La Khaima, Brussels

Advantages: Too many to mention
Disadvantages: None

...operators spoke only Flemish. But the Flemish ones would at least speak English but NOT French. About 20 minutes to the East of Brussels is Lueven - the home of Stella Artois. Lueven has many cafes offering the wonderful drink - tea, an absolute must for the English abroad - and lots of Stella too. After years of Walloons calling it Louvain they (the Flemish) in 1965 finally said enough is enough and kicked them all out. The displaced settled below the linguistic divide, some 25 km to the south, in Louvain-La-Neuve. The typical fast food of Belgium is FRENCH FRIES and again FRANZOSICHER FRITZ and again FRITES FRANCAIS. These are mostly bought in 'FRITURES' (or French fries stands), which are like kiosks or portakabins, you will find on a lot of squares all around the city, on street corners, coin de la rue or op die ekke de straat... Read review

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Advantages: Cosmopolitan with plenty to see and do
Disadvantages: Ridiculous hotel prices midweek

...famous chocolate shop. Belgian biscuits are also very tasty with the local speciality, speculoos - a gingerbread biscuit with a crunch, well worth hunting down. Beer is best bought at Bière Artisanale, which stocks over 400 types of beer and glasses to match. Designer clothes are clustered around the smart Avenue Louise and Avenue de la Toison d'Or. Children's and big kids' tastes are catered for at Brussels' many comic book shops. Brussels lace is a good buy but beware, most of the lace on sale in the souvenier shops around Grand-Place is made in the far-east. --------------------------------------- Eating Out (personal recommendations) --------------------------------------- The winding streets surrounding the Grand-Place overflow with restaurants but many are simply tourist traps. The Rue des Bouchers is a prime example... Read review

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Advantages: Stunning architecture and lots of lovely different beers and chocolates
Disadvantages: Not a huge amount of well known attractions

...over eight floors and contains art and sculpture from throughout the centuries with works by Rubens, Picasso and Dali to name but a few. Entry is around €5.00. The Cartoon Strip Museum (Centre Belge de la Bande Desinée) is another interesting venue, with lots of examples of the Belgian comic strip Tintin, as well as others. Entry to this museum is €6.25. ***GETTING AROUND BRUSSELS*** There is a huge and wide-spread network of public transport made up of trams, buses and metro. You can buy tickets from the driver of the tram or the bus, or from booths in the underground metro stations. Trams, buses and the metro are all extremely frequent, the city network coverage is superb and they are simple and easy to use. The same ticket (costing €1.50) can be used during one hour on any of the buses, trams or metro. You can also buy day... Read review

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