The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb
Ghent
Art enthusiasts swarm the Sint-Baafskathedraal to glimpse The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb (De Aanbidding van het Lams God), a lavish representation of…
Must-see attractions in Northwest Belgium
Bruges
The heart of ancient Bruges, the old market square is lined with pavement cafes beneath step-gabled facades. The buildings aren't always quite as medieval…
Ypres
No museum gives a more balanced yet moving and user-friendly introduction to WWI history. It’s a multisensory experience combining soundscapes, videos,…
Bruges
Bruges’ most celebrated art gallery boasts an astonishingly rich collection that's strong in superb Flemish Primitive and Renaissance works, depicting the…
Bruges
In the restored chapel of a 12th-century hospital building with superb timber beamwork, this museum shows various torturous-looking medical implements,…
Ghent
Flanders’ quintessential 12th-century stone castle comes complete with moat, turrets and arrow slits. It’s all the more remarkable considering that during…
Northwest Belgium
Occupying a 12-hectare former industrial site, this is one of Europe's largest private contemporary-art initiatives. The indoor-outdoor interactive…
Bruges
Towering 83m above the square like a gigantic medieval rocket is this fabulous 13th-century belfry. There’s relatively little to see inside, but it’s…
Ghent
Ghent’s Unesco-listed 14th-century belfry (91m) is topped by a large dragon weathervane: he's become something of a city mascot. You’ll meet two previous…
Ghent
Styled like a Greek temple, this superb 1903 fine-art gallery introduces a veritable A–Z of great Belgian and other Low Countries' painters from the 14th…
Ostend
Ostend’s most striking historical building features beautifully ornate twin spires, a rose window and a gloomy neo-Gothic interior. It was consecrated on…
Ypres
Every night at 8pm, traffic through the Menin Gate is halted while buglers sound the Last Post in remembrance of the WWI dead, a moving tradition started…
Bruges
Just east of the Markt, the less theatrical but still enchanting Burg has been Bruges' administrative centre for centuries. It's in this area you'll find…
Ostend
The impenetrable, pentagon-shaped Fort Napoleon is an unusually intact fortress dating from 1812, though there’s comparatively little to see inside. The…
Bruges
Around 10km south of Bruges, Kasteel van Loppem is a mid-19th-century brick castle-mansion which had its moment of fame at the end of WWI when it was…
Bruges
Bruges’ delightful begijnhof dates from the 13th century. Despite the hordes of summer tourists, remains a remarkably tranquil haven. Outside the 1776…
Ypres
A block east of Grote Markt, the famous Menin Gate is a huge stone gateway straddling the main road at the city moat. It's inscribed with the names of 54…
Ypres
One of Ypres' most attractive military graveyards, this Commonwealth War Graves Commission site is found 1km south of the Grote Markt.
Northwest Belgium
For cycle-racing enthusiasts the name Geraardsbergen is inextricably linked with the 'Muur' (Mur de Grammont in French), a steep cobbled rise that…
Centrum De Ronde van Vlaanderen
Northwest Belgium
Fans of the Tour of Flanders (De Ronde) – and lovers of cycling in general – shouldn't miss this state-of-the-art museum, featuring displays on the…
Bruges
The western end of the stadhuis morphs into the Basiliek van het Heilig Bloed. The basilica takes its name from a phial supposedly containing a few drops…
Ypres
Dominating the Grote Markt, the enormous reconstructed Lakenhalle is one of Belgium’s most impressive buildings. Its 70m-high belfry has the vague…
Bruges
The beautiful 1420 stadhuis features a fanciful facade that’s second only to Leuven’s for exquisitely turreted Gothic excess. Inside, an audioguide…
Bruges
Within the so-caled Adornesdomein estate is one of Bruges’ oddest churches, the 15th-century Jeruzalemkerk, built by the Adornes family. Supposedly based…
Ghent
Once the country’s biggest abbey, St-Pieters was the original centre around which Ghent grew. Its fabulous wealth evaporated after French revolutionary…
Ostend
The gripping Atlantikwall is a remarkably extensive complex of WWI and WWII bunkers, gun emplacements and linking brick tunnels created by occupying…
Ghent
Thought to have been originally constructed around the 13th and 14th centuries, and reconstructed in 1595 after much savagery and repeated pillaging,…
Ghent
Ghent’s magnificent and flamboyant city hall was started in 1519 but not finished until 1600, by which time it had transformed into a Renaissance-style…
Northwest Belgium
Oudenaarde’s impressive market square is dominated by this gorgeous town hall, built in the secular Brabantine Gothic style. The building houses the MOU…
Ghent
Ghent's best-loved waterfront square, the 'Wheat Market' is where you'll find some of the city's best architecture, including the former post office (now…
Ghent
Ships have been docking on either side of the River Leie since the 11th century. The area on the east bank is known as Graslei; Korenlei is on the west…
Bruges
Within the stadhuis, this hall's polychromatic ceiling almost drips with medieval carvings. Murals depicting the town's history add to the room's…
Bruges
Eye-catching with its early baroque gables, gilt highlights and golden statuettes, this was once the seat of the ‘Liberty of Bruges’, the large autonomous…
Bruges
Dominating its surrounds, this 13th-century church was reopened in 2015 after extensive renovations. Its enormous 115m spire is unmissable throughout much…
Bruges
Behind the Arentshuis, Hof Arents is a charming little park with a hump-backed pedestrian bridge, St-Bonifaciusbrug, that crosses the canal, offering…
Ghent
This cathedral's towering interior has some fine stained glass and an unusual combination of brick vaulting with stone tracery. A €0.20 leaflet guides you…
Bruges
The Historium occupies a neo-Gothic building on the northern side of the Markt. The immersive one-hour audio and video tour aims to take you back to…
Ypres
Ypres is unusual in that it has retained extensive sections of its city fortifications. Designed by French military engineer Sébastien Le Prestre de…
Bruges
Just inside the main entrance of the begijnhof this is a charming 17th-century house now converted into an endearing little four-room museum. In the…
Ostend
This lesser-known residential part of Ostend was once in ill repute, but savvy homebuyers have recently snapped up its wealth of utterly charming art…
