Tourism in Belgium: Encyclopedia II - Tourism in Belgium - Cities

Tourism in Belgium - Cities

Every large city has its own Gothic cathedral, church, belfry or town hall.

Tourism in Belgium - Brussels

The capital Brussels (French Bruxelles, Dutch Brussel) is renowned for its architecture (mediaeval, Gothic, Art Nouveau and Art Déco), the Grande Place (an old market square surrounded by buildings from 16th - 18th centuries), the royal palace, its pubs, gallerias with expensive boutiques (some say the oldest covered shopping arcades in the world) and its lifestyle. The Atomium is built on the Expo '58 site. Unfortunately, the heart of Brussels has only a few old buildings, mostly around the Grande Place , the rest of the city was the result of modern architecture, mostly erected in the 1960s when the city's inner ring-road was built using cut and cover.

Tourism in Belgium - Flanders

The historic cities of Antwerp, Bruges, Ghent, Leuven, Ypres and Mechelen are a must.

Antwerp is the second largest city of Belgium, and the second largest port of Europe. It has a world renowned diamond stock exchange, a zoo, and holds yearly naval festivities. It's a very important cultural city, reaching its height in the 17th century. A fashion museum in Antwerp, MOMU (Mode Museum), houses the prestigious fashion design department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts.

Ghent and Bruges (the "Venice of the North") are well known for their medieval cultural heritage. Both cities are criss-crossed by canals, and have retained much of their original medieval architecture and city layout. Ghent is somewhat more trendy than Bruges, which keeps its raw and original atmosphere. Ghent has the SMAK (Municipal Actual Art Museum), a modern art museum while Bruges' Groeningemuseum focuses more on the low countries' art in general: works include Paul Delvaux, René Magritte, James Ensor, Hieronymus Bosch, Jan van Eyck and many more.

Leuven is most famous for its impressive town hall and the university, which is one of the oldest in Europe. The Begijnhof, a medieval hostel for nuns, is also worth a visit, and presents an island of calm in the centre of this bustling small city.

If you are looking for night life, or like to visit campuses, visit the student cities like Leuven, Hasselt, Ghent or Antwerp. These Antwerp and Hasselt are a shopping paradise for fashion clothing, and Hasselt hass a nice Fashion Museum.

Tourism in Belgium - Wallonia

• Liège

The old capital of an independent bishopric for more than eight centuries, Liège is now a centre of prestigious art, cultural life and an important student community.

Like Brussels, Liège was a victim of modern architecture and the remaining architectural interest is in the city's heart. Today, Liège is the largest Walloon metropolis and the third urban centre of Belgium. Still, Liège is very attractive when you take time to enjoy this wonderful city full of contrasts. Thanks to its past, Liège has many impressive churches and a lot of architecture from previous centuries. You can also find several unique museums, like the world's most important museum of weapons and firearms.

Liège and its inhabitants are known to be very welcoming. One can find many interesting shops in the centre of the city, numerous restaurants, an incredible night life in the bars of "the square" (Le carré) and also, if you like to try different activities, the biggest market in Europe every Sunday on the river's bank.

• Namur

Namur, the capital of Wallonia, is increasingly attracting attention. A medium sized city, Namur is very attractive with many small fully pedestrian streets where you can find bars and restaurants. The city is dominated by the Citadel, a fortress built on a hill overlooking the city. The site has been used defensively for more than two millennia and the limestone hill is riddled with tunnels. The citadel can be visited and contains small museums of military history.

• Mons

Mons is also a small city like Namur but with a totally different heart and architecture. The town is dominated by spoil heaps from the area's coal mining history, which rise to quite unbelievable heights. The coal industry in Belgium is now finished but one of the large mining buildings near Mons has now been converted into a museum of science and technology (PASS).

• Charleroi

Charleroi is another mining town, near Mons. Since the decline of the mining industry it has managed to attract other industry, but the main reason to visit is to fly in or out of the airport - Brussels South - which is home to low cost airlines.

• Durbuy

Durbuy is known as the smallest city in the world. The medieval atmosphere of the narrow streets and the castle are enough to bring thousand of tourists every year. Durbuy is one of the major tourist places in the Ardennes and home to several outdoor adventure companies, offering canoeing, caving, climbing, mountain biking and other activities.

• Spa

Spa is the city of water that gives its name to the word spa. A small town in the middle of the Ardennes, surrounded by forest and rivers, Spa is famous for the mineral springs which have fed the hydro-therapy industry for centuries, and which now fill the well-known Spa mineral water bottles. The town has several hydrotherapy centres around it, although the original baths are now closed, replaced by a modern centre on the hill overlooking the town, accessible by funicular.

• Bastogne

Bastogne played a major role during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. You can now visit many museums about that battle, American war cemeteries or just enjoy the beauty of this small city in the middle of the Ardennes.

Other touristic towns in the Ardennes include La Roche En Ardenne (outdoor activities, castle), Rochefort (caves), Han Sur Lesse (caves, wild animal park) and Bouillon (very impressive castle and museum of Crusades).

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Cities", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki