Belgium holiday destinations

Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a sovereign state in Western Europe bordered by France, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and the North Sea. It is a small, densely populated country which covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres and has a population of about 11 million people. Straddling the cultural boundary between Germanic and Latin Europe, Belgium is home to 2 main linguistic groups: the Dutch-speaking, mostly Flemish community, which constitutes about 59 percent of the population, and the French-speaking, mostly Walloon population, which comprises about 40 percent of all Belgians. Additionally, there is a small ~1 percent group of German speakers who live in the East Cantons.

Belgium is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. It is divided into 3 regions and 3 communities, that exist next to each other. Its 2 largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the mostly French-speaking southern part of the Wallonia region. The Brussels-Capital Region is an officially bilingual (French and Dutch) enclave within the Flemish Region. A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of governance, made up of 6 different governments.

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Map of Belgium

Holiday destinations in Belgium

Antwerp

Antwerpen (Belgium)

• 16 pictures
• 21:18 video

Antwerp is a Flemish city in Belgium, and is the capital of Antwerp province in the community of Flanders. With a population of 520,504, it is the most populous city proper in Belgium. Antwerp is on the River Scheldt, linked to the North Sea by the Westerschelde estuary. The Port of Antwerp is one of the biggest in the world, ranking second in Europe. Antwerp is a major trade and cultural centre, and is the world's second most multi-cultural city (after Amsterdam) home to 170 nationalities.

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Mechelen (Belgium)

• 22 pictures
• 05:45 video

Mechelen is a city and municipality in the province of Antwerp, Flanders, Belgium. Mechelen is one of Flanders' prominent cities of historical art, with Antwerp, Bruges, Brussels, Ghent, and Leuven. It was notably a centre for artistic production during the Northern Renaissance, when painters, printmakers, illuminators and composers of polyphony were attracted by patrons such as Margaret of York, Margaret of Austria and Hieronymus van Busleyden.

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Brussels

Brussels (Belgium)

• 02:23 video

The City of Brussels is the largest municipality and historical centre of the Brussels-Capital Region, and the de jure capital of Belgium. Brussels has grown from a small rural settlement on the river Senne to become an important city-region in Europe. Since the end of the Second World War, Brussels has been a major centre for international politics and has become the home of numerous international organisations, politicians, diplomats and civil servants.

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East Flanders

Gent (Belgium)

• 24 pictures
• 03:07 video

Ghent is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province and after Antwerp the largest municipality of Belgium. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Leie and in the Late Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of northern Europe, with some 50,000 people in 1300. It is a port and university city.

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Walloon Brabant

Musée Hergé (Belgium)

• 246 pictures
• 16:27 video

The Hergé Museum in Louvain-la-Neuve invites you on a journey through the life of one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century, offering a comprehensive perspective via thousands of sources from and related to the work of Hergé. More than 80 original plates, and 800 photographs, documents and objects have been brought together under one roof. The building itself was designed and built within the picturesque green setting of Walloon Brabant, by the architect Christian de Portzamparc: a little like a Grail hidden within a sacred grove! Hergé was not only Tintin. Graphic designer, caricaturist, cartoonist, illustrator, storyteller – he was a multi-talented artist who was a perfect reflection of the twentieth century.

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West Flanders

Brugge (Belgium)

• 48 pictures
• 03:42 video

Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country. The historic city centre is a prominent World Heritage Site of UNESCO. It is oval and about 430 hectares in size. Along with a few other canal-based northern cities, such as Amsterdam, it is sometimes referred to as The Venice of the North. Bruges has a significant economic importance thanks to its port and was once one of the world's chief commercial cities.

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Damme (Belgium)

• 24 pictures
• 00:49 video

Damme is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders, 6 kilometres northeast of Brugge (Bruges). In the 13th century, Damme was the port for Bruges, to which it was linked by the river Reie. The river has now been canalised into the long, straight, treelined and picturesque Damse Vaart, which continues across the Dutch border to Sluis. The line of the town's star-shaped fortifications can still be traced by lines of tall poplar trees and in places by a moat. It was the site of the Battle of Damme, fought on 30 and 31 May 1213.

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Knokke (Belgium)

• 6 pictures
• 01:21 video

Knokke is a town in the municipality of Knokke-Heist, which is located in the province of West Flanders in Flanders, Belgium. Knokke is the most north-eastern seaside resort on the Belgian coast. It lies adjacent to the Dutch border; separated from the Dutch territory by the Zwin nature reserve. Knokke came into existence as a result of the construction of dikes that were to protect the area around the 'Zwin' sea-arm. Originally it was a vacation haven for the city folk of Brussels in the early 19th century. It gradually became a resort town with upscale clientele, restaurants and shops.

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