Belgium and Luxembourg (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

322 SURVIVAL GUIDE

TIME DIFFERENCE

Belgium and Luxembourg are

on Central European Time

(CET), which is GMT + 1 (one

hour ahead of Greenwich

Mean Time). Both nations

operate the same daylight sav-

ing time over winter, which

means that they move their

clocks one hour forward in

spring (last Sunday in March),

and one hour back in autumn

(last Sunday in October).

ELECTRICITY

The electrical current in both

countries is 220 volts AC, and

standard European plugs with

two round pins are used.

British electrical equipment,

which runs on 230 volts, oper-

ates fine on 220 volts, but

requires adaptors for the

standard three-pin British

plug. These are best bought

WEIGHTS AND

MEASURES

Metric to Imperial

1 kilometre (km) = 0.62 miles

1 metre (m) = 3.28 feet (ft)

1 centimetre (cm) = 0.39

inches (in)

1 litre (l) = 1.76 British pints

or 2.11 US pints

1 kilogram (kg) = 2.2

pounds (lb)

1 gram (g) = 0.03 ounces (oz)

1ºC = 33.8ºF

From degrees Celsius to

degrees Farenheit, multiply

by 1.8 and add 32.

Parking spaces for disabled travellers in front of the Palais Royal, Brussels

Signboard at the Zwin displaying information in Dutch and French

and Dutch, which is used in

Flanders in northern Belgium

(see pp129). In addition,

German is the third offical

lang uage, used in the Cantons

de l’Est. English is widely

spoken within the tourist

indus try, especially in the

main holiday-destination

cities such as Brussels, Ghent,

Bruges and Antwerp. Note

that Belgium is not, in prac-

tice, a bilingual country. Many

Flemish do not speak French,

and even more French-speak-

ing Belgians do not speak

Dutch. In Flanders, it is gen-

erally unwise to communicate

in French in the first instance.

Visitors who do not speak

Dutch are better off trying

English – French should be

used only as a last resort.

The national language of

Luxembourg is Lëtzebuergesch

(see p236). However, French

and German are both official

languages and frequently

used across the country.

English is also widely spoken.

FACILITIES FOR
DISABLED TRAVELLERS

Belgium is full of historic
buildings, steps, kerbs, narrow
doors and cobbled streets,
but little has been done to
the physical environment
to accommodate people with
reduced mobility. The good
news is the Belgians are
remarkably willing to assist
people with disabilities of any
kind. Although improvements
are being made all the time,
facilities for disabled people
in hotels, restaurants and
public places are far from
uniform, so it is wise never
to make assumptions about
access, and to phone ahead.
Local tourist offices can also
advise disabled travellers.
Various websites provide
more detailed information and
help, notably those of the
Infopunt Toegankelijk Reizen
(Accessible Travel Info Point)
in Flanders, and Able Travel.
Tourist offices also recommend
the services of the Belgian
Red Cross. Brussels For All has
web-based information for
travellers with reduced mobil-
ity. For those travelling in
Luxembourg, Info-Handicap
is the best resource – but its
webpages are, at present, in
French and German only.

LANGUAGE

Belgium has two main
languages – French (which is
spoken in Wallonia in south-
ern Belgium, and in Brussels)