BELGIUM | TRAVEL

Looking for a hidden gem in Europe?

Do you have an insider tip for a travel destination in Europe? Of course we do! World-changing chocolate, the crispiest French fries and quaffable tasty beer. Plus melancholic art paintings, architecture steeped in history and idyllic city life. Any ideas yet? We're in Belgium! More precisely, we are travelling through the cities of Ghent, Bruges and Antwerp, and we quickly realise that Belgium has a lot to offer a traveller's heart. It may only take a few 'lekker' tips ...

Ghent

Belgium's fourth largest city is home to a quarter of a million inhabitants and flourishes thanks to the export trade in flowers. The city centre looks like an open-air museum of Flemish architecture and bears witness to the city's power in the Middle Ages.

It is also home to Belgium's oldest museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, which delights us with its wide variety of collections by various artists from different eras and deliberately exhibits old masters and modernists side by side in an eclectic manner.

We find a perfect place to spend the night right in the centre: the boutique hotel "1898 The Post". The former post office, which is located between Korenmarkt and the idyllic Graslei, offers 38 stylishly designed rooms and suites. These have thematically appropriate names such as The Stamp, The Envelope or The Postcard. In this way, the owners honour the history of the building. The hotel bar "The Cobbler" is located on the first floor and offers a wonderful view of the historic city centre. The furnishings with velvet armchairs, the large fireplace and pictures and decorations that have fallen out of time give the bar its significant charm.

Our 'lekker' tip: Luc Van Hoorebeke, Sint-Baafsplein 15, 9000 Ghent

Bruges

The second city on our short tour of Belgium also seems like a film set from another era. We involuntarily think of the movie "Bruges". As the title suggests, the film takes place in the medieval setting of Bruges' city centre. And our stay is also mainly centred around the must-see classics. From Rozenhoedkaai and the market square, to the Lake of Love and the canals, the Beginenhof, the foundation houses and much more. Enchanting squares that give the city its special appearance and immediately cast a small, surreal spell over every visitor.

We spend the night in the modern boutique hotel "’t Fraeyhuis", located in the beautiful Minnewaterpark, just a few minutes' walk from the central market, the winding alleyways of the old town, the shopping streets and all the main sights.

Bruges smells and tastes of sweet beer, full-flavoured chocolate and hearty cuisine. Bruges offers the finest antiques, superb interior stores and wonderfully kitschy carriage rides through the narrow streets of the city, which can be explored in a much more relaxed way this way. Bruges, you simply have to see it. Because Bruges is to die for.

Our 'lekker' tip: Marie de Bruges cChocolatier, Walstraat 16, 8000 Bruges

Antwerp

The largest city in Flanders and probably the most modern of the three cities lies on the banks of the River Schelde. Antwerp is the city of Gothic cathedrals, is the centre of fashion, a hub for architecture and design and a stronghold of the diamond industry. Antwerp is the home of Peter Paul Rubens and many other famous Belgian artists.

We spend our nights where nuns once lived: in the "August" hotel. Located in Berchem, a district south-east of Antwerp city centre. The "August" is the first hotel project by the renowned Belgian architect Vincent Van Duysen, who has succeeded in combining great tranquillity with small things of the finest quality. From the bedspread made of light linen, the specially designed lamps, the hand-woven carpets to the nut bowls at the bar. Simple shapes, natural materials and muted colours. High wooden ceilings, arched windows and restored floor tiles are part of the minimalist interior. The attention to detail can be felt in every corner of the old Augustinian monastery. The "August" is sleek, elegant and simply beautiful in its minimalist simplicity.