2nd edition Oct 2019 368 pages This new second edition of Bradt's award-winning
Northern Belgium: Flanders with Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp remains the
only standalone guide to this enticing region, home to more Michelin-starred
restaurants per head than France and the largest number of comic-strip
cartoonists in the world. Bradt's Northern Belgium provides in-depth coverage of
Brussels, including the outer communes that are often overlooked but are home to
excellent off-the-beaten track eateries and kooky museums. The guide covers
every inch of the region, from the sandy stretch of North Sea coast, through
medieval cloth-spinning cities like Bruges and Ghent, to quaint villages.
Features include eyewitness accounts of what it was like living under the
control of the Germans during World War II, a rare interview with one of the 29
Cistercian monks at Sint-Sixtus abbey in Westvleteren who brew the revered
Westvleteren Trappist beer, and a guest contribution from Tim Webb, author of
the best-selling Good Beer Guide: Belgium, who has written the section on beer,
covering the best local tipples and which brewery to visit to try them. Also new
for this edition is information on the new Brussels Airlines ' Hi Belgium Pass',
a nationwide Belgian rail pass and city pass, a focus on the best Christmas
markets of northern Belgium, and details of new WWI information offices and
permanent artworks. Restaurant listings have been completely revised to keep
pace with Flanders' dynamic dining scene and there is a new feature on quirky
accommodation options and museums, including Brussels' Underpants Museum!
Carefully designed walking tours of Brussels city centre are featured, and the
guide includes more maps of the area than any other. With festivals forming a
major part of Flemish social life, an in-depth list of events is included, from
the hip Pukkelpop festival to the best village fętes. Flanders has one official
national park and several nature reserves, and this guide offers more coverage
of them than any other. Emma Thomson has lived in the country for nearly a
decade and her first edition of this guide won Best Guidebook at the British
Guild of Travel Writer Members' Awards.