Magic Flanders

Culture and History tour in Antwerp, Bruges, Flanders, Ghent, Leuven, From Belgium to Netherlands, Mechelen

Tour Price : €450-1350 Duration : 4 days Languages: Russian, Italian, Spanish, English, French

1st Day: Ghent/Brugge.  The road is 1h30 by car from Brussels. Nicknamed one of the Venice of the North: crossed by canals, romantic and like to take a dip into the past with a time machine, in the thirteenth century. It's a must in Belgium, we will visit the Old Lady church with the only masterpiece of Michelangelo outside Italy (the Virgin Mary with the little Jesus), the Belfort, the Burg, the Basilica of the Holy Blood. After lunch, we go straight to Ghent, where Carl V was born in 1500. We'll visit the Church of Saint Bavo in which we shall admire the masterpiece of the Mystic Lamb, the Flemish painting style of the brothers Van Eyck (1432).

2nd Day: Antwerp/Mechelen. Mechelen is the city of the aunt of Carl V, Marguerite, which was the king of the empire where the sun never sets, sending the conquistadores from Brussels till the Americas. We have there a magnificent game of carillons in the St. Rumbold's Cathedral. After, straight to Antwerpen, where we can admire the largest and highest Cathedral of northern Europe, the Notre Dame Cathedral, inside the wonderful paintings of Petrus Paulus Rubens, considered the best Flemish painter of all time. The Meir, the shop avenue with the Ruben's house museum and the Diamondland, the museum of the diamonds. The Schelde it's also the most important river of Belgium: 355 km and was strategically important for the ambitions of Napoleon and Hitler.

3rd Day: Brussels/Leuven.  It's not one of the most famous cities in Belgium, however it has the best town hall. Also the beguinage, in which we can find the student's bedrooms, it's the oldest one and heritage of Unesco (it's an old Monastery). The beer Stella Artois comes also from there! After we return to Brussels, we introduce the main monuments of the city: Atomium, King's Baldovin stadium, Centenary palace, Chinese Pagoda, Japanese Tower, King's residence, Church of Our Lady of Laeken (where all kings rest in peace).

We continue the panoramic tour watching the European Head Quarters with the European Commission, European Parliament and Council of Ministers. Going forward it's forbidden to miss the Triumph Arch (Cinquantenaire) in which we have the Auto world's Museum, the Military Museum in which we can admire the F-16 Falcons sold from the USA to Belgium. We continue our tour watching the Louise neighborhood, the Champs Elyse's of Brussels, with the biggest Justice palace in Europe, made from the architect Poelart, by the king Leopold II. Of course, last but not least, we finish, after lunch in one typical restaurant in Brussels (mussels and fries), with Grand' Place: a museum in open sky. 

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