Flemish hospitality
Alex Middleton wanders the northern Belgian region of Flanders in search of the best group activities and attractions.
Cities at the heart of the diamond trade, castles and cathedrals and an arts scene packed with everything from Rubens to Warhol, all of this is waiting for groups in the northern Flemish region of Belgium.
The diamond city
The second largest city in Belgium, one-time home to artists such as Rubens and Van Dyck and capital of the international diamond trade, Antwerp offers groups a broad range of cultural and creative attractions. Tourism Antwerp, can help GTOs book guided tours with one of the city’s accredited guides.
The 400-foot high tower of the Cathedral of Our Lady dominates the city skyline. Amongst the artwork in the ornate gothic structure, groups can see three masterpieces by Rubens; The Raising of the Cross, Assumption of the Virgin Mary and the Descent from the Cross. Groups of more than 20 people receive a discount on admission.
From April 2010, groups can explore the city’s history and culture further at the Museum on the River, which is currently under construction. It will look at everything from the city’s prehistoric roots to its role in European life.
Your group can continue exploring the city’s contribution to European culture at the Rubens House. Built by Rubens in the style of an Italian palazzo as his family home, the House’s permanent exhibition examines the life and times of Rubens. Discounts on entry are offered to groups of 15 or more.
An impressive collection of work by the city’s other great artists such as Van Eyck and Jordaens is at the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, the fine art museum, or you can head to the Museum Mayer Van den Bergh, with its eclectic collection of paintings, sculptures and tapestries, the Rockoxhuis, which will give your group an insight into 17th century lifestyles and art, or the modern art gallery Museum voor Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen (MUHKA). There is also the outdoor sculpture park, the Middelheim Museum, which houses over 300 pieces.
Besides the city’s art history, groups can also explore its role at the centre of the diamond trade at the Diamond Museum, which offers group discounts, or find out how the city’s ‘Big Six’ – six prominent modern designers all trained in the city – have recently been influencing the world of high fashion at Mode Museum (MoMu).
From Mechelen to Leuven
Situated 25 miles south of Antwerp, roughly half-way from Brussels, the small medieval city of Mechelen is home to a range of historic attractions for groups. A variety of guided tours of Mechelen and its attractions can be booked through its tourism department, In&Uit Mechelen.
At the heart of the city, groups can explore the 15th century St Rumbold’s Cathedral and climb the 514 steps to the top of the tower. Free to enter, the Cathedral also houses Van Dyck’s The Crucifixion of Christ.
Art lovers can also visit two of the city’s medieval churches; the Church of St John the Evangelist where you can see Rubens’ The Adoration of the Magi, and the Church of Our Lady Across the River Dijle, which is home to Rubens’ The Miraculous Draught of Fishes. Both are free to enter.
Outside the Cathedral, the city’s main square, the Grote Markt, features plenty of eateries as well as a range of fine medieval buildings including the 14th century Belfry and the City Hall . Here, groups will find the Schephenhuis Museum, where you can see a variety of religious art produced during the early Renaissance. There is a 50% discount on admission for groups.
To learn more about the history of Mechelen, meanwhile, you can take your group to the nearby Brusselpoort Museum. Situated in one of the city’s medieval gateways, the Museum looks at the archaeology of the region and also offers groups a 50% discount on entry.
A sadder note in Mechelen’s past is commemorated at the free Jewish Museum of Deportation and Resistance, which commemorates the 25,000 people who were deported from the Mechelen Internment Camp to Nazi extermination camps during WWII.
Outside the city, your group can book a guided tour of the medieval abbey housing De Wits, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of tapestries, where you can see both ancient and modern tapestries and learn about how they are made and restored.
South of Mechelen, also situated close to Brussels, groups can discover the compact city of Leuven.
Around the main square, the Grote Markt, your group can find the ancient Church of St Peter, which offers group rates on entry, as well as the 15th century Town Hall, where you can pre-book guided tours.
From September of next year, groups will also be able to visit the newly refurbished M Museum. Housing a permanent collection that includes a number of pieces by 15th century artist Rogier van der Weyden, it will feature group discounts and guided tours.
Thirty miles east of Leuven, in Tongeren, the Gallo-Roman Museum will re-open in June next year following its restoration and expansion. Situated on what was once the frontier between the Roman Empire and the Germanics to the north, it features a collection of archaeology from the period.
The heart of Europe
Capital of both Belgium and the European Union, Brussels, steeped in over 1,000 years of history, offers you a variety of ancient attractions as well as a thriving modern culture scene.
Around the city’s centre, groups can see the historic buildings of the Grand Place, which include the massive Gothic Town Hall, as well as not far away the St Michael and St Gudula Cathedral. It is free to enter the main part of the Cathedral and groups are offered free guided tours and a discount on entry to the Treasury.
From July to September each year, groups can also explore the Royal Palace of Brussels, one of the official seats of the Belgian monarchy. The 300-year old palace features a range of magnificent state rooms such as the African-themed Mirror Room which was created by Leopold II.
The Royal Museums of Art and History, meanwhile, will be opening the new Rene Magritte Museum next June, where your group can explore over 200 works by the surrealist painter. The four other museums in the group are the Museum of Ancient Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Antoine Wiertz Museum and the Constantin Meunier Museum. Groups are offered special rates and pre-booked guided tours at each site.
For a more lighthearted day of culture, your group can head to the Belgian Centre for Comic Strip Art, housed in the art-deco Waucquez Warehouses, or Mini Europe, with its 300 miniature recreations of European monuments such as the Colosseum.
Overlooking the park, the Atomium monument was built for the 1958 Expo. It is shaped like a vast oversized molecule, with giant spheres joined by steel tubular walkways, and features a changing programme of exhibitions as well as a high-level restaurant.
Ghent and Bruges
The capital of East Flanders, the historic city of Ghent gives groups a range of options including visiting internationally renowned galleries, an ancient castle and a variety of other cultural centres.
At the city’s centre, St Bavos Cathedral was consecrated in the 10th century and subsequently developed in the Gothic style. The Cathedral offers groups discounts and features works by both Van Eyck and Rubens.
Dating from the same era, the city’s Gravensteen Castle was built in the 12th century in the style of a crusader castle by Count Philip of Alsace. Restored in the 19th century, it features a grand recreated medieval interior and is home to an extensive collection of medieval weaponry. There are special rates on admission for pre-booked groups.
At St Peter’s Abbey, meanwhile, groups can see a selection of some of Belgium’s finest tapestries as part of the Flemish Tapestries for the Burgundian Dukes, Emperor Charles V and King Philip II exhibition. Running until next March, it examines the artistic merit of the works.
More culture can be explored at the city’s Museum of Fine Arts, where your group can see works by artists such as Tintoretto, Bosch and Foucet, the City Museum for Contemporary Art (SMAK) which houses pieces by Warhol, Panamerenko and Bacon or the Design Museum, which explores historic and conetmporary styles. Group discounts are on offer at each.
In addition to its other museums such as the Science Museum and Museum of the History of Medicine, the city will open the STAM, a new museum dedicated to the history and culture of the city, in June 2010. Set around an old harbour, the museum will be the city’s official groups meeting point, providing facilities for coaches and areas for groups to have introductory talks from their guides.
To explore the city with an English-speaking guide, groups can book a variety of tours through the Association of the Guides of Ghent. These can include a gastronomic dining tour, with the guide taking you round three different locations enjoying a different course at each.
Heading 20 miles from Ghent, towards the coast, your group will find Bruges. Once one of the wealthiest cities in Europe, its historic canal-lined streets offer a variety of attractions.
Topped by a 360-foot high brick tower, the Church of Our Lady features sculptures by Michelangelo and paintings by both Van Dyck and Caravaggio. Groups receive a special rate on entry.
Close by, your group can also explore the 14th century Town Hall. Featuring elaborate Gothic interiors and wall paintings, groups receive complimentary audio guides.
For a small city, Bruges has a wide range of good quality art galleries offering groups discounts on admission and guided tours. These include the Groeningemuseum, featuring a collection of early Flemish works, and the Memling Museum, which is dedicated to the 15th century, Frankfurt-born artist, Hans Memling, who studied in Bruges.
Like Antwerp, Bruges is also closely linked with the diamond trade. Your group can learn more about this at the city’s Diamond Museum, where you can book a demonstration of diamond polishing.
Until March 2009, groups can explore another of the city’s exports at the city-wide, Face of Lace exhibition. With exhibitions and activities taking place at four of the city’s museums – the Gezelle Museum, the Belfry Museum, the Folklore Museum, the Gruuthuse (currently undergoing a restoration which is due to be finished in 2011) and the Memling Museum – you can explore the history of lace and its current popularity with designers.
Other historic attractions in the city include the Renaissance city courts – the Liberty of Bruges.
The battle for Belgium
Having been the setting for vicious fighting during the First and Second World Wars, Flanders is home to a range of poignant reminders of some of the last century’s most traumatic times.
On the edge of the city of Ypres, you can visit the Menin Gate. Inscribed with the names of the 54,896 WWI Commonwealth soldiers whose bodies were never found, it has been the setting for the 8pm Last Post Ceremony every evening since 1928 apart from a halt during German occupation.
You can learn more about the violent events that took place in the region at the In Flanders Fields Museum, named after the poem by John McCrae, a Canadian military surgeon and war poet who died in 1918. The museum takes an indepth but very human look back at the Great War. It engages groups with the stories of the individuals caught up in the killing and takes a sober look at all aspects of the battles that took place in and near the city. There are discounts available for pre-booked groups.
Outside the city, in the village of Zonnebeke, groups can continue exploring the Great War at the Memorial Museum Paschendaele 1917. The museum, which also offers group discounts, looks at the Battle of Paschendaele, which took place a short walk away over 100 days in 1917. It took the lives of 500,000 Commonwealth soldiers for a gain of five miles, or one life for every two inches of territory gained.
Around this area, your group will also find 75 Commonwealth War Cemeteries. The largest, Tyne Cot War Graves Cemetery and Memorial to the Missing, is the resting place for almost 12,000 soldiers and has a visitors centre where you can get more information about the history of the cemetery.
Coastal Ostend
Moving to Ostend on the North Sea coast, you can explore many sights including the remnants of both World Wars at The Open Air Atlantic Wall Museum, which features gun emplacements, trenches and other fortifications. Your group could also head to Fort Napoleon, a remnant of the Napoleonic Wars. Guided tours and discounts are offered at each and pre-booked meals are available at Fort Napoleon.
On a cultural theme, attractions in the town include the former home of the impressionist and surrealist painter, the James Ensor House, and the Museum of Modern Art (PMMK), which offers group discounts on entry and features exhibitions such as ‘Beaufort 03’, which runs from March to October next year and will include an eclectic range of modern art displayed both indoors and at outdoor sites all along the Belgian coast.
Staying in Ostend, your group can also see the Three Masted Mercator and Training Ship and Maritime Museum. The Scottish built historic vessel has been restored to her original appearance and offers guided tours.
To learn more about the natural world, meanwhile, groups can head to Ostend’s Earth Explorer. This interactive science museum features a range of exhibitions exploring everything from the oceans to the Earth’s core.
For evening entertainment, the nearby Kursaal Oostende is one of the largest casinos in the country. The venue is home to one of the country’s top restaurants, the Ostend Queen, and also hosts a variety of concerts and shows for which groups are generally offered discounts on tickets.
Although not in Ostend itself, moving down the coast to St-Idesbald-Koksijde, groups can visit the Paul Delvaux Museum. Established by the surrealist artist in 1982, a 25% discount is offered to groups.
How to get there
The Flanders region is easily accessible from the UK. By air, several operators regularly fly direct from London and regional airports. These include Brussels Airlines, VLM Airlines, British Airways, British Midland and Ryanair. From December, the budget airline Blue Air will also offer flights from Stanstead to Brussels.
By train, Eurostar operates daily services from London’s St Pancras International to Brussels Midi. You can also travel by Eurotunnel or ferry from Folkestone to Calais continuing by road for 30 miles to Belgium.
Direct by sea, P&O Ferries offers journeys from Dover to Calais and overnight from Hull to Zeebrugge. Norfolkline Ferries operate between Dover and Dunkirk and, from April next year, will be running vessels between Rosyth and Zeebrugge.