[TN]

For X-mas. Anyone ever been? We will stay in Brussels if everything goes as planned. Our plan is to eat, drink, be merry, explore the city & take a day trip either to France or Holland, which leads me to....has anyone rented a car in Europe? was it affordable? easy to get around (hwys mostly)?

Any must see/go places in Brussels or near Brussels?

I think I am going to book the trip Monday....I cant wait!

 

[Kevin]

http://www.budget.com/budgetWeb/home/home.ex

Theyre stationed in Belgium and Holland and all over the world really.
I think u can arange a car from the states.
Brussels is a pretty cool city, probably better then anything in Holland since youve allready been to Amsterdam if I remember correctly?
If I was to go on a daytrip while staying in Brussels Id go to Paris probably. Just a 3hours drive or you could probably go by train which will be a whole lot easier considering parking etc.

 

[TN]

Paris would kick ass & I think I read that it is 1.5 hours on the Thalys, which is the most feasible option but the American in us wants to drive through the country side & stop & see tiny villages. We were also considering Rotterdam or Tilburg, but we were in Holland last December (as you mentioned) so.... We usually dont know what we are doing until we are doing it....

 

[McGRP01]

You suck.

You guys need to hurry up and have a baby so all the fun in your life will come to a screeching halt!

 

[JRB]

Belgium for Christmas??? Communist.

 

[TN]

Belgium for Christmas??? Communist.

We hope to drink in some of Marx's old Haunts, so you are not entirely wrong.

McGRP01-Kids are nowhere in the future, in fact I may get fixed.

 

[JRB]

We hope to drink in some of Marx's old Haunts, so you are not entirely wrong.

McGRP01-Kids are nowhere in the future, in fact I may get fixed.

Truth is, I'm just jealous. My biggest trip coming up is Big Bend, followed by a possible trip to AR.

 

[McGRP01]

Truth is, I'm just jealous.

 

[TN]

Truth is, I'm just jealous. My biggest trip coming up is Big Bend, followed by a possible trip to AR.

where & when in AR? we might could meet for a ride.

 

[PatBranch]

Are you not bringing your bike?!?!?

 

[JRB]

where & when in AR? we might could meet for a ride.

It will be open for discussion. It will likely be March or April, but I will let you pick the trail/trails.

 

[sanjuro]

Not to be a bummer, but I looked at the weather and it is rain or snow the next 10 days.

I think of Belgium in the winter, and I picture miserable cyclocross racers and drunken fans in raincoats.

 

[Ciaran]

McGRP01-Kids are nowhere in the future, in fact I may get fixed.

Kids are too expensive... they take up all the travelin' money! Belgium sounds fun... have some waffles. The next trip for the Wife and I will be Paris sometime next year. We're thinking that one international trip a year should be good to start with. I've been bitten by the travel bug!

 

[laura]

we went to amsterdam last year for christmas. it rained and was freezing the whole time. we're quite resilient to the weather. as long as i'm out of the country i'm happy.

 

[laura]

You suck.

You guys need to hurry up and have a baby so all the fun in your life will come to a screeching halt!

uh, no thanks. reason number 3847567375682 to never have kids. i'm keeping a list.

 

[TN]

Not to be a bummer, but I looked at the weather and it is rain or snow the next 10 days.

I think of Belgium in the winter, and I picture miserable cyclocross racers and drunken fans in raincoats.

looks like perfect cross wx & good time to be had by all. Funny you should say that too, because there were cx races in Amsterdam this time last year under the same circumstances.

 

[Mike B.]

We rented a Saab wagon with navigation through Hertz during Eurobike and it was a little pricey but worth it. The navigation was key to getting around though.

Have fun.

 

[PatBranch]

That looks fun. Thats how cyclocross should be.

 

[SkaredShtles]

We went to Ghent, Brugges, Antwerp, and Oostend when we visited Begium. Good times. If you get to Ghent, drop by the Waterhaus on the Bierkunt or something like that. Good place to have a dozen beers or more.

Oh, and the chocolate......

 

[narlus]

Kids are too expensive... they take up all the travelin' money!

not if you squeeze them in yr suitcase. my kids likely have more passport stamps than 95% of the ridemonkey populace.

TN, we went to brugge (also spelled bruges) for 4 days. flew to brussels and took the train; didn't rent a car. cars tend to be pricey for rental as compared to the US, but i think for all our trips we only rented one (in spain). the train transports generally very good in the metro areas.

anyway, back to brugge...it's a lovely place. definitely a touristy area, but that's not too big a drawback. great food, really cool buildings, a great farmer's market on wed (might be seasonal, though).

miles on a bridge over one of the canals:

one of the main buildings in the town center:

 

[kizzi77]

I could talk forever about how awesome Belgium was when I went last year!!! I stayed in Brussels and traveled to Leige, Bruges, Waterloo, and Amsterdam. I was only there a week. So let me see...my favorite place to eat in Brussels was the Drug Opera. It's near the main square. If you like the art stuff, you'll find alot of Margritte (one of my favorite artists) at the Museum of Modern Art. Dali's "Temptation of St. Anthony" is there as well. There is pretty good shopping for the misses at a store called Jennyfer. It is sooooo cheap and cool stuff. You can read about it online as Brussels has the longest street of shopping. I think it is a mile long.
I would advise taking trains while there. It is easy, not too expensive and will get you most anywhere you want to go. Paris is about an hour and a half away on the speed train. But that is a little expensive. I went with someone who's relatives live there so I got a sort of behind the scenes tour. As I remember more stuff I'll let you know. Hope this helps.

 

[TN]

I could talk forever about how awesome Belgium was when I went last year!!! I stayed in Brussels and traveled to Leige, Bruges, Waterloo, and Amsterdam. I was only there a week. So let me see...my favorite place to eat in Brussels was the Drug Opera. It's near the main square. If you like the art stuff, you'll find alot of Margritte (one of my favorite artists) at the Museum of Modern Art. Dali's "Temptation of St. Anthony" is there as well. There is pretty good shopping for the misses at a store called Jennyfer. It is sooooo cheap and cool stuff. You can read about it online as Brussels has the longest street of shopping. I think it is a mile long.
I would advise taking trains while there. It is easy, not too expensive and will get you most anywhere you want to go. Paris is about an hour and a half away on the speed train. But that is a little expensive. I went with someone who's relatives live there so I got a sort of behind the scenes tour. As I remember more stuff I'll let you know. Hope this helps.

yes, this is the info we need! We like Margitte & have a couple of his prints too. I had no idea he was from Belgium until I started looking into the trip. Drug Opera? huh? I think I saw that on a website. what kind of food is do they serve?
re: the trains...how much is "not too expensive"? I found a r/t ticket for 2 to Rotterdam for about $83. which seems decent to me.

 

[TN]

HAHA! your interest in art leads me to believe you are now a seperate entity from Squirley Shirley.

 

[kizzi77]

yes, this is the info we need! We like Margitte & have a couple of his prints too. I had no idea he was from Belgium until I started looking into the trip. Drug Opera? huh? I think I saw that on a website. what kind of food is do they serve?
re: the trains...how much is "not too expensive"? I found a r/t ticket for 2 to Rotterdam for about $83. which seems decent to me.

You can also go to Margritte's studio, but I advice you go during the day. It is located in area that is heavily populated by Muslims. I tried to go when it was getting dark and turned around because it seemed sketchy.
I can't remember exactly how much tickets were for the train. I know traveling in Belgium is 5-10 euros. Going to Amsterdam was about 150ish for two, so along the same lines as what you found. I looked into renting a car, but I don't speak french, and can not read dutch (I was suprisingly able to understand it well). Being able to read the signs is quite important. Plus once I did the pricing it came out to be the same. I also thought taking a train would be much less stress and did find it very relaxing. Yeah, you have to deal with a few stops but you are able to enjoy the country side and just listen to music, nap, hangout, what ever you like.
The Drug Opera has food from american, british, belgium, french, german...basically everything. I liked it because the food was excellant. I didn't feel the price was a rip off. And the dessert is delicious! (mmmmm creme brule or chocolate mousse) Plus the beer mugs are HUGE.

 

[kizzi77]

HAHA! your interest in art leads me to believe you are now a seperate entity from Squirley Shirley.

hehehehe
I keep remembering more stuff. When you travel on the metro in Brussels it isn't like american city subways. There are NO barriers to stop you from just walking on the train. I would buy a pass that allowed me to take a certain number of rides. What I had to do was to walk up to a machine and scan my card. But there was only a couple at each enterance and nothing that made me scan it. It was my pure guilt that led me to do it. Even though everyone else just walked right by it. It was weird.
Brussels is also an easy city to just wander around. I am into architecture photography so I would just walk or train ride it and take pictures of cool buildings I found.
As you can see...I :heart: Belgium.