Choosing hotel in Belgium
Travel in Belgium is very compact due to the close proximity of Belgian cities to each other. And, while such proximity makes it easy to book hotel in one Belgian city and use it as a base, you will certainly be able to experience much more staying in a hotel or bread&breakfast in any Belgian city or small town that you visit on your Belgium tour.
BRUSSELS: Art Brussels at Brussels Expo: 24 April – 29 April 2009.
Every year in April, ArtBrussels opens its doors and welcomes more than 30 000 art professionals, art collectors and art lovers from all over the world.
Brussels is probably the most cosmopolitan city of Europe, with liveliness and an appeal that are closely linked to its role of the Europe’s crossroads. The capital of Belgium has many spellings, Bruxelles, the French version is most frequent. Brussels is the capital of Belgian Monarchy and the seat to the Europe’s bureaucratic institutions — The European Commission and the European Parliament.
Brussels is also the Headquarters of NATO and a European lobbying and commercial hub for many multinational corporations. But what describes Brussels best is the greatest variety of museums, bars, restaurants, and other cozy places to visit when you’re up to enjoying life!
The iron symbol of once glorious steel making industry of Benelux is known today as one of the most distinct landmarks in Europe. Atomium has represented Belgian capital Brussels for half a century now. The monument was built for Expo ‘58, the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair and represented the might of the Iron and Steel industry of Benelux. Designed by André Waterkeyn, Atomium is 102-metres (335 ft) tall. Nine steel spheres are connected so that the whole forms the shape of a unit cell of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times.
Mini Europe is a fun, family attraction where the most famous monuments in Europe are scaled down to miniatures. Every Saturday from July 19 – August 16th, Mini Europe in Brussels opens its doors to visitors in the evenings for a magical light show.
1st of March, Brussels – Night of the Brussels Museums
Do not miss this event! It is an amazing opportunity to discover some of the best museums in the world: over 80 museums of the Brussels-Capital Region, either federal, communal, communautarian or private. Dealing with art, technology, industry, sciences, folklore, literature, history and much more fields, they all present a different aspect of Brussels. The richness of their collections and the new vision they have on cultures from all around the world are simply amazing. Belgium’s museums are one of the major elements of the modern Belgian culture.
Traveling by train is one of the most convenient means in Benelux. It will take you 3 hours at most to get from the Brussels airport via Antwerp right to the center of Amsterdam by rail if you take a regular international connection ( http://www.b-rail.be ) and you can travel by rail event faster if you take a a Thalys train ( http://www.thalys.com ).
Manneken Pis is the Belgium’s Brussels’ landmark. It is a small bronze fountain sculpture depicting a naked little boy urinating into the fountain’s basin. Mannekenpis is the Brussels’ most famous statues. But not many tourists know that he actually has a girlfriend, Jeanneken Pis!
BENELUX is more commonly known by its individual country names: Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg. Each has a remarkable history and a grand cultural heritage.
Dutch Gouda cheese, Belgian chocolate & pralines and Luxembourgian… banking are world-famous but yet, there is much more to discover in each of the countries of Benelux. While having much in common geographically, historically and linguistically, the three countries are quite distinct in their cultures.
As BENELUX Guide begins to attract professional guides from across the three countries for cooperation, we shall expand our travel tips and and practical advice per country and for the Benelux region as a whole.
