Belgium Attractions

Ghent

Southwest of Antwerp, Ghent was once a medieval-era powerhouse due to its 14th-century status as the largest cloth producer in Europe, and its rebellious nature when it came to tax increases. Now the capital of the Flanders province of Oost-Vlaanderen, it is home to a significant student population.

The most famous attraction in Ghent is inside the otherwise unremarkable St Baafskathedraal (St Baaf's Cathedral): one of the earliest-known oil paintings, a stunningly overwrought piece of art by 15th-century artist Jan Van Eyck called De Aanbidding van het Lams God (Adoration of the Mystic Lamb).

Brussels

The city of choice for Eurocrats, Brussels is sumptuous, historic and luxuriously cosy. With artistry richer than chocolate, architecture as graceful as its cuisine and diversity frothier than the beer, Brussels is an heirloom of northern culture at its best.

What makes Brussels special? Seafood in great restaurants, the smell of hot waffles on a cold winter's day, cafes and pubs that never close, the cosmopolitan but neighbourly feel, forests practically on the doorstep, pheasant and truffles in autumn, comic strips, designer shops...

Antwerp

The richly historic city of Antwerp is Belgium's most underrated tourist destination. Few places tangle the old and the new quite so enchantingly. Here eclectic Art Nouveau mansions stare back at Neo-Renaissance villas, and medieval castles provide a magical backdrop for the city's myriad bars and cafes.

If ice is your dice, tucked away in the Jewish neighbourhood is the world's largest diamond-cutting industry. Besides twinkling accessories, the city is bursting with designer boutiques. And beneath all this, baroque meets bordello: in the old sailor's quarter, bored women sit framed in red lights.