Beautiful Bruges… glorious Ghent… explore them and more by Eurostar
Claire Webb - 24 February 2018
VENICE OF THE NORTH - BRUGES
Tranquil canals, cobbled streets and medieval market squares… it’s little wonder Bruges’s nickname is the Venice of the North. Add first-rate museums, cosy restaurants, pubs and endless chocolate shops, and it has the makings of a fairy-tale weekend away – and it’s only a train ride from London.
THE SIGHTS
The Basilica of the Holy Blood houses a relic said to contain Christ’s blood and an exquisite Gothic chapel; the Groeningemuseum has Flemish masters Jan van Eyck and Hans Memling. Climb the 366-step belfry for a glorious view of the city; and marvel at the stepped gables and secret gardens on a canal boat tour.
WHERE TO EAT
Belgium is famous for inventing French fries and waffles, but more sophisticated menus can be found in the snug restaurants tucked away in Bruges’s atmospheric alleys. One of the most romantic is Park Restaurant on Minderbroedersstraat, where classic fish and steak dishes are served in an elegant dining room in a mansion house.
WHERE TO DRINK
The Belgians produce an astonishing variety of beer, from fruity sours to Trappist ales brewed by monks. Probably the most famous of Bruges’s umpteen pubs is ‘t Poatersgat on Vlamingstraat, a candlelit basement with great music. Never order a pint or litre: Belgian beer is punchy and usually supped in modest quantities from specially shaped glasses.
WHAT TO BUY
Bruges has 50 chocolate shops. Look for ones where the chocolates are handmade on the premises — such as The Chocolate Line on Simon Stevinplein, where experimental flavours include sake, cigars and smoked chilli peppers.
AROUND TOWN
There’s a beautiful walk between Bruges’s four remaining windmills, with the old moat and medieval gates on one side and the grand canal on the other.
SEEN ON SCREEN
In the 2008 black comedy In Bruges, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson play hit men who lie low at a B&B in the town after a job goes wrong. Available on Netflix, it was written and directed by Martin McDonagh, whose film, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri, has received rave reviews.
HOW LONG FROM LONDON
Just 3 hours, 25 minutes from London St Pancras (via Brussels, with an Any Belgian Station Eurostar ticket).
BEST-KEPT SECRET – GHENT
In the 19th century, Ghent was known as the “Manchester of the Continent” because it was the first Flemish city to embrace industrialisation. The soot has long since been scrubbed off its medieval buildings and the tangle of canals runs clean. Nowadays it’s the country’s best-kept secret…
THE SIGHTS
The Count of Flanders’s 12thcentury fortress, the Gravensteen, comes with panoramic views; St Bavo’s Cathedral is home to an immense 1432 altarpiece by the Van Eyck brothers. The 16th-century Baudelo Chapel is now a temple to gastronomy called the Holy Food Market.
WHERE TO EAT
Mémé Gusta on Burgstraat dishes up Flemish comfort food such as shrimp croquettes, slow-cooked pig’s cheek and beef in brown beer sauce.
WHERE TO DRINK
The De Dulle Griet tavern on Vrijdagmarkt boasts more than 500 types of beer. The potent 8.4% house beer comes in a special boot-shaped glass — and you have to hand in your shoe as a deposit.
WHAT TO BUY
“Little noses” and “wobbly bottoms” from Temmerman, an old-fashioned sweet shop with a baroque façade, hidden away among the cobbled lanes of the Patershol quarter.
SEEN ON SCREEN
The 2016 film Belgica has a funky soundtrack by Belgian electro outfit Soulwax and offers a glimpse of Ghent’s hedonistic side. It’s about two brothers who open a club and end up partying too hard — available on Netflix.
HOW LONG FROM LONDON
2 hrs, 49 mins (via Brussels)
CAPITAL OF COOL - ANTWERP
It has been Belgium’s capital of cool since superstar painter Pieter Paul Rubens made it his home in the 1500s. Antwerp isn’t as pretty as Bruges or Ghent, but it’s impossible to get bored here, whether you’re into history, architecture, fashion, Old Masters or diamonds.
THE SIGHTS
The glorious, cathedral-like central train station; the elaborate 16th-century guildhalls in the Grote Markt. The Rubens House is located in the Flemish master’s former home and studio; while the MAS museum in the hipster harbour area Het Eilandje tells the story of the city.
WHERE TO EAT
De Rooden Hoed on Oude Koornmarkt is the oldest restaurant in Antwerp and popular with locals. As well as Flemish soup and Antwerp classics such as smoked beef, the menu includes fish, shellfish, mussels, and coach driver’s soup — a reminder of the days when carriages stopped off here in the 1700s.
WHERE TO DRINK
Antwerp has the country’s most pubs per capita and plenty of trendy bars, too. Den Engel on Grote Market is a friendly spot for people-watching and sipping a glass of jenever — the gin popular in Belgium and the Netherlands.
WHAT TO BUY
Antwerp is the diamond capital of the world. You’ll find a wealth of jewellery shops in the Diamond District, south of the train station, but beware tourist traps. A cheaper bet is to invest in diamond-shaped chocolate pralines or antwerpse handjes — little biscuits in the shape of a hand.
SEEN ON SCREEN
Straight-talking superintendent Liese Meerhout leads the homicide department in the Antwerp police force in More4 drama Rough Justice, which begins next week.
HOW LONG FROM LONDON
3 hours, 17 minutes (via Brussels).
MODERN MEETS MEDIEVAL - BRUSSELS
The unofficial capital of the European Union is only two hours from London and anything but dull. A French-speaking city in Flanders, its identity is as multifaceted as its offerings.
THE SIGHTS
The daily flower market in the city’s majestic medieval heart, the Grand Place; art nouveau architect Victor Horta’s gorgeous house on rue Américaine. Discover why Belgians are mad on comics at the Belgian Comic Strip Centre on rue des Sables, which has a section on Tintin.
WHERE TO EAT Timeless brasserie L’Ogenblik on Galerie des Princes is the place to sample French classics. Head to Aux Armes de Bruxelles on rue des Bouchers for unfussy Flemish fare.
WHERE TO DRINK
Order a half-and-half (half still and half sparkling wine) at Le Cirio on rue de la Bourse for a taste of fin de siècle glamour. Squeeze into teeny La Fleur en Papier Doré on rue des Alexiens, where Magritte swapped his surrealist doodles for drinks.
WHAT TO BUY
Handcrafted speculoos (spiced biscuits) from Maison Dandoy off the Grand Place. Or pick up pralines from the pharmacy where they were invented in 1912, Neuhaus in Galeries Royales.
SEEN ON SCREEN
A silver-fox police inspector uncovers a complex conspiracy when he investigates a bank robbery in the Belgian thriller Salamander, which aired on BBC4 and is available on DVD.
Tranquil canals, cobbled streets and medieval market squares… it’s little wonder Bruges’s nickname is the Venice of the North. Add first-rate museums, cosy restaurants, pubs and endless chocolate shops, and it has the makings of a fairy-tale weekend away – and it’s only a train ride from London.
THE SIGHTS
The Basilica of the Holy Blood houses a relic said to contain Christ’s blood and an exquisite Gothic chapel; the Groeningemuseum has Flemish masters Jan van Eyck and Hans Memling. Climb the 366-step belfry for a glorious view of the city; and marvel at the stepped gables and secret gardens on a canal boat tour.
WHERE TO EAT
Belgium is famous for inventing French fries and waffles, but more sophisticated menus can be found in the snug restaurants tucked away in Bruges’s atmospheric alleys. One of the most romantic is Park Restaurant on Minderbroedersstraat, where classic fish and steak dishes are served in an elegant dining room in a mansion house.
WHERE TO DRINK
The Belgians produce an astonishing variety of beer, from fruity sours to Trappist ales brewed by monks. Probably the most famous of Bruges’s umpteen pubs is ‘t Poatersgat on Vlamingstraat, a candlelit basement with great music. Never order a pint or litre: Belgian beer is punchy and usually supped in modest quantities from specially shaped glasses.
WHAT TO BUY
Bruges has 50 chocolate shops. Look for ones where the chocolates are handmade on the premises — such as The Chocolate Line on Simon Stevinplein, where experimental flavours include sake, cigars and smoked chilli peppers.
AROUND TOWN
There’s a beautiful walk between Bruges’s four remaining windmills, with the old moat and medieval gates on one side and the grand canal on the other.
SEEN ON SCREEN
In the 2008 black comedy In Bruges, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson play hit men who lie low at a B&B in the town after a job goes wrong. Available on Netflix, it was written and directed by Martin McDonagh, whose film, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri, has received rave reviews.
HOW LONG FROM LONDON
Just 3 hours, 25 minutes from London St Pancras (via Brussels, with an Any Belgian Station Eurostar ticket).
BEST-KEPT SECRET – GHENT
In the 19th century, Ghent was known as the “Manchester of the Continent” because it was the first Flemish city to embrace industrialisation. The soot has long since been scrubbed off its medieval buildings and the tangle of canals runs clean. Nowadays it’s the country’s best-kept secret…
THE SIGHTS
The Count of Flanders’s 12thcentury fortress, the Gravensteen, comes with panoramic views; St Bavo’s Cathedral is home to an immense 1432 altarpiece by the Van Eyck brothers. The 16th-century Baudelo Chapel is now a temple to gastronomy called the Holy Food Market.
WHERE TO EAT
Mémé Gusta on Burgstraat dishes up Flemish comfort food such as shrimp croquettes, slow-cooked pig’s cheek and beef in brown beer sauce.
WHERE TO DRINK
The De Dulle Griet tavern on Vrijdagmarkt boasts more than 500 types of beer. The potent 8.4% house beer comes in a special boot-shaped glass — and you have to hand in your shoe as a deposit.
WHAT TO BUY
“Little noses” and “wobbly bottoms” from Temmerman, an old-fashioned sweet shop with a baroque façade, hidden away among the cobbled lanes of the Patershol quarter.
SEEN ON SCREEN
The 2016 film Belgica has a funky soundtrack by Belgian electro outfit Soulwax and offers a glimpse of Ghent’s hedonistic side. It’s about two brothers who open a club and end up partying too hard — available on Netflix.
HOW LONG FROM LONDON
2 hrs, 49 mins (via Brussels)
CAPITAL OF COOL - ANTWERP
It has been Belgium’s capital of cool since superstar painter Pieter Paul Rubens made it his home in the 1500s. Antwerp isn’t as pretty as Bruges or Ghent, but it’s impossible to get bored here, whether you’re into history, architecture, fashion, Old Masters or diamonds.
THE SIGHTS
The glorious, cathedral-like central train station; the elaborate 16th-century guildhalls in the Grote Markt. The Rubens House is located in the Flemish master’s former home and studio; while the MAS museum in the hipster harbour area Het Eilandje tells the story of the city.
WHERE TO EAT
De Rooden Hoed on Oude Koornmarkt is the oldest restaurant in Antwerp and popular with locals. As well as Flemish soup and Antwerp classics such as smoked beef, the menu includes fish, shellfish, mussels, and coach driver’s soup — a reminder of the days when carriages stopped off here in the 1700s.
WHERE TO DRINK
Antwerp has the country’s most pubs per capita and plenty of trendy bars, too. Den Engel on Grote Market is a friendly spot for people-watching and sipping a glass of jenever — the gin popular in Belgium and the Netherlands.
WHAT TO BUY
Antwerp is the diamond capital of the world. You’ll find a wealth of jewellery shops in the Diamond District, south of the train station, but beware tourist traps. A cheaper bet is to invest in diamond-shaped chocolate pralines or antwerpse handjes — little biscuits in the shape of a hand.
SEEN ON SCREEN
Straight-talking superintendent Liese Meerhout leads the homicide department in the Antwerp police force in More4 drama Rough Justice, which begins next week.
HOW LONG FROM LONDON
3 hours, 17 minutes (via Brussels).
MODERN MEETS MEDIEVAL - BRUSSELS
The unofficial capital of the European Union is only two hours from London and anything but dull. A French-speaking city in Flanders, its identity is as multifaceted as its offerings.
THE SIGHTS
The daily flower market in the city’s majestic medieval heart, the Grand Place; art nouveau architect Victor Horta’s gorgeous house on rue Américaine. Discover why Belgians are mad on comics at the Belgian Comic Strip Centre on rue des Sables, which has a section on Tintin.
WHERE TO EAT Timeless brasserie L’Ogenblik on Galerie des Princes is the place to sample French classics. Head to Aux Armes de Bruxelles on rue des Bouchers for unfussy Flemish fare.
WHERE TO DRINK
Order a half-and-half (half still and half sparkling wine) at Le Cirio on rue de la Bourse for a taste of fin de siècle glamour. Squeeze into teeny La Fleur en Papier Doré on rue des Alexiens, where Magritte swapped his surrealist doodles for drinks.
WHAT TO BUY
Handcrafted speculoos (spiced biscuits) from Maison Dandoy off the Grand Place. Or pick up pralines from the pharmacy where they were invented in 1912, Neuhaus in Galeries Royales.
SEEN ON SCREEN
A silver-fox police inspector uncovers a complex conspiracy when he investigates a bank robbery in the Belgian thriller Salamander, which aired on BBC4 and is available on DVD.
HOW LONG FROM LONDON
2 hours.