©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd Belgium & Luxembourg Includes ¨ Why Go? Brussels .............73 Stereotypes of comic books, chips and sublime chocolates are Flanders .............84 just the start in eccentric little Belgium, its self- deprecating Antwerp .............85 people have quietly spent centuries producing some of Europe’s finest art and architecture. Bilingual Brussels is the Ghent ...............89 dynamic yet personable EU capital, but also sports what’s Bruges ..............92 arguably the world’s most beautiful city square. Flat, Flem- Ypres ................96 ish Flanders has many other alluring medieval cities, all Mons ................98 easily linked by regular train hops. In hilly, French-speaking Luxembourg City .....99 Wallonia, the attractions are contrastingly rural – castle villag- es, outdoor activities and extensive cave systems. Independ- Moselle Valley .......103 ent Luxembourg, the EU’s richest country, is compact and hilly with its own wealth of castle villages. The grand duchy’s capital city is famed for banking but also sports a fairy-tale Best Places Unesco-listed historic Old Town. And from the brilliant beers to Eat of Belgium to the sparkling wines of Luxembourg’s Moselle ¨ L’Ogenblik (p81) Valley, there’s plenty to lubricate some of Europe’s best dining. ¨ La Cristallerie (p102) ¨ Den Gouden Harynck (p95) When to Go ¨ De Stove (p95) Brussels ¨ De Ruyffelaer (p98) °C/°F Te mp Rainfall inches/mm 40/104 6/150 30/86 4/100 Best Places 20/68 to Stay 10/50 ¨ Chambres d’Hôtes du 2/50 0/32 Vaudeville (p77) -10/14 0 ¨ Main Street Hotel (p97) J FDM A M J J A S O N ¨ Guesthouse Nuit Blanche (p93) Pre-Easter week- Feb–Mar Both Jul–Aug Countless ends Belgium countries sym- festivals, hotels ¨ Auberge Aal Veinen hosts many of bolically burn the packed at the (p103) Europe’s weirdest spirit of winter on coast but cheaper ¨ Bed, Bad & Brood (p87) carnivals, not just the first weekend in Brussels and at Mardi Gras. after Carnival. Luxembourg City. 73 BRUSSELS seum €13; h10am-5pm Tue-Fri, 11am-6pm Sat & Sun; mGare Centrale, Parc) POP 1.2 MILLION This prestigious Belgium’s fascinating capital, and the ad- museum incorporates the Musée d’Art An- ministrative capital of the EU, Brussels is cien (ancient art); the Musée d’Art Moderne historic yet hip, bureaucratic yet bizarre, (modern art), with works by surrealist Paul self- confident yet unshowy, and multi- Delvaux and Fauvist Rik Wouters; and the cultural to its roots. All this plays out in purpose-built Musée Magritte (p73). The a cityscape that swings from majestic to 15th-century Flemish Primitives are won- quirky to rundown and back again. Organic derfully represented in the Musée d’Art An- art nouveau facades face off against 1960s cien: there’s Rogier Van der Weyden’s Pietà concrete developments, and regal 19th- with its hallucinatory sky, Hans Memling’s refined portraits, and the richly textured century mansions contrast with the brutal & BELGIUM glass of the EU’s Gotham City. This whole Madonna With Saints by the Master of the maelstrom swirls out from Brussels’ medi- Legend of St Lucy. eval core, where the Grand Place is surely Musée Magritte MUSEUM one of the world’s most beautiful squares. (%02-508 32 11; www.musee-magritte-museum One constant is the enviable quality of .be; Rue de la Régence 3; adult/under 26yr/ L UXEM everyday life, with a café–bar scene that BrusselsCard €8/2/free; h10am-5pm Tue-Fri, never gets old. 11am-6pm Sat & Sun; mGare Centrale, Parc) The beautifully presented Magritte Museum B OURG OURG 1 Sights holds the world’s largest collection of the surrealist pioneer’s paintings and draw- 1 ings. Watch his style develop from colour- BRUSS Central Brussels ful Braque-style cubism in 1920 through a Grand Place SQUARE Dali-esque phase and a late-1940s period of m ( Gare Centrale) Brussels’ magnificent Grand Kandinsky-like brushwork to his trademark el Place is one of the world’s most unforget- bowler hats of the 1960s. Regular screen- S table urban ensembles. Oddly hidden, the ings of a 50- minute documentary provide enclosed cobblestone square is only re- insights into the artist’s unconventionally vealed as you enter on foot from one of six conventional life. narrow side alleys: Rue des Harengs is the best first approach. The focal point is the MIM MUSEUM spired 15th-century city hall, but each of the (Musée des Instruments de Musique; %02-545 antique guildhalls (mostly 1697–1705) has a 01 30; www.mim.be; Rue Montagne de la Cour 2; charm of its own. Most are unashamed ex- adult/concession €8/6; h9.30am-5pm Tue-Fri, hibitionists, with fine baroque gables, gilded 10am-5pm Sat & Sun; mGare Centrale, Parc) Strap statues and elaborate guild symbols. on a pair of headphones, then step on the automated floor panels in front of the pre- Manneken Pis MONUMENT cious instruments (including world instru- (cnr Rue de l’Étuve & Rue du Chêne; mGare Cen- ments and Adolphe Sax’s inventions) to hear trale) Rue Charles Buls – Brussels’ most un- them being played. As much of a highlight ashamedly touristy shopping street, lined as the museum itself are the premises – the with chocolate and trinket shops – leads the art-nouveau Old England Building. This for- hordes three blocks from the Grand Place to mer department store was built in 1899 by the Manneken Pis. This fountain-statue of a Paul Saintenoy and has a panoramic rooftop little boy taking a leak is comically tiny and café and outdoor terrace. a perversely perfect national symbol for sur- real Belgium. Most of the time the statue’s oMusée du Costume nakedness is hidden beneath a costume rele- et de la Dentelle MUSEUM vant to an anniversary, national day or local (Costume & Lace Museum; %02-213 44 50; www. event: his ever-growing wardrobe is partly costumeandlacemuseum.brussels; Rue de la Violette displayed at the Maison du Roi (Musée de la 12; adult/child/BrusselsCard €8/free/free; h10am- Ville de Bruxelles; Grand Place; mGare Centrale). 5pm Tue-Sun; mGare Centrale) Lace making has been one of Flanders’ finest crafts since the Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts GALLERY 16th century. While kloskant (bobbin lace) (Royal Museums of Fine Arts; %02-508 32 11; www. originated in Bruges, naaldkant (needle- fine-arts-museum.be; Rue de la Régence 3; adult/6- point lace) was developed in Italy but was 25yr/BrusselsCard €8/2/free, with Magritte Mu- predominantly made in Brussels. This .