Xceltrip

Gorgeous Bruges is a tourist’s dream. This is Belgium’s most perfectly preserved medieval town, and its jaw-dropping, beautiful architecture attracts more than two million visitors every year. If you’re short of time on your Belgium travels, Bruges should be your number one stop. With its wealth of interesting old buildings and its canals, Bruges still retains a distinct medieval air. Anyone taking a walk through the narrow streets or a boat trip on the canals falls immediately under its spell, charmed by the atmosphere of, what is for many, the most delightful of all the cities of Flanders (the Dutch-speaking northern part of Belgium). Because the center of Bruges is comparatively small, even those with only a day to spend sightseeing can expect to take away a good idea of all the major attractions. Belfry The south side of Bruges’ Markt (the main square) is dominated by the Halle with the belfry-Bruges’ most distinctive landmark-soaring above it. The Halle was begun in 124...

Brussels, capital of Belgium, principal seat of the Belgian Royal Family, and capital of the European Union, is a remarkably small, easy-going, and human-sized city for all its importance. Unlike beautiful Bruges and Ghent, with their hordes of tourists, Brussels is Belgium’s main economic and educational hub, which gives the city a more workaday feel than other towns. Here, you get a proper feel for Belgian life, especially its fantastic restaurant and café culture. Grand Place Right in the heart of Brussels Old Town, the city’s main plaza (known as Grand Place) is one of the best preserved in Europe . Much of the square’s elegant character is due to the unique architecture of its elegant Gildehuizen (guild houses) with their magnificent gables, pilasters, and balustrades, ornately carved stonework, and rich gold decoration. Most were built between 1696 and 1700 in the Baroque style but with some Flemish influences. The history of the Grand Place dates back much earlier thoug...

Mini-Europe ParkMini-Europe in Brussels If you want to see the most famous sights of all Europe in one place, then it is worth visiting the Mini-Europe park , which is located in Brussels . Feelings are simply beyond words. The park was opened in 1989. More than 350 copies of the sights on a scale of 1/25, are located next to each other on an area of ​​24000 m² The Eiffel and Leaning Tower of Pisa, Big Ben, Doge’s Palace and Chenoso Castle, Grand Place, the eruptions of Vesuvius and the fall of the Berlin Wall, bullfighting in Seville Square and many other memorable places from 80 European cities will not leave indifferent any visitor. Each year, the mini-park is visited by more than 300,000 tourists. Only 200 thousand euros were spent on design. The entire budget at the time of opening was about 10 million euros. Don’t forget to try delicious symbols of Belgium Brussels and Liege Waffles and Belgian Chocolate. Since ancient times, chocolate is considered a symbol of Belgi...

The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (Les Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique in French) is an association of six art centers, which are considered the best in Belgium. Located in the heart of Brussels, the Museum of Ancient Art and the Museum of Modern Art are the most renowned and most visited museums. The Constantin Meunier Museum and the Antoine Wiertz Museum are much smaller and are situated in another part of town. Lastly, the Magritte Museum and the Fin-de-Siècle Museum are adjacent to the main building and are a lot more recent. The Royal Palace The Royal Palace is where the King of Belgium exercises his authority as Head of State and is the official palace of the King and Queen of Belgium. It also houses rooms for the country’s special guests, most of which are Heads of State and the offices of certain ministries. The Royal Palace is where the King of Belgium exercises his authority as Head of State and is the official palace of the King and Queen o...

St Michael and St Gudula Cathedral The Brussels Cathedral, officially called the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula, is one of the most important monuments in Brussels. Don’t let the opportunity to see it pass you by. The Cathedral of St Michael and St Gudula (Cathédrale Saint-Michel et Sainte-Gudule) is one of the most important landmarks in Brussels. It was built in a Gothic style at the beginning of the thirteenth century on the foundations of a Romanesque church established in the eleventh century. The actual cathedral took 300 hundred years to complete. It is perfectly conserved because between 1983 and 1989 it was completely restored. To the right of the central nave is a beautiful Baroque pulpit carved out of wood from 1699, as well as the original oak confessionals from the seventeenth century. The enormous statues located on the temple’s columns and some of the stained-glass windows are worth highlighting. Another stunning part of the Cathedral is the imp...

Belgium, country of northwestern Europe. It is one of the smallest and most densely populated European countries, and it has been, since its independence in 1830, a representative democracy headed by a hereditary constitutional monarch. Initially, Belgium had a unitary form of government. Modern Belgium is interesting to many travelers. This is largely due to medieval castles and squares, which were fortunate enough to survive to this day. When asking yourself what to see in Belgium, do not forget about the Belfry Palace and the Gall Tower. The Belgians consider the date of their construction to be 1040, and the square in Bruges became their location. The tower is visible from everywhere, compositionally it dominates the square. The Belfry of Bruges The Belfry of Bruges , or Belfort, is a medieval bell tower in the historical center of Bruges. One of the city’s most prominent symbols: the belfry formerly housed a treasury and the municipal archives, and served as an obser...