I recently spent a week in Belgium and I quickly fell in love with the country. When most people daydream about visiting Europe, Belgium is often left off their list. So here are some reasons why you should consider adding Belgium to your bucket list.
The Cities
For starters, Brussels, their capital city, is like a combination of Paris and Amsterdam. The architecture is like the perfect combination of the two and it’s absolutely stunning! Brussels is a very nice city with lots of do. It’s easy to spend a couple of days there exploring the city and indulging in some of their delicious food. I also took a few day trips to Bruges and Ghent. Both of these cities are in the region of Belgium where they speak Dutch, which did scare me since I don’t know any Dutch (although YouTube tutorials did help very little with that), but everyone spoke English to us before I even had the chance to use my YouTube skills, which was probably for the better! Bruges was like a little fairy tale town. I felt like I was in an actual Disney movie! There are a bunch of canals that flow through the city with many swans that swim through them. Ghent on the other hand looks like it’s straight out of the Harry Potter universe. The city is filled with gorgeous architecture and filled with so much Belgian culture. Now, I didn’t actually get the chance to visit Antwerp, which is another very popular city in Belgium, but I heard that is very similar to Brussels and filled with similar architecture.
Food
I didn’t have a single bad meal during my time in Belgium. Of course, Belgium is known for their waffles and I certainly see why! Their waffles are absolutely delicious. In Brussels, you can find waffle places pretty much everywhere. No matter where you are, the odds are that there are waffles somewhere nearby! Belgium is also known for their chocolate and for good reason! Chocolate stores are everywhere and every single one of them has some delicious chocolate inside. Hot chocolates are particularly good since they’re made with pieces of Belgian chocolate. Finally, Belgium is known for their fries. Â Maybe it’s just me but I didn’t know that French fries were invented in Belgium! Just like waffles, fries can be found pretty much anywhere, especially in Brussels, but my favourites came from Maison Antoine! Belgium is pretty much any waffle, chocolate and fry lover’s dream! Not to mention all the delicious and different types of food you can find across the country!
History
Belgium is filled with so much history, more than I even realized. So, if you’re interested in history, it’s definitely the perfect place to visit. Just outside of Brussels is Waterloo, where Napoleon was defeated or more importantly, where the inspiration for ABBA’s wonderful song “Waterloo” came from. Belgium is also home to Flander’s Field, which I’m sure most Canadians are familiar with thanks to the poem by the Canadian military doctor in WWI, John McCrae. At certain times of the year, you’ll even be able to see it filled with poppies. So, if you’re interested in history, you should definitely visit Belgium!
Belgium is one of the more underrated countries as far as European countries go. It’s small, but worth the visit, even if it’s just for a few days. I probably didn’t need to spend a whole week in Brussels, but it was nice to make a few day trips and take my time to really take in the country and its culture. So, you should definitely add Belgium to your bucket list!