Belgium and Luxembourg (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

10 INTRODUCING BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG

BRUSSELS

• Historic centre


• Top museums


• Mould-breaking
  Art Nouveau

Belgium’s debonair capital is

best known for its magnificent

centrepiece, the beautiful and

theatrical Grand Place (see

pp56–7), which has ornate

guildhouses and friendly bar-

cafés. Pedestrianized streets,

outdoor restaurants and innu-

merable shopping opportuni-

ties add to the pleasure of

exploring this area. Beyond

this centre are a number of

exquisite Art Nouveau build-

ings, most notably the Musée

Horta (see p80) and the

Musée des Instruments de

Musique (see p65). Among

the city’s treasures are the

great national art museums,

Musées Royaux des Beaux-

Arts (see pp68–73), which

house some of Rubens’s finest

paintings and many Brueghels

as well as the new Musée

Magritte. A museum much

Elaborate guildhouses surrounding Brussels’s Grand Place

DISCOVERING BELGIUM

AND LUXEMBOURG

WESTERN FLANDERS

• Medieval Bruges and Ghent


• The North Sea coast


• World War I battlefields

Nudging the low beaches

and nature reserves of the

North Sea coast, Western

Flanders is most popular for

its two great trading cities –

Bruges (see pp108–117)

and Ghent (see pp130–35).

Bruges is a medieval city

in miniature, mirrored in its

tranquil canals, but the streets

have an upbeat vibrancy.

Two outstanding art

museums contain classic

work by Flemish mas-

ters – the Groeninge

Museum (see pp114–15)

and St-Janshospitaal

and Hans Memling

Museum (see p113).

Ghent is as old, but

bigger and with a

university and the

CENTRAL AND

EASTERN FLANDERS

• Fashion in Antwerp


• Tranquil abbeys


• Rural traditions in Bokrijk

Home to Belgium’s most

important port-city, Antwerp

(see pp144–55), Central and

Eastern Flanders is charac-

terized by a leisurely pace

and open spaces. Wealthy

in medieval times, Antwerp

flourished again in the age

of Rubens, whose restored

home, the Rubenshuis (see

pp150–51), is a monument

to the swagger of his era.

In recent times, the city has

become a sparkling hub

of contemporary fashion

design, as reflected in its

shops. Further east, the

venerable university

town of Leuven (see

pp160–61) contains the

most beautiful Gothic

town hall in Belgium.

The Premonstratensian

Order of monks was

attracted by the tran-

quillity of this region,

founding monasteries

at Tongerlo (see

p157) and Averbode

loved by all ages is the home

of Tintin, Centre Belge de la

Bande Dessinée (see p62).

Quadriga on the

Jubelpark arch, Brussels

Painting in

St-Baafskathedraal

St-Baafskathedraal (see p132).

In the southern stretches of

Western Flanders are the bat-

tlefields of World War I and

their unremitting cemeteries.

In Ieper (see p124), the

museum called In Flanders

Fields recounts the harrow-

ing tales with moving dignity.

V

isitors to Belgium and

Luxembourg are generally

amazed at the kaleido-

scope of experiences and

attractions on offer. Based

on language and culture,

Belgium is split into Dutch-

speaking Flanders in the

north and French-speaking Wallonia

in the south. Flanders is famous for its

historically great trading cities, such

as Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp,

which retain much ornate archi-

tecture from their past. Wallonia

and Luxembourg have a more

rugged landscape, being part

of the hilly and forested

Ardennes, and both are dot-

ted with cathedrals and châ-

teaux. Museums in these regions

explore every subject from lace and

paintings to motorcars and chocolate.

Detail from The Triumph of the Archduchess Isabella, painted in 1616 by Denys van Alsloot (1570–1628)