I am semi-planning a week in Belgium early this December. I say %26quot;semi-planning%26quot; because I%26#39;m not yet entirely sure I will be free for the trip--so, even if I%26#39;m trying to plan it out in advance, the actual arrangements will likely be made at short-ish notice. If I do make it though, and because I%26#39;ve never been to Belgium, I%26#39;d (perhaps obviously) like to make the most of it, and I%26#39;m cooking up an itinerary along these lines:
--Day 1: Eurostar-ing to Brussels in the morning and spending a few hours before Thalys-ing to Bruges
-- Day 2/3: Bruges
-- Days 4/5: Using Bruges as a base, daytrips to Antwerp and Ghent
-- Days 6/7: Daytrip to Liège and another yet-undefined place, perhaps Waterloo? (I realise Bruges-to-Liège may pose a distance problem --perhaps best to relocate to Brussels before this leg of the trip?)
-- Day 8: Another half-day in Brussels and Eurostar-ing out in the evening
Is this doable at all? I have to say I will most, most probably be travelling on a modest budget, so if nothing else this might be too idealistic from THAT point of view (is train travel between the cities above terribly expensive?). Whenever possible and weather permitting, I%26#39;d like to go on a canal trip, but I%26#39;ve no idea how much those cost - on average - during December. I%26#39;d also like to have a peek at the Christmas/Winter market(s) as I%26#39;ve heard so much about them--are they genuinely traditional or mostly touristy?
I%26#39;m only truly set on the early December timeframe (real life issues) and Bruges as my %26quot;base%26quot; (mostly, perhaps naïvely, because it seems to be more my style than Brussels et al., and in the event of a cancelled daytrip, I%26#39;d happily burn away unexpected free hours by seeing more of it). All else can be scaled down to fit time/money/etc. constraints.
Also, I%26#39;ll be a fairly sensible (I think) young woman travelling alone, and I%26#39;ve heard a bit about Brussels overall safety and its own %26quot;red light district%26quot;, but is Bruges relatively safe too, as compared to Brussels (any real no-go areas?), and are Ghent, etc.? Are any of the above ridiculously expensive (generally speaking) and likely to suck away most of my budget? Would you say something like £300 (not counting flight and accommodation) would be enough for a passable week?
Sorry for the barrage of questions--my ignorance is showing, but I%26#39;d really like some concrete safety/money/practicalities data before I start making actual arrangements. Any info would be very appreciated. Thanks in advance.
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1) You will not be %26quot;Thalysing%26quot; to Brugge, but taking a normal Belgian Railways InterCity train. This is included in your Eurostar ticket as you will be spending less than 24 hrs in Brussels.
2) It takes 2h02 from Brugge to Liège on direct InterCity trains, see http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en
3) If you want to go to Waterloo it would be better to take bus W from outside Brussels%26#39; Gare du Midi (Avenue Fonsny, in front of Ibis Hotel): do not take the train to Waterloo, the battlefield is at Mont St. Jean which is just off the road to Braine l%26#39;Alleud.
4) There are no canal boat trips in December in Brugge, unless we have an exceptional weekend.
5) Christmas markets are not very traditional at all, but imported from Germany (Christmas itself, as a commercial festival, is an imported phenomenon: Belgian children get presents on St. Nicolas, 6 December). You may not find the markets very Christmassy except with respect to food specialities which come from all over (e.g. tartiflette from Haute-Savoie).
6) Can%26#39;t advise definitively on travel costs until you know exactly where you are going, but you can get a 10-trip railpass for €73, i.e. €7.30 per trip.
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Thank you for the info/clarifications, Gaminari. May I flood you with some more?
1) Sorry for the confusion, I had somehow convinced myself that, via Eurostar, the Brussels-Brugge leg of the trip was done via Thalys. I had seen the bit about the Brugge-inclusive fare on the Eurostar website--should I opt for an extra day in/earlier return to Brussels, would a regular single ticket between them be around €7.30?
2) A 2h trip sounds reasonable to me--because I *would* quite like to visit Waterloo (both the city and the battlefield), though, I still wonder if relocating to Brussels for the last couple of days instead of just the very last day) and saving Liege/Waterloo for then wouldn%26#39;t be the best option under the circumstances. Hmm.
3) Ridiculously ignorant question: Are Braine d%26#39;Alleud/Mont St Jean actual stops for Bus W, or should I be on the lookout for a differently named stop? Considering how historically relevant the battlefield is, I%26#39;m sure even I won%26#39;t have too much trouble finding it, but missing the right stop wouldn%26#39;t be beyond me.
4) I must have mixed up my data again: I did hear about traditional winter markets in Brugge--did I dream them up? I mentioned Christmas mostly because I%26#39;m a bit wary of events catering (almost) exclusively to tourists, but if there is a traditional market (Christmasy, wintry of not) that I can visit, I%26#39;d love to.
6) The 10-trip railpass you mention, does it apply to intercity trains/all trains/specific-distance journeys?
Again, thank you for the detailed info. Quite a few ideas are clearer in my mind.
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Why do you want to go to Liege? Not much special to see there....
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1) More like 13euro
2) Hmm. Your choice.
3) Probably easy to ask the bus driver.
4) Christmas markets are a German thing, recently imported to other countries,like the UK, to save people the trouble of going to Cologne or wherever.
I%26#39;m sure the Bruges market is lovely, as is the one in Birmingham, but it is not traditional.
5)I guess all trains, but you can check at the Belgian Railway site or ask at a station.
http://www.b-rail.be/main/E/
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Thank you all for your helpful tips.
Ger_Holland, I%26#39;m not thinking about Liège for any particular reason. I%26#39;d just like to see something other than my three must-visits Antwerp/Bruges/Brussels, and I thought Liège might be a nice change of pace.
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1) As stated above - it%26#39;s actually €12.90 single if you buy a normal ticket, €7.30 would be the price with a 10-trip rail pass.
3) Braine l%26#39;Alleud is the destination likely to be shown on the front of the bus, Mont St. Jean is the name of the area where the battlefield is, just off the main road from Brussels, via Waterloo, to Braine l%26#39;Alleud. I don%26#39;t know exactly what the stop is called but you should ask to be let off at %26quot;butte de lion%26quot; (lion mount). In any case, if you are taking bus W, the best thing to do is to get off in Waterloo first, the stop is right outside the tourist office (next to the church) and across the road from the Wellington Museum. In the tourist office you, I think, buy a combination ticket to the museum and other attractions at the battlefield itself (panorama..) and they will tell you what the stop is called. The Wellington Museum is worth seeing for the bit right at the end where you will find reconstructions of the situation on the battlefield hour by hour, which makes it easier to understand what you are (not) seeing at the battlefield itself. For, the bus ask for a day ticket - carte d%26#39;une journée - which is cheaper than the return fare, and also allows you to get on and off along the way. I have no idea of the current price but would guess around €8.
4) The %26quot;tradition%26quot; of holding Christmas/Winter markets is a recent one in Belgium, imported from Germany and aimed at attracting local and foreign tourists. In Brussels, you get exactly the same stalls at the Winter market as at craft markets not associated with Christmas, except for seasonal food and drink - every other stall seems to be selling mulled wine.
6) All domestic trains, within Belgium (so not Eurostar, Thalys, ICE which are international trains).
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PS For 4), read 5)!
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Thank you again for the info--I%26#39;m clearer now on the way to Waterloo, too. This is making me yearn for December.
Out of curiosity, though, how extreme does the winter weather tend to be in Belgium? I%26#39;m fairly sure I%26#39;ll be visiting during December (failing that, which is unlikely, January) and I don%26#39;t hate grey, wet skies at all, but I%26#39;d just like to know whether tradition says I should expect neverending thunderstorms, or something quite extreme like that...
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December is a lovely time to visit Bruges. Despite the tackyness of the markets, the atmosphere is lovely and friendly and quite magical. The ice sculpture at the station is not to be missed, neither are the chocs that make great presents.
It snowed for us last year, which was exciting especially on the skating rink in the burg.
I would definately return before Christmas, not after.
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