Trip to Belgium!!

[tgmartin000]

Hey guys, I'm heading to Belgium with my wife and son (8 year old) next month for a week or so, and and starting to make plans for the trip.

Our basic plan is to fly in to Brussels and make that home base for the week, and either rent a car (is driving difficult there?) or hire a driver (I've heard it's reasonable) as necessary to get around. We do plan to hit Ghent and Bruges, but I also am a huge saison drinker, and want to hit up the wallonia region as much as possible.

Looking for good places to stay, must-see breweries or beer bars/restaurants, places to avoid, places we can skip out on, etc.

I realize the question is kinda vague but any must-sees or must-drinks are appreciated!

 

[jmcquesten]

Do whatever you have to do to get to In-De-Verde for some Westvleteren straight from the source. The beer is obviously great, but the place is beautiful and eating there while drinking any of the Westvleteren beers will be an experience to remember.

 

[jmcquesten]

Bruges is looked at to be a lot nicer than Brussels, so maybe plan a couple days there. It's closer to Westvleteren also.

Get some Pannepot Reserve while you're up that way.

Bring back a lot of beer. All the "limits" you see for what you can bring back are limits on what you can bring before you have to pay taxes on it.

 

[svt412]

We went to Belgium last year.. Unfortunately couldn't make it to any of the big names, but we did go to the Val-Dieu abbey. Great beer and cool place. There are also some cool bars in Durbuy.

 

[quijiba]

Hey guys, I'm heading to Belgium with my wife and son (8 year old) next month for a week or so, and and starting to make plans for the trip.

Our basic plan is to fly in to Brussels and make that home base for the week, and either rent a car (is driving difficult there?) or hire a driver (I've heard it's reasonable) as necessary to get around. We do plan to hit Ghent and Bruges, but I also am a huge saison drinker, and want to hit up the wallonia region as much as possible.

Looking for good places to stay, must-see breweries or beer bars/restaurants, places to avoid, places we can skip out on, etc.

I realize the question is kinda vague but any must-sees or must-drinks are appreciated!

I wouldn't rent a car. I would recommend train for city jumps to be honest. Driving isn't a lot of fun in Belgium.

Obviously hit Cantillon while in Brussels, Westvleteren if you can. Delirium café is awesome, with an 8 year old I would recommend not going too too late, it gets bumpin later at night.

Also I would recommend Bruges and Ghent. Both beautiful, good beer in both. Bruges you'll see some reduction in price for some of the more sought after trappiste beers.

 

[khannon]

I would second that driving in Brussels sucks(though not as much as Paris). Also, when renting a car be aware that if you can't drive stick, you will be charged extra.

I picked up a book before going https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/good-beer-guide-belgium-tim-webb/1100237077?ean=9781852493110 which helped a little, There are several like it, I would take a trip to a local bookstore and browse through, it had some good info on days they are open, websites etc.. it helped a bit in the planning stages.

Cantillon in Brussels is neat, but they won't be brewing this time of year.
De la Senne is in Brussels http://brasseriedelasenne.be/?lang=en.
Drie Fontinen http://www.3fonteinen.be/ isn't too far away as well, but only accessible via having a car.

Au Baron http://www.brasserieaubaron.com/(in France), and Blaugies http://www.brasseriedeblaugies.com/ are down in the Wallonia region

There is a beer museum in Brussels as well that is kind of neat from a brewing basics perspective, and has a lot of shopping around.

There is also a Smurf museum.
Happy travels and have fun.

 

[LLBeanJ]

Chimay is nice and well worth a visit if you can manage it. There is a nice restaurant/hotel that is owned by the monastery that is located near the abbey. It's south of Brussels almost to the French border, about a 90 minute drive. It would be difficult to get there without a car, however. Although Brussels was a mess from a traffic standpoint, my impression of driving in Belgium was that it's not too bad.

 

[jmcquesten]

Oh yeah, while in Brussels check out Neuhuas Chocolate. They have a discount shop where you can get amazing chocolate at ridiculously low prices. Careful bringing kids there because they have unlimited free samples on the chocolate. Also, if you do happen to go there, bring a bottle of water. You will end up sampling a lot of super rich chocolate and will need water.

 

[griffi]

I wouldn't rent a car. I would recommend train for city jumps to be honest. Driving isn't a lot of fun in Belgium.

Obviously hit Cantillon

I disagree. Driving in Brussels might suck but driving overall in Belgium was a joy. While I loved Cantillon, the rest of Brussels was a little bit blah for a beercation. I'm not a big city type... Absolutely loved Bruges (go to Staminee de Garre) and loved the time we spent at the St. Bernardus bed-and-breakfast. I agree with you on Wallonia - I would also recommend the Ypres Flanders battlefields.

 

[tgmartin000]

This is all excellent info, thanks everyone. I'd also like to hit Westmalle, they're one of my faves.

Can I get the westveletren beers pretty much anywhere? I'd planned on bringing back some quads....do I have to go to the abbey to get them, or are they relatively available in-country?

I've heard abbey visits are kinda so-so, they're pretty strict, and with an 8 year old might not be the best idea....unless the monks like Pokemon, then we're good to go!

Obviously Cantillion was #1 on my list, Blauges was on the list for sure, and DuPont....any other out of the way breweries I should hit?

Almost sounds like we can minimize our time in Brussels in favor of the countryside and the train...

 

[crusader1612]

When in Bruges hit up De Halve Maan. They do Brewery Tours and you get a complimentary glass of their famous Zot. Fantastic Beer. You go through with an entertaining flemish woman with a dry sense of humour.

brussel cantillon is a must. FYI it always looks closed.

 

[NTexBrewer]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=542388


https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=540799

Here are a couple links to some posts from my Belgium vacation. In Brussels, you really don't need a car. There is a metro that is pretty easy to figure out to get around town.

To get to some of the smaller breweries and if you are interested in going to In de verd you will need a car. Driving around Belgium is very easy as long as you have a good GPS app. I used TomTom when we went. Belgium have a weird Right of Way law, literally if you are driving down a street and a car comes out of a side street from the right they have the right of way and you have to yield to them. Google it. They are phasing this out but I still encountered it. Most of the time I would be the car on the side street and the car on the main road would stop to let me in not realizing I had the right of way. Another tip for GPS is to put all of the breweries, hotels, sites in your contacts before you go. Name them AAA "whatever" so they are at the top of your contacts to easily find. That way if driving you use TomTom, if walking you use your phones maps.

A good basic hotel that we used was Hotel Ibis. Can make reservations with them through Hotels.com or probably any site. Basic, safe, good locations. Plus they have simple restaurant where we would sit and have a few beers in the evening.

Speaking of beer, pretty much everywhere you go you will have a choice of great local beers, including Trappist.

My best memories were not of touring the breweries, which was great but sitting at a small cafe outside drinking a fresh Orval and eating pomme frites.

Kid fun stuff in Brussels are the Atomium, Car museum, and a short drive away, Beersel castle. Beersel castle is perfect for an 8 year old and there is a nice restaurant next to the castle. Also, in Beersel are some lambic breweries.

Check and double check breweries websites as some have limited hours or like you to make a reservation.

Bruges is a beautiful city with neat shops. Besides beer Bruges is famous for diamonds, chocolate, tapestries and lace.

Besides Pomme Frites also get mussels while you are there.

There are bottle shops on Brussels and Bruge that sell a huge variety of beers and when I visited that included westy 12.

That's about all I can think of. Sorry for the rambling

 

[jurgenph]

use public transportation as much as possible. bus, train, tram, metro.
it'll get you nearly anywhere easily.

i grew up in belgium, and hated every minute that i had to drive in cities like brussels, bruges or antwerp... etc...

if you do decide to do that (drive), find one of the large parking structures on the edge of the city, and take a bus from there to the center.

it might be a bit more challenging in the souther part (wallonia) especially when visiting rather small or remote locations.

the area in and around Brugge has quite a lot of good local beers, and your wife will also enjoy the city

find a local grocery store, super market, or specialized beer/wine shop, you don't want to buy your to take home bottles in the overprised, limited selection tourists shops

another stop i'd personally sugegst id the "Oude Markt" (old market) in Leuven. it's nicknamed the longest bar in the world. the market square is lined with all sorts of bars. it's dead center in a university/college city. but it'll be summer vacation, so most of them won't be there but most likely still crowded by local. it's also the home town of the Stella Artois brewery, so there's another beer connection. if you're there on a day that they are boiling up a new batch, and there is relatively little wind, the area around the brewery smells like wort


J.

 

[jmcquesten]

This is all excellent info, thanks everyone. I'd also like to hit Westmalle, they're one of my faves.

Can I get the westveletren beers pretty much anywhere? I'd planned on bringing back some quads....do I have to go to the abbey to get them, or are they relatively available in-country?

I've heard abbey visits are kinda so-so, they're pretty strict, and with an 8 year old might not be the best idea....unless the monks like Pokemon, then we're good to go!

Obviously Cantillion was #1 on my list, Blauges was on the list for sure, and DuPont....any other out of the way breweries I should hit?

Almost sounds like we can minimize our time in Brussels in favor of the countryside and the train...

You can only get Westvleteren at the abbey where it's made (legitimately). They don't do tours, but the restaurant/cafe is awesome and you can have the 3 Westvleteren beers (blonde, 8, and 12) with lunch. They have a gift shop there where you can buy gift sets and 6 packs. The gift shop sells out of the 6 packs of the 12 early in the day, and when they are gone, that's it. Trying to get a case is a several week process and requires a lottery type phone call on a specific day. If you are lucky enough to get through to place an order, your pick up date might be 3 weeks away and you're limited to one case.

The Westvleteren abbey (St. Sixtus
http://www.indevrede.be/home.php?lang=en) is beautiful, but is kinda in a remote location out in the country tucked in the middle of a bunch of farmland. It might feel like a pain to get out there, but you will not be sorry once you get there.

Also, if you are in Bruges in the Gran Place, there is an awesome bottle shop packed with crazy belgish beers. They have stuff that we'll never hear about here.

Edit: it looks like the bottle shop is Struise Beershop.