Updated June 11, 2026 by europeexplored
Gravensteen Castle, the “Castle of the Counts”, is one of Europe’s most formidable and well-preserved medieval fortresses, a brooding grey-stone giant rising from the heart of Ghent in Belgium with castle walls, turrets, and a central keep so intact you can almost hear the clanking armour in its halls. Built in 1180 by Count Philip […]
Tags: 12th-century, 14th-century, alsace, belgium, castle, city-of-ghent, disrepair, flanders, gravensteen, gravensteen-castle, north-west-side, reconstruction, renovation-project, tourists, wooden-castle
Categories: Belgium, Sights
Updated June 10, 2026 by europeexplored
Cathedral bells ring across the ancient cobblestones of Tournai before the sun fully clears the rooftops. This small Belgian city, second only to Tongeren in age, carries a history etched into every stone of its UNESCO-listed Notre-Dame Cathedral. Five towers rise against the sky, a Romanesque masterpiece that has dominated the skyline for over eight […]
Tags: belgium, bokrijk, brussels, cathedral-of-notre-dame, city, doornik, epinoy, first-christian-church, frankish-kingdom, french-border, french-kings, grand-place, notre-dame-cathedral, oldest-city, oldest-town, place-of-interest, river-scheldt, romanesque-buildings, romanesque-church, st-quentin, tournai, town, town-of-belgium, virgin-mary, watch-tower, world-heritage-site
Categories: Belgium, Sights
Updated June 10, 2026 by europeexplored
A skyline of medieval spires pierces the grey northern sky above Gent, where the rivers Leie and Schelde converge in a tangle of canals. The Castle of the Counts stands guard over a city that once ranked among the wealthiest in northern Europe. Cobblestone lanes wind past guild halls draped in Flemish grandeur, while street […]
Tags: battlements, beautiful-cities, belgians, belgium, caffes, carfree, city, cruise-ships, curious-tourists, europe, europe-belgium, gent, gravensteen, guild-houses, historical-monuments, idyllic-spot, intricate-network, largest-and-richest-cities, little-rest, medieval-architecture, nice-city, northern-europe, saint-bavo-cathedral, saint-nicholas-church, scheldt, town
Categories: Belgium, Sights
Updated June 10, 2026 by europeexplored
Belgium holds a surprising gateway to the cosmos. The Euro Space Center in Transinne invites visitors to experience astronaut training without leaving Earth. You can strap into a multi-axis trainer that spins in three dimensions. You can walk through a full-scale replica of a Space Shuttle cockpit. The Moon and Mars simulation rooms recreate the […]
Tags: adults, astronautics, astronauts, belgium, buses, day-camps, educational-park, english-german, euro-space-center, europe, europe-belgium, european-space-agency, flemish, flights, french-english, moon, redu, space, space-flight, spacecraft-simulator, theme-park, theme-parks-in-europe
Categories: Amusement and Theme Parks, Belgium
Updated June 10, 2026 by europeexplored
The shrill whistle of a vintage steam locomotive echoes across the platform at Mechelen station, a sound that transports you straight back to 1835. This unassuming Belgian city witnessed something extraordinary: the very first railway journey on the European continent. Iron wheels clattered against steel tracks as the inaugural train departed, forever changing how people […]
Tags: banks-of-the-river, beguines, belgium, capital-brussels, capital-of-the-netherlands, cities-in-belgium, city, city-of-antwerp, de-groote, diamond-area, dijle, first-railway-on-the-european-continent, fish-market, flanders-prominent-art-city, flemish-region, gothic-cathedral, grote-markt, high-tower, hot-chocolate, irish-missionaries, iron-age, louvain, malines, mechelen, renaissance-buildings, tourist-place, town, two-bells, typical-atmosphere, unesco, unesco-world-heritage, unesco-world-heritage-site, world-heritage-site
Categories: Belgium, Sights
Updated June 10, 2026 by europeexplored
Belfry bells mark the hour over a city that looks like a medieval painting brought to life. Canals curve through the historic centre of Bruges, their still surfaces reflecting stepped gables and arched stone bridges that have charmed visitors for centuries. Horse-drawn carriages clatter over cobblestones past chocolate shops where the scent of cocoa fills […]
Tags: 11th-century, administrative-center, art-painters, belgium, bruges, bruggy, chocolate-sculptures, city, enemy-troops, fifteenth-century, hans-memling, international-exchange, jan-van-eyck, massive-walls, merchant-family, political-geography, pralines, reya, sailing-boats, town, unesco-world-heritage, unesco-world-heritage-site, venice-of-north, venice-of-the-north, west-flanders
Categories: Belgium, Sights
Updated June 10, 2026 by europeexplored
The Scheldt River carries ocean-going vessels into the heart of Antwerp, a city that has been a centre of global trade for five centuries. This Belgian port ranks among the largest in Europe, handling over 200 million tons of cargo each year. But Antwerp is far more than its docks. The old town centres on […]
Tags: antique-shops, antwerp, art-galleries, backstreets, belgium, best-food, city, city-fashion, city-of-antwerp, club-culture, cosmopolitan-place, delicious-meals, designer-boutiques, diamond-capital-of-the-world, dispositions, docklands, fashion-designers, flanders, happiest-people-on-earth, historical-buildings, largest-seaport-in-europe, municipality, seaports
Categories: Belgium, Sights
Updated June 10, 2026 by europeexplored
The North Sea wind whips across the Belgian coast as families gather at Seafront Zeebrugge, a maritime amusement park where land and sea meet in a celebration of coastal life. Aquariums display the creatures that live beneath the waves, from North Sea crabs to tropical fish that have travelled thousands of miles in cargo ships. […]
Tags: amusement-park, belgium, bruges, city-of-brussels, closer-look, closing-time, crew-members, exhibition, fish-market, fishermen, further-information-visit, maritime-theme-park, nieuwpoort, north-sea-coast, northwest, pirate, russian-submarine, seafront-zeebrugge, submarines, theme-park, tram, zeebrugge-port
Categories: Amusement and Theme Parks, Belgium
Updated June 10, 2026 by europeexplored
Charleroi does not court tourists. This former industrial city in Wallonia has a reputation for grit rather than glamour. But its belfry, a UNESCO World heritage Site, rises above the city centre with quiet dignity. The tower was built in the 17th century as part of a Franciscan monastery and later became a prison, a […]
Tags: archaeological-museum, banks-of-the-river, belfry, belgium, bell-tower, charleroi, charles-ii, city-of-brussels, curious-tourists, geographical-position, glass-museum, heavy-industry, museum-of-fine-arts, museum-of-photography, northern-france, river-sambre, unesco-world-heritage, unesco-world-heritage-site, wallonia, world-heritage-sites
Categories: Belgium, Sights
Updated June 10, 2026 by europeexplored
The Hautes Fagnes, or High Fens, is a landscape unlike any other in Belgium. Stretching across the eastern border with Germany, this vast peat bog plateau sits at an altitude of over 600 metres, creating a unique ecosystem of raised bogs, heathland, and stunted birch forests that feel more like Scandinavia than the Low Countries. […]
Tags: animal-species, belgian-province, belgium, cross-country-skiers, easter-eggs, german-lander, heaths, highest-mountain, hohes-venn, humid-climate, kempe, marked-trails, national-park, nature, nature-lovers, north-rhine-westphalia, plant-species, rare-animal, rhineland-palatinate, roe-deer, wild-boars, wild-cats, yellow-daffodil
Categories: Belgium, Nature
