🇧🇪 Europe
Small but intense, Belgium brings together storybook medieval cities like Bruges and Ghent, the elegance of Brussels and the green Ardennes, all washed down with chocolate, fries and the best beers in the world.
Belgium is a small country with an unusual density: in a few hours by train you go from the institutional elegance of Brussels, capital of the European Union, to storybook medieval cities like Bruges and Ghent, and from there to the forests and castles of the Ardennes. It all comes washed down with what the country does better than almost anyone: chocolate, fries, waffles and the most award-winning beers in the world. For a Latin American traveller it is an ideal stop within a longer European trip, easy to combine with the Netherlands, France or Germany, and with distances so short that you can cover it in a few days.
The country splits into three big blocks: Flanders, in the north, Dutch-speaking, home to Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp; Wallonia, in the south, French-speaking, with the green Ardennes, Namur and Dinant; and in the middle, Brussels, bilingual and cosmopolitan. A typical trip starts in Brussels and adds Bruges and Ghent over a few days; with more time you add Antwerp, the city of Rubens and diamonds, or a getaway to the Ardennes for nature and castles.
The best of Belgium is that mix of immaculate medieval heritage, first-rate Flemish art and a food culture that takes itself seriously; what surprises you is how compact everything is and how easy it is to move around by train. The downside: it is expensive, like all of Western Europe, and the weather tends to be grey and rainy.
The local currency is the euro (EUR). Cards are accepted almost everywhere, but it is worth carrying some cash for markets, small cafés and villages in the Ardennes. Tell your bank before you travel and check the day's exchange rate.
Full converter for EUR →Brussels has two gateways: Zaventem (BRU), linked to the centre by a train ride of about twenty minutes, and Charleroi (CRL), 50 km away, used by the low-cost airlines and served by a bus to the centre. Belgium is small and the train solves almost everything: the SNCB/NMBS network puts Bruges an hour from Brussels, Antwerp forty minutes away and Ghent half an hour away, with frequent departures and no need to book. International trains leave from Brussels-Midi: Eurostar to London, Paris and Amsterdam. To get around inside the cities, trams and buses have you covered; in Flanders the bicycle is real transport, not an excursion.
The best time to visit Belgium runs from spring to early autumn, April to September, when the weather is kinder and the days are long. Summer (June to August) is high season: it is moderately warm, everything is open and the terraces and festivals are at their peak, though Bruges and Brussels fill with tourists. Spring and early autumn (May, June, September) tend to be the best balance of good weather, fewer crowds and slightly friendlier prices. That said, Belgium is rainy all year round, so a raincoat or umbrella is essential in any season.
Winter (December to February) is cold, grey and short on daylight, but it has its appeal: the Christmas markets in Brussels, Bruges and Ghent are beautiful and the cities light up. Some events are worth chasing: the Gentse Feesten in Ghent (a ten-day street festival in July), the Tomorrowland electronic music festival near Antwerp (late July), and the Flower Carpet that covers the Grand Place in Brussels with begonias every two years in August (even-numbered years). If you are going for the Christmas markets, December is your month.
Belgian cooking is hearty and full of flavour, and it goes toe to toe with French cuisine. The national dish is mussels with fries (moules-frites), and speaking of potatoes: Belgian 'frites', double-fried and served in a cone with sauces at a 'friterie', are a point of national pride (careful, do not call them French fries). Try the carbonnade flamande too (beef stewed in beer), the waterzooi (a creamy chicken or fish stew) and, for dessert, the waffles: the Brussels one (rectangular, light, dusted with icing sugar) and the Liège one (denser and caramelised). And always, chocolate.
Belgium is not cheap for eating out, but it is a pleasure. A cone of fries costs between 3.50 and 5 USD; a simple meal in a bistro, around 18 to 28 USD; and a specialty beer in a bar, 5 to 7 USD (verified July 2026). The country's jewel is beer: there are hundreds of styles, from strong Trappists to sour lambics and gueuzes; ask for the list and let them recommend one. A tip is not compulsory because service is usually included, but it is customary to round up or leave 5-10% if the service was good.
Belgium is a safe, stable country to travel in, with low rates of violent crime. The main thing to watch out for is pickpockets in busy parts of Brussels: Brussels-Midi station (where the high-speed train arrives), the metro and the tourist areas. Some Brussels neighbourhoods such as Molenbeek or the northern area near the station are best walked with the usual attention you would give any big city, without alarmism. Bruges, Ghent and the smaller cities are very quiet. The common sense you would use in any European capital is enough.
No vaccinations are required to enter and the health system is first rate. Tap water is drinkable throughout the country. Always take out travel insurance, because medical care without cover in Western Europe is expensive. The single emergency number is 112 (police, ambulance and fire), free from any mobile (verified July 2026).
Belgium is an expensive destination, on a par with Western Europe, though somewhat cheaper than Paris or Amsterdam. A backpacker sleeping in hostels and eating simply needs around 65 to 90 USD a day; a mid-range budget, with a three-star hotel and meals out, comes to around 130 to 200 USD; and a comfortable trip with good hotels and restaurants starts at 250 USD a day (verified July 2026). These figures do not include the international flight from Latin America, which almost always involves a stopover in Europe.
For reference (July 2026): a dorm bed in a hostel in Brussels or Bruges costs between 25 and 40 USD; a simple double room, from 90 USD; a cone of fries, 3.50 to 5 USD; a meal in a mid-range restaurant, 18 to 28 USD; and a city transport ticket, around 2.60 USD. The train between the main cities is comfortable and not very expensive (Brussels-Bruges is around 16 USD one way). As everything is close together, you save a lot on long transfers.
Belgium has three official languages: Dutch (in Flanders, in the north), French (in Wallonia, in the south) and German (in a small area in the east); Brussels is officially bilingual (French and Dutch). English is spoken very well in tourism and among young people, especially in Flanders, so a Latin American gets by fine with basic English. One point of etiquette: in Flanders it is better not to address people in French straight off (use English or a 'goeiedag'), because the language question is sensitive. Belgians are reserved but friendly, with a self-deprecating humour all their own.
Sockets are type C and E, 230 V and 50 Hz, so from much of Latin America you will need an adapter (and should check that your device is dual voltage if it runs on 110 V). Connectivity is excellent: get an eSIM or a European prepaid SIM, which since Belgium is in the EU works across the whole bloc and is far cheaper than roaming. A tip from someone who has been there: do not try to see it all at a run; the country is small and its charm lies in walking the old towns slowly, sitting on a terrace and trying beers. With a base in Brussels or Ghent you can day trip to almost everything.
Belgium is a small country with an enormous history, and a good part of that history came from outside. Wedged between France, Germany, the Netherlands and the North Sea, this corner of Europe spent two thousand years as a crossroads of trade, of faith and, above all, of armies: Caesar's legions passed through here, and so did the dukes of Burgundy, the Spanish tercios, Napoleon's troops, the Kaiser's army and Hitler's divisions. It was not by chance that it was called "the battlefield of Europe". That devilish position produced both its wealth —the textile cities of Flanders were, in the Middle Ages, among the richest on the continent— and its tragedies.
Belgium is also a young country, and a double one. As an independent state it has existed only since 1830, and ever since it has lived with a fracture running through it: to the north, Flanders, which speaks Dutch; to the south, Wallonia, which speaks French; and in the middle, Brussels, bilingual and today the de facto capital of the European Union. That linguistic tension, rather than a piece of folklore, is the axis that explains Belgian politics over the last century and a half and the country's transformation into an extraordinarily complex federal state. To that history you have to add a dark chapter that Belgium was slow to face: the Congo, the colony that King Leopold II ran as personal property and where some of the worst atrocities of the colonial era were committed. Telling the history of Belgium means telling all of that together: the canals of Bruges and the trenches of the Yser, the Flemish Primitives and the rubber of the Congo, the beer and the reforms of the state.
Read the full history of Belgium →Pick a region and open each destination to see what to do, prices and how to get there.
These are the sources we cite most across this country's guides, with how many times each appears. Hard data —tickets, opening hours, requirements, transport— comes from the official source and carries the date we checked it. Restaurant and hotel picks come from guides and reviews, and we say so on each page.
