Top 13 Attractions in Belgium according to Lonely Planet
Top 13 Attractions in Belgium according to Lonely Planet 13. Cartoon Culture Belgium has a consuming passion for comic strips, which are considered the 'Ninth Art'. Foreigners might know the boy-reporter Tintin whose creater, Hergé, is celebrated at a fine new museum in Louvain La neuve. 12. Art nouveau Swirls, curlicues and architectural daring: don't leave Brussels without exploring some of its art nouveau marvels. The style was developed with the help of the architects Victor Horta and Henry van de Velde. 11. Flanders Fields Flanders Fields is a common English name of the World War I battlefields in an area straddling the Belgian provinces of West Flanders and East Flanders. The name Flanders Fields is particularly associated with battles that took place in the Ypres Salient, including the Second Battle of Ypres and the Battle of Passchendaele. 10. Belfries & Begijnhoven The Belfries of Belgium is a group of historical buildings designated by UNESCO as World Heritage Site, in recognition of an architectural manifestation of emerging civic independence in historic Flanders and neighbouring regions from feudal and religious influences, leading to a degree of local democracy of great significance in the history of humankind. 9. Chocolate Belgium is famed for its high quality chocolate and over 2,000 chocolatiers, both small and large. Belgium's association with chocolate goes back as far as 1635 when the country was under Spanish occupation. From the early 20th century, the country was able to import large quantities of cocoa from its African colony, the Belgian Congo. 8. Castles From French-style chateaux to Crusader-era ruins, Belgium is overloaded with spectacular castles. Antwerp and Ghent both retain medieval ones right in their city centres. And Namur, like Huy and Dinant, is dominated by a massive fortress citadel that retained military importance well into the 20th century. 7. Antwerp Art & Fashion Go-ahead Antwerp is a city that has everything. its skyline is still dominated by one of the lowlands' most magnificent stone steeples and its medieval house-museums are stuffed with works by its most famous 17th-century resident, Pieter Paul rubens. But it's a dynamic place with state-of-the-art museums, vibrant nightlife and a reputation as one of europe's capitals of haute couture. 6. Art Cities If you love the medieval charm of Bruges but want to be a little more original, a great choice is Gghent. this historic city also has its share of canalside splendour, a great arts scene and a grittier charm that many visitors find refreshing. Or try Mechelen. it's overloaded with splendid churches and the grand central square is graced with a fanciful town-hall complex that's only topped for sheer flamboyance by the statue-festooned equivalent in Leuven, Belgium'''s ancient university city. 5. Carnival Capers If your neighbours' idea of a good time is to dress up in barrel costumes jingling with little bells, don spooky masks and ostrich feather hats, and then go throwing oranges at passers-by, you might wonder about their sanity. then again you might just be living in Binche. That's the town whose unique mardi gras carnival has long been so indulgent it gave the english language the term 'binge'. 4. Belgian Beer For a comparatively small country, Belgium produces a very large number of beers in a range of different styles -- in fact, it has more distinct types of beer per capita than anywhere else in the world. In 2011, there were 1,132 different varieties of beer being produced in the country. 3. Flemish Primitives The whole of western representational art was transformed in the 15th century by a group of Bruges-based painters whose mastery of oil paints allowed them to simulate reality and paint faces that expressed apparently real emotions. Simultaneously, the burgeoning economy of Flanders meant that rich sponsors were prepared to commission secular works. 2. Brussels' Grand Place The Grand Place is the central square of Brussels. It is surrounded by guildhalls, the city's Town Hall, and the Breadhouse. The square is the most important tourist destination and most memorable landmark in Brussels. It measures 68 by 110 metres (223 by 361 ft), and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 1. Bruges Bruges is a picture-postcard-perfect city in Flanders, the northern part of Belgium. Relatively cosmopolitan and bourgeois given its compact size, it is one of the best preserved pre-motorised cities in Europe and offers the kind of charms rarely available other than in Europe. SUBSCRIBE www.youtube.com/videovoyagetv?sub_confirmation=1 CONNECT Website: videovoyage.tv Google+: google.com/+videovoyagetv Twitter: twitter.com/videovoyagetv Pinterest: pinterest.com/videovoyagetv Instagram: instagram.com/videovoyagetv Tumblr: videovoyagetv.tumblr.com Facebook: facebook.com/videovoyagetv YouTube: www.youtube.com/videovoyagetv
