Belgium is often surprisingly overlooked when travelling in Europe , in favour of its famous neighbours, Netherlands in the north, Germany to its East, France to its West. On the contrary I saw many beautiful breathtaking sights and marvelled at the cleanliness of the cities over a weekend trip. Here is an account of the trip together with information I found to be useful.

General Information:

Belgium uses the Euro as its currency. Things are not the cheapest in this country – they are not by any means as shocking as prices in the Greek tourist islands but nevertheless a little bit higher than the other European countries. You would expect to pay around 15 Euros for a sit down meal. Luckily there are cheaper alternatives such as the crunchy fries with mayonnaise dip, Belgian waffles, kebab shops , or simply go for free tasting of chocolates. Belgium does not have the world’s most healthy food, so some amount of self-discipline is required.

Tipping is not common here, as most establishments and even with taxis and hotels already include service charges. Rounding up the total or showing particular appreciation of a service well done is always appreciated of course.

Public Transportation is efficient here with a good network of bus, trains and metros serving inter-cities as well as for getting around within a city. Look out for weekend travel tickets which has a 50% off or even sometimes for free, like what I have experienced in Ghent on the first Sunday of the month. I have read that driving can be hazardous,  because the Belgians can be aggresive on the roads and have among the worst accident rates in Europe.

English Language seems to be generally well understood here – so there was no need to be learning key phrases before arriving here. Belgium is anyway a multi-lingual country like so many in Europe with the north which borders the Netherlands to be Dutch Speaking and towards the south, French is common.

Drinking Water from the tap here is considered safe. I have drank from it, and am writing this post after the fact. I don’t carry around bottled water when I am here – although some common sense is also important here , for example a rusty tap or if the water comes out brown – you should avoid drinking from it , definitely!

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