We have bought many items from this wonderful city that opens its doors EVERY SUNDAY (except for Christmas, and possibly other official holidays that fall on Sunday). You will find antiques from vendors from various countries: England, France, Germany, and Belgium--probably others as well! Depends on what you are looking for, but we have bought GREAT wood furniture pieces: tables, Minty bookcase, French chest of drawers, nesting tables, chest-similar to cedar chest--without the cedar; unique traveling writing box (see one that Alexander Hamilton used at Ft. Ticonderoga), or wooden stationary desk organizer, holds paper, pens/pencils & has the date cards--possible used by stationary salesmen (the last two were from England). Today first Sunday of August 2017 we have returned with garden items to use for flowers (or such is my plan); from zinc washtub, to enamel pots - old chamber pot, or washstand with wash pan, a cute bicycle to hold three flower pots. As others wrote the haggling is part of the fun of getting the best deal, but don't go too low to insult the dealer! I had a total blast today and came home with more than expected to include a milk can with strainer & lid! Color me exuberant!! I even found an oil painting from a dealer that also sells on E-Bay - what a wonderful and fun day!! They do this rain or shine, they have a large building for inside vendors, as well as in a parking garage lower level for those bad weather days. Otherwise the vendors sets up on the streets and square of town from 0600-1400, but you had better get there early, because many do start packing up around noon! There local antique shops in town, that are open during this time as well--check them out too!
8. Hoge Kempen National Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 176 reviews
The Hoge Kempen National Park in a nutshell.The Hoge Kempen National Park covers 5700 ha and stretches across the municipalities Dilsen-Stokkem, Maasmechelen, Zutendaal, Lanaken, Genk and As. The Hoge Kempen is the largest woodland and nature reserve in Flanders. Extensive pine woods alternate with purple flowering heathland. Large lakes were left behind where sand and gravel were extracted. The highest ‘peaks’, 100 meters high, offer magnificent views. It is home to many rare and exceptional animals. Encountering a roe is not exceptional and butterflies like the swallowtail butterfly brighten up the summer. Special inhabitants are the slippery snake, the antlion and the European beewolf. Large stones and small boulders attest to the last ice age and lend it all a magical feeling.The Hoge Kempen National Park welcomes people with a ‘heart for nature’. That is why five locations have been selected as ‘Gateway to the Hoge Kempen National Park’: Stations As in As, Pietersheim in Lanaken, Mechelse Heide in Maasmechelen, Kattevennen in Genk and Lieteberg in Zutendaal. The gateways have car parks, information kiosks, cafeterias and additional attractions. It is your starting point for walking, cycling and horseriding. Admission to the gateways and the National Park is free. The National Park is not fenced off.
Reviewed By peggy265g - Geraardsbergen, Belgium
Very nice to visite especially with children. It was a visit with a lot of interactions and things to explore
9. Pairi Daiza
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 7,921 reviews
Pairi Daiza is home to 7,000 animals, including numerous endangered species that are housed in the Jardin des Mondes as part of protection and breeding programmes for endangered species. Pairi Daiza is 70 hectares of sumptuous, authentic and varied gardens. A true journey across five continents.
Reviewed By R751VMclairec
Well worth buying the season pass than the day pass, lots to do, lots to see, can’t complete in a day, really reasonably priced season tickets, love the new restaurant, Paddington Bear, kids prices are amazing for what you get. Animals, scenery, play areas, it has everything, even when it’s raining they have an indoor play area so kids can wear themselves out.
10. Parc de Furfooz
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 225 reviews
Near the doors of the Ardennes, along the Lesse, near Dinant, park and nature reserve of Furfooz invites you to discover through a nature walk
Reviewed By johanac34 - Prague, Czech Republic
We started the day with this nice tour around the hills. It is really clean, sign are clear and the cave are nice surprises. Strongly recommended with kids with the lamp of your mobile. Explore them. Nice bar in the middle of the way where you meet the kayakistes.
