A Weekend Tour in Belgium

This weekend I traveled to Brussels and Bruges with three of my fellow guides. To clarify my “weekends” are on Thursdays and Fridays because it’s a customer service-based job and most people come to the site on Saturdays and Sundays. 

At 6:40 on Thursday, my friends and I got on a train to Lille and then got on another train to Brussels. We arrived at around 8:00 and so we had the whole day to explore. We walked downtown and got fresh waffles and got to the Grand Place and saw Manneken Pis before the crowds arrived. It was interesting to make the walk while kids are walking to school and locals make their way to work. By 10:00, we were joined by many other tourists in the Grand Place though they were few compared to the summer crowds.

We had pre-booked a free 2.5-hour walking tour with Sandemans and it was a great way to get to know the city. Our guide was amazing and gave great recommendations! It’s a great way to get to know the city and because it is entirely tip based, the guides work hard to make the tour interesting and informative. One aspect I appreciated was that or guide talked about King Leopold II, the King who owned the Congo Free State and exploited the people and the land in the production of rubber. He is not a figure in history that is discussed often but many believe that what he did should be considered a genocide. Though it was not a story Belgium wishes to highlight, our guide made the point of informing us and teaching us about Belgium’s colonial past. 

After our walking tour, we made our way to the European parliament. There is so much to do there and it’s all free! We needed our passports to get in, but we were able to tour the parliament and also the 6 floor European History museum. Both were incredible but the history museums exhibit on Rebellious Youth was incredibly interesting and interactive. Additionally, the staff members were all ready to help and were incredibly kind. It is clear that they enjoy working there. 

We finished our day with Moules-Frites (Mussels and Fries) which is considered the national dish of Belgium. If you are looking for great fries, try Fritland! Though if you are vegetarian be advised that they use beef oil to fry their potatoes. 

The next morning, we took a train to Bruges! All youth under 26 are eligible for a Go Pass which is a ticket with a flat rate of only 6.50 Euro and allows you to take any train in Belgium. So it was very easy and cheap to travel from Brussels to Bruges. Bruges is a smaller and older city and because it is so picturesque it attracts many tourists. We visited the Grand Place, had more waffles, and visited the most beautiful churches. The highlight of the trip is a tie between the best hot-chocolate of my life and bicycling around the downtown and along the canals. 

The best hot-chocolate was at The Old Chocolate House which is a chocolatery on the main floor and above it is a small café. We got to choose exactly what chocolate we wanted in our hot chocolate including the producer and region it was from. They brought is little bowls made of chocolate filled with our requested chocolate along with huge mugs of steamed milk. The chocolate melted instantly when put inside the mugs and it was the most rich, creamy and delicious thing I have ever tasted. The atmosphere of the place was also great as it is intimate and comforting. We rented the bikes for 2-hours which was enough time to seeing the areas surround the downtown core. It allowed us to see a lot more than we would have on foot. We biked through all the beautiful parks and on a bike path that follows the canal, passing Windmills, swans and daffodils! It was beautiful!

We left Bruges and returned to Brussels where we got a train to Arras. It was a jam-packed exhausting weekend, but I got to do everything I have hoped to see and do, and more. I defiantly recommend making the trip if you are in the region!