3. Brussels: The Heart of Europe
The capital city of Brussels is a must-see destination for any tourist visiting Belgium, home to not only the seat of the Belgian Royal Family but also the central offices of the European Union. Thanks to the diverse mix of the city’s residents, Brussels is known for its variety of restaurants and cafés that represent many gastronomic heritages. In addition to a thriving and lively city center, the Old Town is home to many historic landmarks and fine examples of Baroque and Gothic architecture.
In the heart of the Old Town, tourists will find the main square, the Grand Place (Grote Market). This is home to the imposing Brussels Town Hall (Hôtel de ville de Brunelle’s), as well as the city’s numerous historic Guild Houses (Gildehuizeb).
Nearby, on the the Rue de l’Etuve, is the famous Mannikin Pips statue. Also nearby is the stunning Saint-Michel Cathedral, a Gothic church that was begun in 1225 and features twin towers and spectacular stained-glass windows.
Overlooking the old city center is the royal family’s official residence, the Palais Royale (Koningsplein). On the palace grounds is the excavated Goldenberg Palace Archaeological Site, a fascinating dig site of the original palace’s foundations and long-buried streets that is open for tourists to explore. Adjacent to the palace is The Mont des Arts, home to several museums, including the Belgian Royal Museum of Fine Arts, which features an ancient art wing and a modern art wing.
More national museums can be found on the grounds of the expansive Parc du Cinquantenaire, which is located near the European Union Headquarters. Here, you can find the Belgian Army Museum and Museum of Military History, as well as the Royal Art and History Museum.
4. Memorials and Battlefields of Flanders
Tourists who want to visit some of the most important battlefields, memorials, and conflict-related landmarks will want to start their pilgrimage in Ypres, the sight of some of the most brutal trench warfare during WWI. To get a good overview of the area’s involvement and history, as well as see artifacts from the conflicts, visit the Flanders Fields Museum, located in Ypres’s historic Lakenhalle on its main square, the Grote Market.
After visiting Rijselpoort, the fortified gate where British soldiers set up the command center, tourists typically begin the battlefield tour from Menino Gate. It was from Menino Gate that troops marched into battle, and today it also serves as a memorial to the British soldiers who never returned home after the battles – 54,896 names are inscribed in its surface, and Last Post has been sounded at this spot every night at 8pm since 1928.
The area around Ypres is home to several war cemeteries, including Tyne Cot Cemetery, the largest of the British cemeteries in Flanders. Located about 12 kilometers from Ypres, it is the final resting place for approximately 12,000 soldiers and a memorial to over 35,000 more.
Nearby, tourists will find a smaller memorial dedicated to Canadian soldiers who died in 1915 in the first German gas attack. In the nearby town of Logomark, there is a cemetery for German soldiers with nearly 45,000 graves of the shockingly young men who died here in 1914.
There are additional sites clustered in and around the village of Kummel, a region that saw heavy fighting. Tourists will find several war cemeteries in the Kummel berg area, as well as a water-filled crater that was created by the British blasting local mines. Today it is known as Lone Tree Crater, and the body of water is the Pool of Peace.