Belgium is a small country sometimes overlooked when planning a European adventure, but if you are a beer lover you absolutely cannot miss it! I recommend staying in Brussels and taking day trips to Ghent and Bruges. Eat a Belgian waffle with chocolate. Or 8. We're not here to judge.
Brussels:
The capital city of Belgium, Brussels is surprisingly tiny. You can walk the entire city center in probably 30 minutes. The gold shrine buildings make your adventures very pleasing to the eye. The city is very difficult to navigate with curving streets that go every which way, so be warned! I walked in approximately 15 circles.
Adventures & Ales Top Recommendations:
Cantillon Brewery Tour: historic brewery making traditional lambic beers. A tour comes with tastings and a semi-guided tour of the facilities.
Moeder Lambic Brewery: just outside the main center of the city, Moeder has a huge patio, delicious food and incredible beer.
Palace Square: incredibly beautiful and the center of the city, this square is filled with gold encrusted buildings and historic architecture.
Delirium Campus: so. many. beers. The Delirium Campus is famous for it's vast array of beers from across the world. It is 8 beer bars all in one area where you can get a sample or the largest beer I've ever seen.
Other ideas:
Beer Museum: conveniently located right inside the Palace Square, the Beer Museum is popular with tourists. You can check out the "museum" which is really just a video and a couple posters and the drink a beer.
Mannekin Pis: the famous statue of the little boy peeing. He gets his costume changed frequently. Very strange little thing to be so famous.
Mannekin Pis
Ghent:
A cute little Gothic-style town outside of Brussels filled with cafes and historic buildings.
Adventures & Ales Top Recommendations:
Graffiti Street: exactly as it sounds--a street covered in graffiti. Very cool looking
Meander the streets: the Gothic architecture and canal make for a beautiful city to just wander around by foot
Check out the castle, the churches, and the Town Hall
Ghent’s Graffiti Street
Bruges:
Also a cute small town outside of Brussels, Bruges is definitely the more common destination for tourists. Overall it was too touristy for me, but still cute and they have some good beer!
Adventures & Ales Top Recommendations:
De Halve Maan Brewery: solid beer, cool courtyard
Bourgogne de Flandres Brewery: right on the canal, solid beers here as well (better than De Halve Maan in my opinion)
Minnewater lake and park: a beautiful area to soak in some nature after a couple beers!
Other ideas:
Belfry Tower: the icon of Bruges, you gotta see it if you are in Bruges!
The Markt: the center of the city, not actually a market as the title would seem. Belfry Tower is on one edge of the square
Wall of Beers: literally a wall of beers. Near Bourgogne de Flandres so it is a quick stop if you visit the brewery.
