The Best of Belgium in 4 Days – Chocolate Making, Beer Tasting, and Brewery Tours!

From chocolate making in Brussels, free walking tours in Antwerp, partying at the Ghent Festival, and beer tasting on a brewery tour in Bruges, we experienced the best of Belgium in 4 days! 

Regular readers of our blogs will know we love an extreme road-trip… cramming in as much as possible into a long weekend away. And this blog in Belgium will be no different, with a suggested itinerary for how to see the best of Belgium in 4 days. Only this time we’ll be taking advantage of the great public transport in Belgium and doing a train-trip rather than road-trip!

With the major cities being close by and well connected by trains, a lot of people base themselves in one of the cities (often Brussels) and only visit the other cities on day-trips. But we recommend staying over in different cities to truly experience the best of Belgium in 4 days.

Day 1… How to spend 1 day in Brussels

In the morning, start with a Belgian brunch in the Saint-Gilles neighbourhood south of the city centre, easily accessible by bus and metro from Brussels Midi station and Brussels city centre.

We take the number 82 bus from outside the station, and after a slightly confusing conversation with the driver, realise we can pay for tickets by card on a contactless ticket machine… super easy! See the end of the blog for more travel tips in Belgium. 

The neighbourhood has more of a local feel to it than the touristy centre so it’s nice to start here, and we can recommend Café Maison du Peuple to eat… great Belgian beers and toasties to start your 1 day in Brussels.

TrovenTrippers Tip… 

Don’t miss the architecture of the church on Parvis de Saint-Gilles and Porte de Hal, a 14th century City Gate which now houses the Museum of Brussel’s History.

Atomium Brussels… the symbol of Belgium

After brunch take the number 6 metro from Halleport in Saint-Gilles to Heysel, and visit the Atomium of Brussels.

The Atomium is a gigantic atom structure built to be the centrepiece of the 1958 World Fair… Belgium’s answer to the Paris Eiffel Tower you could say! 

It’s a really cool experience going inside the Atomium, with a small museum about the Atom, the World Fair and how it was built. And there’s light and music shows in other atoms, giving an artistic and surreal feel.

And once you’ve explored the different levels of the atoms and seen the show, head back down to the stairs to the entrance and take the lift up to the very top for the best views of Brussels and for miles around.

Tickets can be bought online but we just paid on the door for €16.

TrovenTrippers Tip…

Use the toilets inside the Atomium, as you have to pay for the ones next to the ticket office and cafe?! (a recurring theme we find in Brussels, which might explain our least favourite thing about the city… more on this later)

Chocolate Making Workshop in Brussels

One of the best experiences to have in Brussels and Belgium in 4 days, is to go to a chocolate making workshop! Yep, we got to make our own chocolates to take home!

It was great fun learning how to make the chocolates, and our instructor Miranda was brilliant! We started by tempering the hot chocolate, then making the praline shells and filling them with whatever fillings we wanted. It was a little tricky with it taking Sneha 2 attempts to make the shells, but ( (Paul) nailed it the first time… I must be a natural!

The workshop must be booked in advance… Belgian Chocolate Workshop and cost €46 per person. For that we got 2.5 hours of chocolate making where we made 20 Pralines, lots of Mendiants (don’t worry, Paul had no idea what these were either!), and a glass of the most delicious hot chocolate we’ve ever tasted!

Brussels Grand Place & Historic Town Centre

The Grand Place is surely on your list to visit when in Brussels. And if it isn’t, then it should be! It’s the historic centre and city square of Brussels, and is one of the most stunning squares anywhere in the world.

We’d read that the buildings are all lit up at night but we didn’t find this, so make sure to visit in the evening before it gets dark to see the elaborately decorated buildings. The Town Hall is the centrepiece, with over 300 statues covering it!

Manneken Pis

Another symbol of Brussels you’ll have no doubt seen before is Manneken Pis, the statue of the little boy taking a, well, piss! 

Other places to visit in the centre are the Bourse de Bruxelles / Brussels Stock Exchange, a very impressive building which has a rooftop bar with good views of the city. The Galeries Royales Saint Hubert, a 19th century shopping gallery. And St Michael and St Gudula Cathedral, which is nice but not the best cathedral we’ve been to. Look out for the wooden pulpit though, that is impressive!

Where to eat & drink in Brussels?

For traditional Belgian food then try Le Cirio next to the Bourse de Bruxelles, a restaurant dating back to 1886. The mussels and vol-au-vent were both great! And for the best Belgian waffles, head to Maison Dandoy just off the Grand Place. Amazing for breakfast!

For drinks then go to Delirium Village. A whole alleyway has been taken over by 8 bars… so pick a bar, pick a beer (from over 2000), and enjoy! We’d recommend trying the house Delirium Tremens and Delirium Red on draft, both very strong but very tasty!

Where to stay in Brussels?

We stayed at La Bourse Hotel which was good value and a great location, with views of Bourse de Bruxelles and just a minute's walk from Grand Place. The hotel was pretty basic though, and the staff weren’t exactly the most helpful… refusing to sell us any water (even though Paul later found 100’s of bottles in a store cupboard!)

TrovenTrippers Tips… Brussels in 1 Day

We really enjoyed our day in Brussels. The chocolate making workshop was great fun, the Atomium and the Grand Place were good to see, and the food and beers were all amazing.

But that’s the good… now for the bad… why does the city smell so badly of piss?? We know Manneken Pis is the symbol of the city, but does that mean everybody follows his lead? Or it could be the fact that in most places you have to pay to use the toilets, so we guess people don’t and they just go wherever they want to!

Day 2… Visit Antwerp & Ghent

We get the train from Brussels Central to Antwerp and our sight-seeing starts right away… Antwerp train station is one of the most beautiful in the World and one of the best things to see in Antwerp. It’s a huge ornate entrance which makes arriving by train definitely the best way to get to Antwerp. 

We’ve only got a few hours in Antwerp so we’re joining a free walking tour of the city to see the best parts of the Old Town.

Free Walking Tour of Antwerp

The walking tour lasts for 2.5 hours and is great… we see everything in the Old Town that we’d bookmarked to see, we hear the local legends and myths as we go, and we get some good tips for where to eat and drink after the tour. It’s the 1st time we’ve done a free walking tour but it’s a great way to learn about a city in a short space of time!

Antwerp Old Town

The Town Hall in Antwerp is really cool. The building itself may not be quite as dramatic as Brussels, but it’s covered in the flags of every country that Antwerp does business with. And there’s a lot!

In front of the Town Hall is Brabo's Monument, a huge statue of a Roman soldier who’s said to have slain a Giant terrorising the city, and cut off his hand, throwing it into the river. “hand werpen”, or hand throwing, became Antwerp, and the name of the city was born (although this is only one of the potential origins of the name Antwerp we hear, seems nobody really knows!)

Other highlights to see and stories to hear are the Cathedral and Nello & Patrasche Statue outside, although this is quite a sad story. Vlaaikensgang, a hidden 16th century cobbled alley. And we hear that Antwerp is the diamond capital of the world, it’s the 2nd largest port in Europe (hence the diamonds and trade), and the first newspaper was printed here.

We did our free walking tour through Civitas, you need to book online but it’s completely free and you meet the guide next to Brabo's Monument on the Grote Market square.

Where to eat and drink in Antwerp?

Our tour guide recommended a pub called Den Engel on Grote Market to try a local Bolleke beer. So naturally we head straight there when the tour ends, but get a little confused, and end up in a pub next door called Den Bengel?! But nevermind, we get the Bolleke beer anyway, and it’s good!

And for food we go to Elfde Gebod next to the Cathedral. The restaurant is full of holy statues. And when we say full, we mean FULL! The food is also really good, with traditional beef stew and rabbit stew. And of course the beers are good too.

Day 2 Evening… Party at Ghent Festival

With our flying visit to Antwerp done, we go back to the main station and get the train to Ghent. 

We picked Ghent to stay tonight as it’s Ghent Festival time… every July for 10 days the city is taken over by live music, street performances, and food and drink stalls. And it’s amazing fun!

Day 3… Explore Ghent in 1 Day

Start your day with a walk along the river to Saint Michael's Bridge to get the iconic view of Ghent. Cross the bridge from the old town towards Saint Michael's Church, turn around, and there it is… the sight of the three towers of Ghent.

Only we don’t get the full view as the riverside is covered with things for the festival! So we continue on and get some brunch… we go to Julie's House cake shop and start our day with coffee and cake!

Visit Gravensteen / Ghent Castle

One of the best things to see in Ghent is Gravensteen, the 10th century castle surrounded by the river.

Inside the castle is a museum and we climb to the top of the tower to get great views of Ghent, with the three towers standing above the old town below.

It’s interesting to explore the castle and see it, but the audio guide isn’t the best we’ve done. Certainly not up to the level of Malbork Castle in Poland we visited a few weeks earlier.

Tickets to the castle cost €13 for adults and include an audio guide. You can buy tickets online on the Gravensteen website.

See Ghent's Street Art

In contrast to the very pretty old town architecture and beautiful old buildings, hidden away down an alley is one of Ghent’s coolest spots to see.

Graffitistraat is a street covered in graffiti, and about half way down is an art gallery and cafe you can visit.

Exchange your shoe for a beer at Dulle Griet Ghent!

All of this sight-seeing has made us thirsty so our next stop is for a beer, but not just any beer. 

Dulle Griet is a sight-seeing spot in itself, and one of the most unusual experiences you’ll have anywhere! Order a Max Van Het Huis and you have to swap your shoe for the glass! Yes you read that right… swap your shoe for the beer!

The glass is a very tall bubble glass and makes for an interesting drinking experience… try not to let the bubble get you as you drink! It’s a nice beer, and a must do experience in Ghent! 

TrovenTrippers Tip… don’t trust Google’s opening times for Dulle Griet

We almost didn’t go as Google had the pub closed, but Sneha insisted we should check and good job we did as it was open! So it’s worth having a walk past to check even if Google says it is closed. Their website also says they don’t accept card payments, only cash, but again we paid with card no problem.

Go up Ghent Belfry and see the city from above

One of the three famous towers of Ghent is the Belfry, the other two being Saint Bavo's Cathedral and Saint Nicholas' Church. You can go up all 3 towers… we pick the Belfry as this is in the middle and means we can see the two churches from above.

It’s a long way up but luckily there’s a lift which takes us most of the way, with only a few stairs up to a small museum showing some of the bells and the original dragon which used to be on top of the tower. And the views are definitely worth it from the top!

Tickets cost €11 and can be booked online.

Where to eat & drink in Ghent?

For traditional food try Passion, a restaurant in the centre of the Old Town next to the Belfry and Saint Nicholas' Church. We tried the Ghent waterzooi... a chicken casserole and it was huge! One portion was more than enough for both of us!

The must try local sweets are Cuberdons... a raspberry flavoured jelly style sweet with liquid inside. Most are cone shaped, but Sneha managed to find some (slightly scary looking) little faces! But we weren't exactly impressed by the taste.

Where to stay in Ghent

We stayed at B&B Hotel Ghent Centrum. It was very modern and clean, with free water refills and a coffee machine in reception, and was good value.

But the real selling point of us staying there were the views from the room. Our top floor room looked out to the city, and the three towers of Ghent almost felt close enough to touch!

Day 4… How to spend 1 Day in Bruges

For our 4th city in 4 days, we get the train from Ghent to Bruges in the evening. It’s just a 20 minute train ride, and then a short ride on the number 2 bus from the station to the edge of the Old Town.

Go on a Bruges River Tour

Start your day with a river cruise to see the city from the canals. We suggest starting here as the cruises get very busy once the day-trippers arrive, so the early cruises are the best time to go to beat the queues (we couldn’t find any where we could buy tickets online).

There are multiple cruises with different starting points around the city, and from what we could gather they all take the same route and cost the same, so it doesn't really matter which you pick… we used Boattour Bruges with a boarding point close to the Church of Our Lady.

The cruise cost €15pp and lasted for around 30 mins, and was a good way to see the city and learn about some of the buildings and the history.

De Halve Maan Brewery Tour Bruges

One of the best experiences to have in Bruges is to go on the De Halve Maan Brewery tour. 

The brewery is one of the few remaining family owned breweries in Belgium, and it’s unique in that the brewery is in the Old Town, but the bottling plant is over 3km away on the edge of the city, and connected by an underground pipe. So when you’re walking around Bruges, you're walking above the beer flowing under the city!

The tour is good… it lasts for just under 1 hour, and we see and learn how the beer is made, we get an aerial view of Bruges from the rooftop, and we end with a beer of the famous Bruges Zot made here (or you can choose their original beer Straffe Hendrik Tripel, which Sneha opts for as it’s stronger!).

The tour costs €16pp and can be booked online.

See Bruges Belfry & Explore the Old Town

For our last afternoon and evening, we explore Bruges Old Town.

The Old Town is quite small so can easily be walked. The Belfry of Bruges is the must see place, especially if you've seen the movie In Bruges!

Other highlights are the Grote Markt, the Basilica of the Holy Blood where you can see a cloth stained in Jesus’ blood(!), De Burg, a town square surrounded by beautiful and ornate buildings, and Rozenhoedkaai, a viewpoint on the canal side where you get THE famous view of Bruges!

Also don’t miss Beguinage Ten Wijngaerde, a small area close to De Halve Maan Brewery where nuns lived. The community still looks like it did in the 17th century, and is very peaceful and quiet to walk around (certainly in contrast to the super busy Old Town centre!).

Where to eat and drink in Bruges

There are a lot of restaurants surrounding the Grote Market town square, but they all have really bad reviews on Google. And we mean REALLY bad reviews, like 1 - 2 stars from over 1k reviews!

So we find a great little restaurant down one of the side streets, Mozart, More Than Just Ribs. And while the restaurant is called More Than Just Ribs… we suggest you order the ribs! They’re all you can eat, and easily the best ribs we’ve ever tasted! We needed to try what else they had on the menu too though, so we got a portion of grilled prawns too… and they were just as good! Huge, juicy, cooked to perfection… absolutely delicious! You have to go to this restaurant when you’re in Bruges!

If you still have some room for a beer after the ribs and prawns, then head to Le Trappiste, a really cool pub in an 800 year old medieval crypt! It’s super cool, and the beer selection is amazing!

For snacks as you explore the streets... try the waffles from Otto Waffle Atelier, and you have to try the loaded fries from Fritbar... they're unbelievably good!

Chocolate Shopping in Bruges

With Bruges being our last stop, it’s our last chance to pick up some traditional Belgian chocolate to take home!

We pick some up from Leonidas (which is a chain) as we were told during our chocolate making class in Brussels that they are the best. But we also go to Verheecke, a local family run chocolate shop since 1919. And we have to say we’re much more impressed by Verheecke… they have a better choice of freshly made chocolates, and they taste amazing too!

And of course, Sneha couldn't resist looking in the local supermarket to see what choice of chocolate and crisps they had!