Belgium-Useful Information
We went to Belgium in May of 2023. Our kids were 11, 9 & 4 at the time. We stayed in Ghent and took trains to get to Brussels & Bruges while there.
I wish I had known:
We needed to put our hotel key card in a slot for the electricity to turn on for the room.
Kleenex was not readily available at the hotel. We bought travel packs at stores.
Belgium is big on saving electricity. Sometimes the signs at train stations would turn off and only turn on for a while to show what was next.
Try to time your trains with hotel check ins. A lot of bigger train stations we went to in Europe had baggage lockers, but sometimes they’d be full. Some hotels did offer to put our bags in a room behind the desk until check in though.
Transportation:
We used trains and walked. The trains from city to city were very user friendly and easy to understand. We pre-booked tickets. If I remember correctly, the trains from city to city had ‘classes’ and we got some looks because we didn’t realize and went to the wrong level the first time. Thankfully someone explained to us our mistake.
Google maps was really good about telling us the right platforms & then walking directions once we were there for any public transportation we needed.
Taking the train from Brussels, Belgium to London, England was easy and quick.
Taking the train from Paris, France to Brussels, Belgium wasn’t too bad. We used a bus in Paris to get to the train station because the metro was incredibly crowded. Having suitcases when we got to Paris (from London) and needed to take a metro to our hotel, was difficult and we didn’t want to repeat that. Once we were at Gare du Nord it was very smooth.
Always check the trains you’ll be taking any suitcases on to see what the size and quantity limits are! We spent 9 days in Europe and we each had one carry on and one backpack; but different trains may have different rules.
Tips:
Menus in English were often posted at the entrance of a restaurant, but not at tables (we took photos of them). At the restaurants we went to, the menus at the tables were in Dutch. When I’d try ordering in French, people would generally ask if I spoke English and switch to it.
Sit down restaurants will take a while. It’s all part of the experience. If you’re in a rush, a sit down place might not be the right choice.
Most signs were in Dutch and French that we saw.
If you like salt on your fries, we noticed that we usually had to add our own. A lot of frites/fries came with mayo for dipping.
Take travel tissue packs. None of our hotels had tissues.
We use ROAD iD to order wristbands when our kids aren’t old enough to know our phone numbers by heart. We put their name, our names and numbers and where they’re from on them. It gives us a little more peace of mind while we’re traveling.
Toilets:
Be prepared with local cash and coins for pay toilets. Some countries take a credit card, but none of the toilets that we went to in Belgium did; they were cash only.
Shopping:
One of my favorite things to do is to go to local grocery stores to get our snacks. It is so fun to try foods that are popular where we are. It is always a good idea to take reusable bags. Some places will have you buy a reusable bag if you do not have one.
The best parts:
There were lots of French breads and pastries
On tours and trains it was cool to hear all 4 languages-Dutch, French, German & English
Everyone was very friendly
Liege waffles
Chocolates
Luggage:
We each had one carry on and one back pack when we went. If you are using trains to go to other places, have a connecting flight or something; check luggage sizes and amounts allowed. We used public transportation. So making sure we could all carry our own bags (even our 4 year old, at the time) and didn’t have anything big was a must for us.