I'm Going To Belgium!

[wakkatoo]

We are headed to Ireland in late April for a wedding and got a phone call from the bride-to-be the other day to say the 'hen's night' will actually be in Brussels and will go for about 3 days. :beerbang:

Sooo, that means whilst the wife is off with the Bride, I've got 3 days pretty much to myself to explore Brussels :super:

Anyone been recently? Where should I start?

Bit like a kid in a candy store at the moment!!!!

 

[pbrosnan]

We are headed to Ireland in late April for a wedding and got a phone call from the bride-to-be the other day to say the 'hen's night' will actually be in Brussels and will go for about 3 days. :beerbang:

Sooo, that means whilst the wife is off with the Bride, I've got 3 days pretty much to myself to explore Brussels :super:

Anyone been recently? Where should I start?

Bit like a kid in a candy store at the moment!!!!

Was there about 6 weeks ago. The best place is Delirum Tremens. It's somewhere off the Rue de Boucher, the main tourist restaurant area. It's a bit hard to find because the streets are a bit confusing. There's also a good restaurant in St Catherine (called Restaurant Ste. Catherine). The beer menu is limited (dark = Chimay Grand Reserve, blond = Duvel) but the food is very good. Mind you it's not a budget place. Anyway, just about any bar in Belgium is a delight from the Beer Hunter's perspective.

 

[barls]

buy the book a good beer guide to belgium and have a read.
its got all the good pubs listed and where is good to eat

 

[pbrosnan]

buy the book a good beer guide to belgium and have a read.
its got all the good pubs listed and where is good to eat

Yes, I used this extensively when I was there. Throughly recommended.

 

[Housecat]

Bit like a kid in a candy store at the moment!!!!

I have absolutely nothing to add. I am jealous, VERY jealous. :beerbang:

HC

 

[The Scientist]

This is my Mecca:

Brouwerij Westvleteren (Sint-Sixtusabdij van Westvleteren)

If you only try one beer make it a Trappist Westvleteren 12, oh and if you could please also bring home a bottle for me you would be my beer Jesus.

Cheers,

TS

 

[Yob]

I've got 3 days pretty much to myself to explore Brussels :super:

Nice one Wakka... Brewery visits Planned I assume?

Dont froget the tasings and photo's for us!!

:beer:

 

[Pennywise]

Yes photo's! Or it didn't happen

 

[newguy]

I was doubled over with food poisoning while I was there so all I saw was a bathroom and a hospital emergency room. However, do try an authentic Belgian waffle - available on almost every block - you won't be disappointed. Buy this book for the trip. Borrowed it from a friend but because of the illness never got to try any beer.

It tends to rain a lot - bring an appropriate jacket/hat. And make sure you have a good camera. Way too much to see. If you haven't chosen a hotel yet, I can recommend the Hotel Chambord. A wee bit on the expensive side but a very very nice hotel, very close to the old town, the central train station, the palace, etc etc etc. The room we had was much, much bigger than in the other hotels we stayed at while we were there.

Last recommendation: learn at least a little French before you get there. Brussels seemed to be nearly 100% French speaking....

Last last recommendation: Hop a train to Amsterdam for a night. You really have to see that city - beautiful. We stayed at the Mozart Hotel and I can heartily recommend it. Very reasonable rates too.

 

[cubbie]

You can visit Cantillion http://www.cantillon.be/

 

[pbrosnan]

This is my Mecca:

Brouwerij Westvleteren (Sint-Sixtusabdij van Westvleteren)

If you only try one beer make it a Trappist Westvleteren 12, oh and if you could please also bring home a bottle for me you would be my beer Jesus.

Cheers,

TS

err ... is that in Brussels?

 

[wakkatoo]

Nice one Wakka... Brewery visits Planned I assume?

Dont forget the tastings and photo's for us!!

:beer:

That was pretty much the plan - moving from one brewery to another and taking the usual holiday snaps in between

 

[peas_and_corn]

You can visit Cantillion http://www.cantillon.be/

Oh, yes. A fantastic sour beer, I certainly would love to go there.

 

[pbrosnan]

That was pretty much the plan - moving from one brewery to another and taking the usual holiday snaps in between

So are you actually going to travel around Belgium or are you just restricted to Brussels? If you are able to visit the other cities then that changes things.

 

[wakkatoo]

So are you actually going to travel around Belgium or are you just restricted to Brussels? If you are able to visit the other cities then that changes things.

Pretty much going to be in Brussels at this stage although I do want to do a day travelling to a specific brewery - not sure which one though. Any help would be appreciated.

You can visit Cantillion http://www.cantillon.be/

Ta, I had that one pencilled in!

 

[Alex T]

Hi,

I was done typing my response and I lost it.... so I start again....

Spent about 8months in Belgium living in Brussels. One of my favourite bar/cafes was "Ultime Atome" (play on words "- ultimatum") in Ixelles - just a short taxi (or a couple of metro stops) from the centre of town. Great (big) beer list, decent food, in a neighbourhood rather than a tourist area. Well worth a look I reckon.

The other place I like is called "Le Roi des Belges" - "the king of the belgians" - in the St Gery area - not far from the Grand Place. Not that it has a good beer list or anything (mind you, had La Chouffe on draught - but that was a few years ago). I like it for the slightly grungy/punk sort of atmosphere as you don't get that much in Brussels, and a good people watching spot. St Gery is a main nightspot so you'll probably walk past.

If you want to check out another town then head to Leuven - home of the massive Stella Artois brewery, not that you necessarily go there for that... Leuven has a big university (incl. a well known brewing school) and is a bit like the Oxford of Belgium. A couple of really beautiful old town squares - the Leuven town hall is probably one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen - but I digress... the reason to go there is about 300 bars/pubs. So plenty to entertain yourself.... and only a 20min train ride (intercity train, not the metro) from Brussels Central.

Cheers and have fun, I'll be there myself in April. Can't wait!

Alex

 

[pbrosnan]

Pretty much going to be in Brussels at this stage although I do want to do a day travelling to a specific brewery - not sure which one though. Any help would be appreciated.



Ta, I had that one pencilled in!

Most of the important ones are a fair distance. Westmalle is north of Antwerp which is north of Brussels and Chimay is in the south. It really depends if you have a car or not. Although public transport is excellent there are the inevitable delays changing trains, buses etc. A lot of the breweries are in the countryside and so that makes getting there by public transport even harder. If you want my advice I'd travel from Brussels to one of the other large towns, Brugge for instance (about an hour by train) and do a pub crawl. I reckon you'g get more of a Belgian beer experience at the Little Brugge Bear than you would at any given brewery. It's all about choice, lots of choice.

 

[Hughdawg]

Westmalle is north of Antwerp which is north of Brussels and Chimay is in the south.

Chimay brewery is not open to the public anymore, although they do have the monastery and a VERY good restaurant. They sell a special beer the monks make for themselves at the restaurant, and chimay cheese as well. It's all good stuff, but probably not worth the long drive, considering how much is in Brussels and the immediate area.

Not sure if this bar has been mentioned, or even what its name is, but we found a bar in the back allies of Brussels that had 2008 beers (in 2008) Not all of them were good beer (they had fosters), but it's still an amazing place, worth finding.

It's hard not to enjoy the Belgian experience. If you're at all interested in history, there are also heaps of WW1 and WW2 places to visit as well.

 

[felon]

All this talk makes me want to book a holiday. :icon_drool2:

 

[wakkatoo]

cheers everyone, certainly got a lot to go on. I was thinking of Brugge, so might look at that a bit more.

This will be my first trip overseas (sheltered, I know!), so I'm still trying to dumb down my Australian understanding of distance. I happily drive 3 hours to go wakeboarding, yet that distance is more than the trip I'll make from Dublin to the other end of Ireland.

But I digress! Belgium is where I'm focused!!