Belgien: Aktivitäten und Erlebnisse

Brussels, the capital, is centred on the Grand-Place, a square of gilded guildhalls, and extends to Art Nouveau townhouses, comic-strip murals and the steel spheres of the Atomium. Antwerp, the port on the Scheldt, has a Gothic cathedral with paintings by Rubens, a vast railway station and a long diamond-cutting tradition.

Bruges keeps its canals, belfry and brick lanes almost unchanged, and Ghent has the castle of the Counts, medieval quays and the Ghent Altarpiece in Saint Bavo's Cathedral. Mechelen sits between Brussels and Antwerp beneath a tall cathedral tower, and Ypres, rebuilt after the First World War, holds the Menin Gate and cemeteries across the surrounding fields. Liège, in French-speaking Wallonia, climbs a hill above the Meuse, and Zaventem, north-east of Brussels, is where the main airport stands.

Frites with mayonnaise, mussels, waffles and pralines are Belgian staples, and the country's abbey and monastery beers are poured into their own glasses. Liège has its own dense, sugared waffle, and Ghent its cone-shaped cuberdon sweets. Summers are mild, the coast fills up in July and August, and rain can arrive in any month.