Belgija - Belgium

Nizko ležeča država v Beneluks, Belgija (Nizozemsko: België, Francosko: Belgique, Nemško: Belgijski) sedi na križišču zahodne Evrope. Poroči se z zgodovinskimi znamenitostmi, po katerih je celina znana s spektakularno sodobno arhitekturo in podeželskimi idili. Njegov kapital, Bruselj, je dom sedeža Evropska unija.

Čeprav je Belgija razmeroma bogata država, je tudi ena politično najbolj zapletenih držav na svetu. Razlike v jeziku in kulturi med Flandrijo (nizozemsko govoreči del) in Valonijo (francosko govoreči del) so privedle do številnih daljnosežnih reform in ta nenehni antagonizem dela belgijsko politiko tako zapleteno, da niti navadni Belgijci niso sposobni imeti tega, kar se resnično dogaja. Kljub vsemu polovici tvorita državo, ki vsebuje nekaj najbolj privlačnih in zgodovinskih mest v Evropi in je resnično "nujno mesto" za vsakega obiskovalca celine.

Razumeti

Neposredni sosedje Belgije ležijo na obali Severnega morja Francija na jugozahodu, Luksemburg na jugovzhodu, Nemčija na vzhodu in Nizozemska na severu.

Belgija je gosto naseljena država, ki poskuša uravnotežiti nasprotujoče si zahteve urbanizacije, prometa, industrije ter komercialnega in intenzivnega kmetijstva. Uvozi velike količine surovin in izvozi veliko količino proizvedenega blaga, večinoma v EU.

Zgodovina

Belgija je dedič več nekdanjih srednjeveških sil in sledove boste videli povsod med potovanjem po tej državi.

Po propadu Karolinško cesarstvo v 9. stoletju je bilo ozemlje, ki je danes Belgija, Nizozemska in Luksemburg, del Lotharingije, kratkotrajnega kraljestva, ki bo kmalu prevzeto v germansko cesarstvo; vendar je poseben značaj "Spodnje Lotharingije" v fevdalnem cesarstvu ostal nedotaknjen: to je izvor Nizkih držav, splošnega izraza, ki zajema današnjo Belgijo, Nizozemsko in Luksemburg.

Široko avtonomne fevde Nizkih držav so bile med najbogatejšimi kraji v srednjeveški Evropi, sledi tega preteklega bogastva pa boste videli v bogatih stavbah Bruges, Bruselj, Antwerpen, Gent, Leuven, Tournai, Mons itd. Ta mesta so postopoma propadala pod nadzorom močne in ambiciozne družine: vojvode Burgundije. Celotno kraljestvo vojvod sega od Nizkih držav do meja Švice. Z uporabo bogastva, strategije in zavezništev so si vojvode Burgundije prizadevale za obnovo Lotaringije. Smrt zadnjega vojvode Karla Drznega je te sanje končala. Vendar zakladi burgundskih vojvod ostajajo pričevanje njihovih pravil v belgijskih muzejih in znamenitostih.

Močna habsburška družina je nato podedovala po Nizkih državah. Reformacija je razlog, da sta bili Belgija in Nizozemska prvič ločeni: severna polovica Nizkih držav je sprejela protestantizem in se uprla habsburški oblasti, medtem ko je južna polovica ostala zvesta svojemu vladarju in katoliški veri. Ti dve polovici približno ustrezata današnjim Belgiji in Nizozemski.

Belgiji so rekli Avstrijska Nizozemska, nato pa Španska Nizozemska, odvisno od tega, katera veja Habsburžanov ji je vladala. Močni nemški cesar in španski kralj Karel V. se je rodil v belgijskem mestu Gent in vladal iz Bruslja. Po njem so poimenovani številni kraji v Belgiji, vključno z mestom Charleroi in celo znamko piva. Vsako leto Brusselers posnema njegovo prvo parado v njihovem mestu, tako imenovani Ommegang.

Belgija je bila na kratko del Napoleonovega cesarstva. Po Napoleonovem porazu je bila ustanovljena velika Kraljevina Nizozemska, ki je obsegala celotno Nizko deželo. Vendar je verska opozicija še vedno obstajala, razkol pa so zaostrile politične razlike med belgijskimi liberalci in nizozemskimi aristokrati. Belgija se je leta 1830 po kratki revoluciji in vojni proti Nizozemski osamosvojila od Nizozemske.

Med prvo in drugo svetovno vojno jo je zasedla Nemčija, v bližini bojnih območij pa je veliko vojnih grobov, večina jih je okoli Ieperja (v angleščini arhaično upodobljeno kot Ypres, z Yperite drugo ime za gorčico zaradi intenzivne uporabe tam v prvi svetovni vojni). V zadnjih pol stoletja je napredovala kot sodobna, tehnološko napredna evropska država ter članica Nata in EU. Zaradi napetosti med nizozemsko govorečimi flamskimi prebivalci na severu in francosko govorečimi valoni na jugu so ustavne spremembe tem regijam podelile formalno priznanje in avtonomijo.

Teren

Ravne obalne ravnice na severozahodu, osrednji hribi, gozdnati griči in doline Ardenskega gozda na jugovzhodu.

Podnebje

Zmerno; blage zime s hladnimi poletji. Na splošno precej deževno, vlažno in oblačno. Povprečna letna temperatura Belgije v desetletju med letoma 1976 in 2006 je bila 10 ° C - nekoliko nesmiseln ukrep za nemeteorologe.

Elektrika

Električna energija se napaja z napetostmi 220 do 230 V in 50 Hz. Vtičnice so CEE7 / 5 (štrleči moški ozemljitveni zatič) in sprejmejo CEE 7/5 (ozemljene), CEE 7/7 (ozemljene) ali CEE 7/16 (neutemeljene) vtiče. Starejši nemški tipi CEE 7/4 niso združljivi, saj ne morejo vstaviti ozemljitvenega zatiča, ki ga najdemo na tej vrsti vtičnice. Vendar pa je večina sodobnih evropskih aparatov opremljena s hibridnim CEE 7/7 vtičem, ki ustreza tako CEE 7/5 (Belgija in Francija) kot CEE 7/4 (Nemčija, Nizozemska, Španija in večina Evrope).

Popotniki iz Združenega kraljestva, Irske, Avstralije, Nove Zelandije, Danske, Italije, Švice in vseh drugih držav, ki uporabljajo napetosti 230 V in 50 Hz in uporabljajo različne vtiče, za uporabo svojih naprav v Belgiji preprosto potrebujejo adapter za vtič.

Potniki iz ZDA, Kanade, Japonske in drugih držav, ki uporabljajo 110 V 60 Hz, bodo morda potrebovali pretvornik napetosti, vendar nekateri prenosniki, polnilci mobilnih telefonov in druge naprave sprejmejo 110 V ali 230 V, zato je potreben le preprost vtični adapter. Preden jih priključite, preverite napetostne ploščice na napravah.

Regije

Belgijo sestavljajo tri regije, ki so na seznamu od severa do juga:

Mesta

Belgija ima zelo visoko stopnjo urbanizacije in ima presenetljivo veliko mest za tako majhno ozemlje

• 50.854.351 Bruselj - belgijsko in neuradno glavno mesto EU. Lepo zgodovinsko središče in več zanimivih muzejev. Eno najbolj multikulturnih mest v Evropi.
• 51.2166674.42 Antwerpen - drugo največje belgijsko mesto z velikansko katedralo, srednjeveškimi ulicami in umetniško dediščino ter odličnim krajem za modo.
• 51.2166673.2333333 Bruges - eno najbogatejših evropskih mest v 14. stoletju, je turistično, a še vedno zelo pristno, srednjeveško in ponoči mirno, z majhnimi gostišči in družinskimi podjetji, ki močno presegajo verigo hotelov.
• 51.053.7333334 Gent - nekoč eno največjih evropskih mest, zdaj popolna mešanica Antwerpna in Brugesa: prijetno mesto s kanali, vendar z bogato zgodovino in živahno študentsko populacijo.
• 50.8833334.75 Leuven - majhno mesto, v katerem prevladuje ena najstarejših evropskih univerz. Lepo zgodovinsko središče in živahno nočno življenje.
• 50.6333335.5666676 Liège - drugo največje mesto Valonije, ob široki reki, industrijski krajini s pohodništvom in letovišči na bližnjih gričih, ima zelo močan, samostojen značaj in vznemirljivo nočno življenje.
• 51.0166674.4666677 Mechelen - majhno srednjeveško mesto z lepo zgodovinsko četrtjo okoli katedrale.
• 50.453.958 Mons - je imel izjemen privilegij, da sta na strani vpisani dve strani Unescova svetovna dediščina Seznam in en dogodek na Reprezentativnem seznamu nesnovne kulturne dediščine človeštva.
• 50.4666674.8666679 Namur - prestolnica Valonija, ob sotočju Sambre in Meuse s Citadelo.

Druge destinacije

• 50.8666674.4666671 Kraainem - občina z bogato industrijsko zgodovino na obrobju Ljubljane Bruselj s številnimi zgodovinskimi znamenitostmi.
• 50.8166674.52 Tervuren - znan po bližini bujnega gozda Sonian, svojih parkov in kraljeve poletne rezidence.
• 50.9333334.3833333 Grimbergen - znano po pivu z istim imenom, ki je doseglo svetovno slavo, vendar ga še vedno proizvajajo v njegovi opatiji.
• 50.255.6666674 Ardeni - najbolj redko poseljena regija v Beneluksu, to je gričevnato podeželsko območje, pokrito z gozdovi
• 50.2666674.9166675 Dinant - majhno mesto v osupljivem naravnem okolju, priljubljeno mesto za pustolovske športe, kot sta vožnja s kanuji in plezanje, najbolje obiskano pozimi
• 50.7833334.1166676 Pajottenland - imenovano tudi "severna Toskana", je zeleno območje zahodno od Bruslja, ki ga sestavljajo griči, travniki, majhne vasice in gradovi. Dom piva Geuze in odličen za pohodniške, kolesarske in jahalne ture.
• 50.49255.8641677 Spa - tretmaji z vročo vodo zdraviliškega mesta, ki je ime dobilo po vseh zdraviliščih na svetu, že stoletja privlačijo obiskovalce.
• 50.852.8833338 Ypres, 50.852.7333339 Poperinge in okoliške vasi - uničena med prvo svetovno vojno, je ta nekdanja vojaška utrdba zaznamovana s spomeniki in pokopališči.
• 51.16444.139110 Sint-Niklaas - znan po svojem tržnem trgu (največjem v Belgiji), letnem festivalu balonov in bližnji pokrajini ob reki Scheldt.

Vstopi

Zahteve za vstop

Belgija je članica Schengenski sporazum.

• Običajno ni mejnih kontrol med državami, ki so podpisale in izvajale pogodbo. Sem spada večina Evropske unije in nekaj drugih držav.
• Običajno se preverijo identiteta pred vkrcanjem na mednarodne lete ali čolne. Včasih obstajajo začasne mejne kontrole na kopenskih mejah.
• Prav tako a vizum podeljena za katero koli schengensko članico, velja v vseh drugih podpisanih državah in izvajala pogodbo.
• Prosim poglej Potovanje po schengenskem območju za več informacij o tem, kako shema deluje, katere države so članice in kakšne so zahteve za vaše državljanstvo.

Državljani zgoraj omenjenih držav lahko delajo v Belgiji, ne da bi morali pridobiti vizum ali kakršno koli nadaljnje dovoljenje za čas svojega 90-dnevnega bivanja brez vizumov. Vendar ta brezposelnost brez vizuma ni nujno razširjena na druge schengenske države.

Z letalom

Letališče Bruselj (BRU ^IATA), znano tudi kot Zaventem zaradi mesta, v katerem se večinoma nahaja, je glavno belgijsko letališče. Ne nahaja se v samem Bruslju, ampak v okolici Flandrija. Letališče je osnova nacionalnega letalskega prevoznika Brussels Airlines. Drugi letalski prevozniki s polnimi storitvami uporabljajo BRU, pa tudi proračunski prevozniki, kot je Ryanair, Vueling in JetairFly.

Obstaja vlak (€5.10) vožnja vsakih 15 minut do središča Bruslja, ki traja 25 minut, nekateri pa še naprej Gent, Mons, Nivelles, in Zahodna Flandrija in avtobusnih linij št. 12 in 21 (€3 pri prodajnem avtomatu /€5 na krovu) vsakih 20 do 30 minut do Place Luxembourg (okrožje Evropskega parlamenta). Avtobus se na poti do centra ustavi pri Natu in Schumanu (za institucije EU). Do ure sta tudi dva vlaka na uro Leuven, traja 13 minut. Taksi do središča Bruslja stane približno €35 - ceneje, če rezervirate vnaprej. Taksiji bleus: 32 2 268–0000, Taxis Autolux: 32 2 411–4142, vertikalne taksije: 32 2 349–4949.

Letališče Bruselj South Charleroi (CRL ^IATA), približno 50 km (31 milj) južno od Bruslja, večinoma služi nizkocenovnim prevoznikom, kot je npr Ryanair in Wizzair. V Bruselj Gare du Midi se lahko z avtobusom pripeljete v približno eni uri (€13 ena smer, €22 vrnitev). Če greste v kateri koli drug del Belgije, kupite vozovnico za kombinirani avtobus prek železniške postaje Charleroi Sud v avtomatih TEC zunaj letališča za največ €19.40 ena smer.

Če pa ste res zataknjeni, ni nič nenavadnega, da taksisti vzamejo kreditne kartice. Cena vožnje s taksijem do Bruslja je določena cena (približno €85 od januarja 2020) in pri taksistu lahko preverite, ali bo sprejel vašo kreditno kartico ali ne.

Letališče Antwerpen (ANR ^IATA) ima nekaj poslovnih letov, vključno z CityJetPoceni povezava do letališča London City. Druga letališča vključujejo Oostende, Liège in Kortrijk, vendar opravljajo le tovorne in čarterske lete.

O poletih na letališča v sosednjih državah bi bilo vredno razmisliti, zlasti v Amsterdam Letališče Schiphol ki ima neposredno železniško povezavo do Bruselj, tudi postanki pri Antwerpen in Mechelen.

Letališče Liege (LGG ^IATA) se nahaja v bližini mesta Liege. Majhno letališče, ki ga služi samo TUIFly, nizkocenovna letalska družba. Vsak dan ima od 5 do 10 pretežno iz Španije, včasih v Grčijo in Maroko. Trpi zaradi zelo slabih možnosti prevoza do mesta Liege: večkrat na dan vozi avtobus št. 57, vozi do železniške postaje Liege-Guillemins, ta avtobus vozi le med vikendi. Druga možnost je, da se z avtobusom številka 53 ali 85, ki včasih vozi preko letališča do središča mesta, pribl. 30 minut. Avtobusi TEC nimajo posebnih cen za letališče Liege in bodo stali €3.50 na osebo.

Taksiji bodo stali okoli €25.

Z vlakom

Obstajajo neposredni vlaki med Brusljem in:

• Luksemburg (običajni vlaki, vozijo vsako uro). Ves javni prevoz v Luksemburgu je brezplačen. Od Luksemburga do Bruslja traja približno 2 uri 30 minut, od Luksemburga do Liegea pa 3 ure.
• Pariz, Köln, Aachen, Rotterdam, Amsterdam (Thalys )
• Lyon, Bordeaux, letališče Pariz-CDG in številna druga francoska mesta (TGV, ki ga upravlja SNCF).
• London, Ebbsfleet, Ashford, Lille, Calais, Rotterdam, Amsterdam (Eurostar). Če se odpravljate v drugo belgijsko mesto, vozovnica "katero koli postajo na Belgiji" (enosmerna £ 5,50 v 2. razredu) vključuje lokalni prevoz v vaši vozovnici Eurostar. Glede na razdaljo se bo to morda pocenilo, kot če bi dobili ločeno vozovnico. Potniki, ki potujejo iz Združenega kraljestva v Belgijo, pred vkrcanjem namesto ob prihodu v Belgijo opravijo preverjanje francoskega potnega lista / osebne izkaznice (opravljeno v imenu Belgijcev) v Združenem kraljestvu. Potniki, ki potujejo iz Lille / Calaisa v Bruselj, so znotraj schengenskega območja.
• Frankfurt, Köln (ICE, ki ga upravlja Deutsche Bahn)
• Zürich, Švica, prek Luksemburga (običajni vlaki, 2 na dan)

Iz Bruslja prek Antwerpna do Rotterdama in Amsterdama na Nizozemskem vozijo urni medkrajevni vlaki. Medkrajevne storitve vozijo od Bruslja do Amsterdama prek Mechelena, Antwerpna, Rotterdama, Haaga in Schiphola. Druga neposredna povezava z Amsterdamom je drag Thalys (rezervirajte vnaprej za ugodne cene). Druga možnost je ujeti vlak iz Bruslja ali Antwerpna do Roosendaala (NL), kjer so na voljo povezavi medkrajevnih vlakov do Rotterdama in Amsterdama. Potniki, ki potujejo v Belgijo z Nizozemske, bodo morali svoje vozovnice kupiti na mizi NS Internationaal oz Spletna stran ki se razlikujejo od tistih, ki prodajajo vozovnice za domače vlake. NS Internationaal prodaja tudi vozovnice Thalys po enakih cenah, kot jih lahko vidite na spletni strani Thalys.

Mednarodni vlaki se povezujejo z domačimi vlaki na bruseljski Gare du Midi / Zuidstation, z vsemi vozovnicami Eurostar ali ICE in nekaterimi Thalysami pa lahko brezplačno končate potovanje z domačimi vlaki. Za vse hitre vlake morate za poceni vozovnice rezervirati vnaprej, bodisi prek spleta bodisi pri potovalni agenciji. Rednih vlakov za spanje ni več na voljo.

Morda boste želeli preveriti tudi povezave TGV z Lilleom. Vlaki iz preostale Francije v Lille so pogostejši in običajno cenejši. Iz Lille Flandres do Genta in Antwerpena je neposredna vlakovna povezava. Če vaš TGV prispe v Lille Europe, bo do železniške postaje Lille Flandres 15 minut hoje.

Načrtujte potovanje z Vozni red Deutsche Bahn. Ima vse domače in mednarodne povezave po Evropi.

Kajenje v belgijskih vlakih ni dovoljeno.

Cena vozovnic za vlake 65, ki potujejo znotraj Belgije, je pogosto omejena €6 in velja za vrnitev istega dne, vendar je za takšno ceno morda potrebno potovanje šele po 09:00.

Z avtom

Glavne evropske avtoceste, kot so E19, E17, E40, E411 in E313, potekajo skozi Belgijo.

Carpooling

Najcenejši način, da pridete do Belgije (€3/ 100 km (62 mi)) od koder koli v Evropi - če ste malo prilagodljivi in ​​srečni - je običajno taksi postaja. Na voljo so tudi številne vožnje BlablaCar.

Z avtobusom

V Belgijo lahko pridete iz vse Evrope Eurolines trenerji. Mednarodni avtobusi imajo vmesna postajališča Antwerpen, Bruselj Severna postaja, Leuven & Liege.

Obstajajo avtobusna podjetja, ki služijo bosanski diaspori, ki zagotavljajo poceni in čisto poti na drugo stran evropske celine. Poletne ture vozi trikrat na teden z različnih destinacij v Ljubljani Bosna in Hercegovina v Belgijo in na Nizozemsko, približno izven sezone €132 za povratno vozovnico.

Z ladjo

Obstajajo nočni trajekti do / iz Zeebruggeja iz Hull-a v Angliji, vendar niso poceni.

Iz Francije

• Obstajajo domači belgijski vlaki, ki se končajo v Lille (postaja Lille-Flanders).
• Med postajo De Panne belgijskih železnic (in obalnim tramvajem - Kusttram) in francoskem obalnem mestu Dunkirk, obstaja avtobusna linija, ki jo vodi DK'BUS Marine: [1]. Prav tako je mogoče vzeti avtobus DK'BUS, ki vozi na najbližjo možno razdaljo meje in ga nato peš prehoditi tako, da se sprehodite po plaži in prispete do prikladne postaje tramvaja Coast, kot je npr. Esplanade.

Iz Nemčije

• Med železniškimi postajami v Ljubljani lahko vzamete avtobus Eupen (Belgija) in Aachen (Nemčija), kar je precej hitro in ceneje kot potovanje z mednarodno vlakovno vozovnico.
• Če je vaš cilj v Belgiji bolj oddaljen od meje, se lahko odpeljete z lokalnim vlakom Aachen do Welkenraedt in nato prestopite na vlak InterCity, ki povezuje Eupen z Oostende, mimo Leuven, Bruselj, Gent in Bruges. Potovanje iz Aachna v Bruselj traja manj kot dve uri.

Z Nizozemske

• Seznam avtobusov za mejni prehod med Belgijo in Nizozemsko najdete na naslovu [2].
• Mesto Ljubljana je svojevrsten rezultat starodavne evropske zgodovine Baarle (formalno Baarle-Hertog v Belgiji in Baarle-Nassau na Nizozemskem) je možna prestopna točka, saj je glavno mestno avtobusno postajališče Sint-Janstraat vozijo flamski (belgijski) in nizozemski avtobusi.
• Flamsko (belgijsko) podjetje De Lijn upravlja avtobus za mejni prehod med Turnhout v Belgiji in Tilburg na Nizozemskem, ki sta končana v železniškem omrežju posamezne države.
• Avtobus (linija 45), ki ga upravlja flamsko (belgijsko) podjetje De Lijn, vozi med železniškimi postajami v Genk (Belgija) in Maastricht (Nizozemska). Iz postaje odhaja še en avtobus (linija 20A) Hasselt, bo Maastricht. Gradi se vlakovna povezava.

Obiti

Ker ste tako majhna država (300 km največje razdalje), lahko pridete kamor koli v nekaj urah. Javni prevoz je v celoti delujoč, hiter in udoben ter ne predrag. Med večjimi mesti so pogoste vlakovne povezave, avtobusi pokrivajo manjše razdalje. Uporabna stran je Pametni načrtovalec mobilnosti, ki ima načrtovalec poti od vrat do vrat za celo državo, ki zajema vse oblike javnega prevoza (vključno z vlakom, avtobusom, podzemno železnico in tramvajem).

Pogled na zemljevid lahko nakazuje, da je Bruselj dobro izhodišče za raziskovanje Antwerpna, Genta, Brugesa, Namurja in Leuvena na enodnevnih izletih. Antwerpen je priljubljen med tistimi, ki želijo biti v svetovljanskem kraju, Gent pa je na vrhu med tistimi, ki imajo radi dobro mešanico odprtega provincializma. Liège je čudovit, a preblizu Nemčije, da bi bil dobra osnova za enodnevne izlete. Turisti menijo, da je Mechelen dolgočasen, vendar ima zelo dober mladinski hostel ob železniški postaji z vlaki, ki vozijo kamor koli drugje vsakih 30 minut.

Za nekatere lokalne oglede, zlasti na Flandriji, je na voljo veliko infrastrukture za kolesarjenje. Kolesa lahko najamete tako rekoč povsod. Na podeželju Valonije so na voljo gorska kolesa, rafting pa je priljubljen ob meji z Luksemburgom.

Z vlakom

• Načrtovalec potovanj Belgiantrain.be. Uporabite uradni načrtovalec potovanj, ki ga upravlja belgijsko železniško podjetje, da poiščete pot vlakov in cene (posodobljeno maj 2016)

Večina Belgije je dobro povezana z vlakom, ki ga vozi NMBS (SNCB v francoščini) z večino glavnih poti, ki potekajo skozi Antwerpen, Namur ali Bruselj. Tu boste prispeli z mednarodnimi vlaki, do obeh pa lahko pridete z vlakom z bruseljskega letališča ali z avtobusom z letališča Antwerpen ali Charleroi. Prenosi so zelo enostavni. Vse ICE in nekatere vozovnice Thalys dovoljujejo brezplačni transferji istega dne z domačimi vlaki do katere koli druge belgijske postaje. Obstajajo tudi vlaki Thalys iz Pariza neposredno do Genta, Bruggea in Oostendeja, pri čemer ni treba zamenjati vlakov v Antwerpnu ali Bruslju. Iz Londona (Eurostar) morate v Bruslju prestopiti za Antwerpen, Leuven ali Gent, za Bruges pa lahko že prestopite v Lille (Francija), ne da bi vam bilo treba zaviti čez Bruselj. V Lillu in Bruslju je osebje zelo koristno in se je pripravljeno nasmehniti.

Vlaki so točni in večinoma moderni in udobni.

Običajne cene vozovnic za belgijske vlake so v primerjavi z Nemčijo ali Združenim kraljestvom poceni, brez potrebe in možnosti rezerviranja. Cene v drugem razredu niso višje od €21.30 za najdaljša domača potovanja (v eno smer). 1. razred stane 50% dodatka. V času prometnih konic se lahko vlaki zelo napolnijo, zato boste morda potrebovali vozovnico za 1. razred, da boste v tem času dobili sedež. Na železniški postaji lahko plačujete z gotovino ali s kreditno kartico. Povratne vozovnice so ob koncu tedna za 50% cenejše.

Večina vozovnic se proda za določeno pot na določen dan, zato se lahko na dan vozovnice odpeljete s katerim koli vlakom. Ko stopite na vlak, ni dodatnih potrditev.

Pot lahko načrtujete prek SNCB / NMBS Spletna stran, app (na voljo v angleščini, v realnem času nudi informacije o zamudah in odpovedih) ali na zahtevo osebja postaje.

Vstopnice lahko kupite prek Spletna stran, app, prodajni avtomati, števci vozovnic in na vlaku. Če želite kupiti vozovnico na vlaku, morate opozoriti vodnika vlaka. Izogibajte se nakupu vozovnic na vlaku, saj boste morali doplačati €7 na vstopnico. Številne manjše postaje nimajo več števcev vozovnic, in če obstajajo, niso odprte prav pogosto. Na vsaki postaji je vsaj en avtomat. Če so okenci za prodajo vozovnic zaprti in prodajni avtomati ne delujejo, na vlaku ne bo treba doplačati, če boste težavo naslovili na sprevodnika.

Plačate lahko z gotovino in kreditno kartico. PayPal lahko plačate tudi prek spletnega mesta ali aplikacije. Brezkontaktna plačila sprejemajo na večini železniških postaj in v nekaterih prodajnih avtomatih. Kar zadeva plačevanje gotovine na prodajnih avtomatih, dovoljujejo le kovance, brez papirnih računov. Če ne kupite vozovnice, lahko dobite globo do €225.

Če načrtujete več potovanj z vlakom, je poceni možnost Pojdi mimo[3] za potnike, mlajše od 26 let, kar vam omogoča 10 posameznih potovanj 2. razreda (vključno z menjavo vlaka, če je potrebno) za €53. Velja eno leto in ga lahko brez omejitev delite z drugimi ali podarite drugim. Če imate 26 let ali več, lahko uporabite Rail Pass. To stane €83 za 2. razred oz €128 za 1.. Pri uporabi teh vozovnic se prepričajte, da ste pred vlakom izpolnili ročno prazno vrstico. Ko voznik ni pravilno izpolnjen, je lahko sprevodnik vlaka zelo izbirčen. Če pa se pred vkrcanjem obrnete na osebje železniške postaje, vam bodo z veseljem pomagali. Običajna praksa je tudi, da druge ljudi na platformi prosite, naj uporabljajo pero, kadar ga nimate.

Najcenejša možnost, če potujete med belgijskimi šolskimi počitnicami za osebe, mlajše od 26 let, je Pojdi neomejeno mimo za €15 na teden oz €25 mesec (samo julija in avgusta). Ta vozovnica vam omogoča, da vstopite in izstopite iz katerega koli vlaka NMBS / SNCB v 2. razredu na kateri koli (nacionalni) progi. Za to vozovnico boste potrebovali osebno kartico MoBIB. To lahko kupite za €5, samo na blagajni s posadko. Šolske počitnice so poletne počitnice (dva meseca: julij in avgust), jesenske počitnice (teden 1. novembra), božične počitnice (dva tedna, ki zajemata tako božični kot novoletni dan), pomladne počitnice (en teden konec februarja - začetek marca), velikonočni odmor (dva tedna okoli velike noči). Natančni datumi zadnjih dveh praznikov se vsako leto razlikujejo.

Če obiskujete določen dogodek ali koncert, preverite, ali potovanje z vlakom še ni vključeno v vozovnico. Nekateri večji festivali in koncerti, kot so Rock Werchter, Pukkelpop ali I Love Techno, v ceno vozovnice vključujejo potovanje z vlakom. Za obisk posebnih krajev, kot so tematski parki ali muzeji, obvestite možnost 'B-izleti". Tako na železniški postaji kupite vstopnico in vozovnico v enem. To je vedno poceni, kar običajno povzroči normalno ceno vstopnice plus €4-5 za potovanja. Pisarniški agent vas bo zagotovo opozoril na podrobnosti.

Obstajajo vlaki IC (InterCity), vlaki L (lokalni, postajališča na vsaki postaji), vlaki P (dodatni vlaki v času prometnih konic) in S-vlaki (služijo predmestjem velikih mest). Za turiste IC-vlaki ali vlaki IKT (turistični vlaki) so najboljša možnost, saj so hitrejši, pogostejši in udobnejši. Vlake L in vlake S lahko uporabljate le, če vašega cilja ne vozi IC-vlak. L-vlaki in S-vlaki so ponavadi manj gneči, razen v času prometnih konic. Vlaki S so namenjeni predvsem potnikom v bližnji okolici, lahko pa jih uporabimo tudi za nekatere izlete v mestu. Na primer, pot med Gentom in Brugesom traja 25 minut z vlakom IC in 42 minut z vlakom L, vendar stane enako.

Vozni red se običajno spremeni okoli 10. decembra. Te spremembe so običajno omejene na uvedbo nekaj novih železniških postaj in dodajanje nekaj rednih linij. Nobena linija ni bila ukinjena že zelo dolgo. Tu lahko najdete zemljevid belgijskih železnic in postaj.

Z avtobusom in tramvajem

Avtobusi pokrivajo vso državo, skupaj s tramvaji in podzemno železnico v velikih mestih. Večina poti pokriva kratke razdalje, vendar je od mesta do mesta mogoče iti z avtobusom. Vendar je to precej počasneje in le nekoliko ceneje kot z vlakom. Tam je tudi Kusttram [4], ki poteka po skoraj celotnem flamskem morju od Francije do Nizozemske - poleti vsekakor vredno potovanja.

V mestih običajna vozovnica za eno območje nikoli ne stane več kot €2, na voljo pa so različne potovalne kartice. Lokalni prevoz opravljajo različna podjetja: STIB / MIVB v Bruslju [5], De Lijn v Flandriji in TEC v Valoniji in zunaj Bruslja ne sprejemata vozovnic. Vstopnice so cenejše, če jih kupite v prodajnih avtomatih.

Večina turistov ne bo potrebovala avtobusnih prevoznikov, saj je veliko bolj prijazno vlakom med mesti in se peš odpraviti v njih. Podzemno železnico imata le Bruselj in Antwerpen, toda tudi tam se lahko peš odpravite peš. Zgodovinsko središče Bruslja je dolgo le približno 300 m (980 čevljev) in 400 m (1300 čevljev). Antwerpen je veliko večji, a vožnja s konjsko vlečeno postajo daje boljši pogled kot podzemna železnica.

Z avtom

Belgija ima gosto mrežo sodobnih brezplačnih avtocest, vendar so nekatere sekundarne ceste v Valoniji slabo vzdrževane. Znaki so vedno samo v lokalnem jeziku, razen v jeziku Bruselj, kjer so dvojezični. Ker imajo številna mesta v Belgiji precej različna imena v nizozemščini in francoščini, lahko to povzroči zmedo. Na primer Mons v francoščini je Bergen v nizozemščini; Antwerpen je poklican Antwerpen v nizozemščini in Anvers v francoščini; Liège v francoščini je Luik v nizozemščini in Lüttich v nemščini itd. To velja celo za mesta zunaj Belgije; med vožnjo po flamski avtocesti boste morda videli oznake za Rijsel, ki je francosko mesto Lille ali Aken, ki je nemško mesto Aachen. Izhodi so označeni z besedo Uit (zunaj) na flamskih območjih, Sortie na valonskih območjih in Ausfahrt v nemško govorečih.

Tudi vozniki v Belgiji se morajo zavedati pravila "prednost z desne". Na cestnih križiščih ima promet, ki prihaja z desne strani, prednost, razen če znaki ali pločniške oznake ne označujejo drugače. Najverjetneje boste takšne prehode srečali v mestnih in primestnih območjih. Opazni obiskovalci bodo opazili veliko avtomobilov z udrtinami na desni strani! Vozite obrambno in vaš avto se bo izognil isti usodi.

V Belgiji so avtocestne table znano neprijetno, zlasti na stranskih cestah. Pri postavitvi in ​​barvi ni enotnosti; mnogi so v slabem stanju, postavljeni v neprijeten položaj ali preprosto pogrešani. Priporočljiv je dober načrt (Michelin, De Rouck, Falk) ali sistem GPS. Belgija je ena redkih držav, ki uporablja evropske številke E izključno na glavnih progah.

Poleg kamer s fiksno hitrostjo na avtocestah in sekundarnih cestah obstajajo tudi kamere s povprečno hitrostjo, ki po avtocestah po večjih mestih vozijo veliko kilometrov.

Najem avtomobila

Nekateri najeti avtomobili so opremljeni s satelitsko navigacijo, vendar je dobro, da to zahtevate, ko rezervirate avto. To je verjetno najbolj zanesljiv način, kako priti od A do B v Belgiji. Tako si boste lahko ogledali nekatera belgijska območja, pa naj bodo še tako ravna, toda arhitektura v mestih je nekaj, kar je treba občudovati. Prijetno boste presenečeni nad tem, kako čista so belgijska mesta in vasi. Vsako popoldne se peljite skozi in videli boste ljudi, ki skrbijo za ulico pred svojimi domovi - resnično, z zadnjo zastavico vaška skupnost.

Hitrostne pasti so pogosto postavljene ob cestah, vožnja v pijanem stanju le v majhnih količinah pa ima resne kazni, kot je €125 na kraju samem za 0,05 odstotka in 0,08 odstotka. Preko te količine alkohola v vašem sistemu vas čaka karkoli do 6 mesecev zapora in izguba vozniškega dovoljenja za 5 let.

S palcem

Najboljše mesto za avtoštope. Samo prosite za dvigalo! Kartonski znaki z imeni mest lahko resnično pomagajo do hitrega dvigala.

• Zapustitev Bruslja: Na jug (npr. Namur) pridite do podzemne postaje Delta.

Zraven imate ogromen 'park and ride' in avtobusno postajališče. Avtostopi v bližini avtobusne postaje bi vas med prometnimi urami pripeljali v manj kot 5 minutah.

• Napotitev v Gent / Bruges: Dobro mesto v bližini nakupovalnega središča, imenovano 'Basilix' v Berchem-ste-Agathe. Do tega kraja lahko pridete z avtobusom št. 87.

Alternativno mesto za odhod na sever je v Anderlechtu, blizu bolnišnice Erasme / Erasmus (podzemna postaja Erasme / Erasmus.)

• Smer v Liège / Hasselt: Pred metro se odpeljite do postaje Diamant v Schaarbeeku. Ko zapustite postajo, bi morali videti veliko odhajajočih avtomobilov tik pod vami. Samo hodite in sledite oznakam, na katerih je omenjena 'E40'. Pripeljati se morate v majhno ulico, ki omogoča dostop do ceste, ki se priključi na E40 (avtomobili v tem trenutku zapuščajo tunel). Just hitchhike on the emergency lane at this point, in the portion near the tunnel. Cars should still be riding slowly at this point and see you are visible to them, so it's not that dangerous.
• Leaving Louvain-la-Neuve (University) to Brussels (north) or to Namur (south), stand at the roundabout next to exit/entrance "8a" near to "Louvain la Neuve-centre" road signs. Quick lift guaranteed. Avoid exit 7 or 9, since they have far less traffic.

Glej

Mostly known for its key role in European Union administration, the small nation of Belgium might leave you surprised by its rich and gorgeous heritage. It boasts a number of fascinatingly historic cities packed with medieval and Art Nouveau architecture and famous for their long traditions in arts, fashion and fine dining. If you've seen the best of them, the Belgian countryside offers anything from sandy beaches to the densely forested hills and ridges of the Ardennes.

Bruselj, the country's vibrant capital, is a modern world city with a highly international character. It combines massive post-modern buildings in its European Quarter with impressive historic monuments, such as the World Heritage listed Grand Place, surrounded by guildhouses and the Gothic town hall. There's Laken Castle and the large St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral, dedicated to the cities patron saints. The Royal Palace is a more recent but no less grand structure. One of the city's most famous landmarks is the Atomium, a remarkable steel structure and remnant of the 1958 World's Fair. And yet, with all those magnificent sights at hand, many travellers' favourite is a tiny bronze fountain in the shape of a peeing boy: the curious Manneken Pis. The Walloon Brabant province, a few kilometres south of Brussels, is certainly worth a visit. There you can visit the Lion's Mound in Waterloo or the beautiful Villers Abbey in Villers-la-Ville.

Perhaps the most popular of the Belgian cities is Bruges. Much of the excellent architecture that arose during the towns Golden Age, roughly the 14th century, remains intact and the old centre is a valued UNESCO World Heritage Site. Among its most prominent landmarks is the 13th century belfry, where the carillonneur still rings the bells on a daily basis. With countless other noteworthy monuments, Bruges is a highly popular destination and get a bit overcrowded during holidays. And then there's Ghent, which in ages past was one of the wealthiest cities in northern Europe. Although larger and much busier than Bruges, its excellent medieval architecture can definitely compete. Its beguinages, belfry and former cloth hall are World Heritage Sites. Or visit Antwerp, the country's current place to be as it is a hotspot of the Belgian fashion, clubbing, arts and diamonds scenes. Nevertheless, the city's timeless old centre is right up there with the others, boasting the countries most stunning cathedrals. Other pleasant cities with good sights include Leuven, with the oldest Catholic University still in use and Liège.

In Wallonia, don't miss the city of Mons which has been the Cultural Capital of Wallonia since 2002. In 2015 the city had the honour of being the Cultural Capital of Europe. Mons is the largest and most important city in the Province of Hainaut, of which it is the administrative and judicial centre. One of its primary aims, however, has been to safeguard its heritage to better share it with the growing numbers of tourists to the area. Three major masterpieces, the Belfry, the Neolithic flint mines at Spiennes and the Doudou, all of which have been added to UNESCO's World Heritage List, can be found in and around Mons.

For hiking, biking and camping, head to the rugged hills of the Ardennes with their tight forests, caves and cliffs. They are home to wild boar, deer and lynx and hide a number of friendly villages, lots of castles and a few other notable sights. The impressive caves of Han-sur-Lesse, castle of Bouillon and the modern Labyrinth of Barvaux are some of the best picks. Mesto Namur makes a great base from where to explore the Ardennes and has some fine sights itself too. The city is beautifully located along the rivers Meuse and Sambre and from the ancient citadel you'll have a great view over town.

The Belgians brought forward a good number of world famous masters of art, and their love for arts is still today reflected in the range of fine arts museums. The Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts in Brussels and the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten in Antwerp are just a few excellent examples. However, the Belgians love museums, with over 80 of them in the capital alone. Besides arts, they display anything from history and folklore to industry and technology. As some of the worst fighting of both World Wars took place on Belgian territory, there's also a large number of memorials and museums dedicated to those dark times, along some humbling military cemeteries.

Ali

• Mons International Love Film Festival: yearly festival of cinema (February)
• Ritual Ducasse of Mons: Doudou is the popular name for a week of collective jubilation that takes place in Mons on the weekend of the Trinity each year. There are four key moments: The Descent of the Shrine, The Procession, The Ascent of the Car d’Or and The Battle called Lumeçon (Trinity Sunday).
• Ethias Tennis Trophy: one of the better matches in the world. (October / Mons)
• Ommegang: a parade in Brussels that celebrates the beginning of the reign of Charles V of Habsburg. It takes place on the stunning cityscape of the Grand Place and involves thousands of stunts in period costume.
• Zinnekeparade: the yearly celebration of the Brusseler's spirit - the theme changes each year and involves costumes & chariots made by volunteers and locals.
• DOCVILLE - International Documentary Film Festival, Naamsestraat 96, 3000 Leuven, ☏ 32-16-320300. International Documentary Film Festival in the beginning of May, with national and international competition in the city of Leuven. Selected films have a focus on cinematography. €4.50-6.  

• Graspop Metal Meeting. Yearly heavy metal festival held in the town of Dessel, in June. 

• Carnaval de Binche. Three days in February the town of Binche is transported back to the 16th century for one of the most fantastic festivals of the year. Highlighted by music parades and fireworks, the climax of this event is when the Gilles appear on the Grand Place and throw oranges to the spectators. This infamous festivity has been classified as part of the world's cultural heritage by UNESCO along with its renowned Gilles. 
• Rock Werchter. End of June, beginning of July, Werchter. 
• Dour festival. "European Alternative Music Event" - 12–15 July 2007 - Dour. 
• Pukkelpop. Mid- August 
• Atomium built for the 1958 Brussels World Fair (Expo ’58), it is a 102 metre tall representation of an atomic unit cell. More precisely, it is symbolic of a unit cell of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times. Nine steel spheres 16m in diameter connect via tubes with escalators 32 m long.
• Gentse Feesten. 2nd half of July. Huge, ten day long street festival in the historical centre of the city of Ghent. The biggest street festival in Europe, with theatre, music in all genres, techno parties, and so on - Gentse Feesten 
• Activiteiten Gent & Antwerpen, Rerum Novarumlaan 132 (Merksem), ☏ 32 475 696 880. Great boat tours around Ghent and Antwerp. 
• 24 hours cycling, Louvain-La-Neuve Louvain-La-Neuve is in the Wallonia not far from Brussel, it's a small pedestrian city created in the 60s for the French-speakers students. Every year, in October, they organised a bicycle competition. Actually, the course is a pretext to enjoy the event... And to drink beers. This party is one of the most important consumption of beers of the whole Europe.
• Belgian Beer Tour Belgian Beer Tour is a tour operator specialising in tours of Belgium breweries. It offers a great way for beer lovers to visit their favourite breweries and discover new ones. The tours cover a wide range of beers and appeals to connoisseurs and amateurs alike.
• International Short Film Festival Leuven, Naamsestraat 96, 3000 Leuven, ☏ 32-16-320300. International Short Film Festival with many foreign guests and directors. Focus on the best Flemish and European short films. €4.50-6.  
• TomorrowLand, De Schorre, Boom. 
• Flowercorso Loenhout, Loenhout Centre. one of the largest flower corsos of Belgium. With the title of Royal Corso their theme cars and floats are totally covered with over flowers and go up to 80 feet length. Every year, start of September €2-8. 

Govori

Poglej tudi: Dutch phrasebook, Francoski zvezek

Belgium has three official languages at the federal level: Dutch, French in Nemško. However, one will quickly notice that the Belgian versions of these languages possess a few idiosyncrasies:

• Flemish Dutch is not always easy to understand for other Dutch-speakers. Flemings tend to sound more formal than the Dutch, and certain vowels may be pronounced differently, often in a way that sound like British English. Flemish Dutch is also a lot less "guttural" than its northern counterpart.
• The French spoken in Belgium, whilst marked by distinct annunciations and intonations, is mostly intelligible to the average French person, and younger generations in urban areas like Brussels tend to speak with a relatively standard French accent. Nevertheless, some "rural" accents can come off as harsh to the casual listener (especially those around Charleroi and near the German border). Walloon French also incorporates rather archaic sayings and idioms, and Anglicized words are used more profusely than in France or Quebec.
• The German spoken in Belgium is nearly identical to Hochdeutsch (standard German) but, not unlike Walloon French, incorporates antiquated sayings. German-speaking Belgians also speak a lot more slowly than Germans.

Although Belgium has three official languages, that does not mean that all of them are official everywhere. The official language of Flanders is Dutch and the official language of Wallonia is French. Brussels' official languages are Dutch and French (though French is more commonly spoken) and German is the official language in nine municipalities in Wallonia (Eupen and its surroundings).

Virtually all Flemish people are bilingual in both Dutch and French, whereas the Walloons are typically monolingual and don't speak any Dutch. Even though German is an official language, less than 1% of the population understands it fluently and you're unlikely to find speakers of the language outside the German-speaking community.

English is widely spoken by the younger generations in the Dutch-speaking areas and Brussels. In contrast, English is not as widely spoken in the French-speaking areas, though it is still possible to find English speakers. English may not be understood by the oldest of Belgians.

It's important to note that language is a highly sensitive issue in Belgium, and there's no place in Europe other than Belgium where you can get into trouble for using the "wrong language". Refer to the section on 'Spoštovanje' for more.

A very small number of inhabitants of Wallonia, particularly the older generations, still speak the Walloon language. This language, while not official, is recognized by the French Community of Belgium as an "indigenous regional language", together with a number of other Romance (Champenois, Lorrain and Picard) and Germanic (Luxembourgian) language varieties. On the flipside, Italian is rather commonplace in Wallonia due to immigration. (At least 10% of Walloons can trace their origins back to Italy.)

Due to its international status, Brussels is home to a myriad of other languages; in addition to English being widespread, it is possible to find people who speak Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic, etc.

In Belgium, foreign films and TV shows are available in their original language with French and Dutch subtitles in Flanders and Brussels cinemas and in the Dutch-language TV channels. Only children's TV shows and movies are dubbed.

In Wallonia, all movies and TV shows have a dubbed version in French or German and selected foreign films/TV shows have an original language version (marked with a "VO" in the cinema listing or in the case of TV shows, can be accessed through the remote control).

Nakup

Denar

Exchange rates for euros As of 04 January 2021: US$1 ≈ €0.816 UK£1 ≈ €1.12 Australian $1 ≈ €0.63 Canadian $1 ≈ €0.642 Tečaji nihajo. Trenutne cene za te in druge valute so na voljo pri XE.com

Belgium uses the euro, like several other European countries. One euro is divided into 100 cents. The official symbol for the euro is €, and its ISO code is EUR. There is no official symbol for the cent.

All banknotes and coins of this common currency are legal tender within all the countries, except that low-denomination coins (one and two cent) are phased out in some of them. The banknotes look the same across countries, while coins have a standard common design on the reverse, expressing the value, and a national country-specific design on the obverse. The obverse is also used for different designs of commemorative coins. The design of the obverse does not affect the use of the coin.

Tipping

Tipping in Belgium is not usually done as service charge is always included. However, you may tip as a sign of appreciation. Usually, this is done by paying in bank notes with a total value slightly higher than the price of the meal and telling the waiter/waitress that they can keep the change.

Items

• Belgian chocolate: A long tradition has given Belgian chocolate a superior refinement process that is recognized worldwide.
• Laces in Bruges
• Designer fashions in Antwerp
• Jewelry in one of Antwerps many jewelry shops
• Beer
• Belgian comic books and related merchandising, especially in Bruselj

Jej

Belgians like to eat. Belgium is famous for its good cuisine and people like to go to restaurants frequently. Best description for Belgian food would be "French food in German quantities".

General rules

• As anywhere else in the world, avoid the tourist traps, where the touts are trying to get you in the restaurants. You will get average to bad quality food for average to high prices, and, at busy times, they will try to get rid of you as soon as possible to make space for the next customer. A good example of this is the famous "Rue des Bouchers/Beenhouwersstraat" in Brussels in this picture.
• Belgium is a country that understands what eating is all about and can be a real gastronomic paradise. You can have a decent meal in about every tavern, from small snacks to a complete dinner. Just pop into one of those and enjoy it.
• If you want to eat really well for not too much money, ask the local people or the hotel manager (that is, supposing he does not have a brother restaurant-manager) to give some advice for a good restaurant. Not a bad idea is to find a restaurant or tavern a little bit outside of the cities (if advised by some locals) they are usually not too expensive but deliver decent to high quality food. And ordering the specialties during the season will be both beneficial for your wallet and the quality of the food.
• Quality has its price: since the introduction of the euro, price for eating out in Belgium nearly doubled. Expensive food like lobster or turbot will always cost a lot of money at any restaurant. But you can also find some local and simple dishes, rather cheap and still very tasty (such as sausages, potatoes and spinach). Normally a dinner (3 dishes) will be around €30-50 depending your choices of food and restaurant. And for cheap, greasy food, just find a local frituur, also called a frietkot ali friterie, it will be the best Belgian Fries you'll have had in ages. However, when you are in such a frituur, it may be best to avoid snacks (other than the fries themselves, and the rich choice in sauces that comes with them), which are generally fried and made out of low-quality scrap meat. Do NOT order a cheeseburger or hamburger in such a place! The so-called burger which you would get if you do, is especially notorious for being fried and containing a mixture of low-quality meat.

Specialities

A number of dishes are considered distinctly Belgian specialities and should be on every visitor's agenda.

Mussels are a firm favorite and a side-dish of Moules et frites/Mosselen met friet (Mussels with French fries). The traditional way is to cook them in a pot with white wine and/or onions and celery, then eat them up using only a mussel shell to scoop them out. The top season is September to April, and as with all other shellfish, do ne eat the closed ones. Belgium's mussels always come from the nearby Netherlands. Imports from other countries are looked down on.

Balletjes/Boulettes are meatballs with fries. They will either be served with a tomato sauce or with the sauce from Liège, which is based on a local syrup. For this reason they will often be introduced as Boulets Liégeois.

Frikadellen met krieken are also meatballs, served with cherries in a sauce of cherryjuice. This is eaten with bread.

Stoemp is mashed potatoes and carrots with bacon and sausages. It is a typical meal from Brussels.

Stoofvlees (or Carbonade flamande) is a traditional beef stew and is usually served with (you have guessed it already) fries.

Witloof met kaassaus/Chicons au gratin is a traditional gratin of chicory with ham and a cheesy bechamel sauce, usually served with mashed potatoes or croquettes.

Konijn met pruimen: rabbit cooked in beer and dried plums.

Despite the name, French fries (frieten in Dutch, frites in French) are proudly claimed as a Belgian invention. Whether or not this is true, they certainly have perfected it — although not everybody agrees with their choice of mayonnaise over ketchup as the preferred condiment (ketchup is often considered to be "for kids").

Every village has at least one frituur/friterie, an establishment selling cheap take-away fries, with a huge choice of sauces and fried meat to go with them. The traditional thing to try is friet met stoofvlees, but remember the mayonnaise on it .

Waffles (wafels in Dutch, gaufres in French) come in two types:

• Gaufres de Bruxelles/Brusselse wafels: a light and airy variety.
• a heavier variety with a gooey center known as Gaufres de Liège/Luikse wafels.

The latter are often eaten as a street/ take-away snack while shopping and therefore can be found at stands on the streets of the cities.

Last but not least, Belgian chocolate is famed around the world. Famous chocolatiers include Godiva, Leonidas, Guylian, Galler, Marcolini and Neuhaus, with Godiva, Leonidas and Neuhaus being official suppliers of chocolate to the Belgian royal family. In nearly all supermarkets, you can buy the brand Côte d'Or, generally considered the best 'everyday' chocolate (for breakfast or break) among Belgians.

Mednarodni

As a small country in the centre of western Europe, the cuisine is influenced not only by the surrounding countries but also by many other countries. This is also emphasized by many foreigners coming to this country to make a living here, for instance by starting a restaurant. You can find all types of restaurants:

• French/Belgian: A traditional Belgian restaurant serves the kind of food you will also find in the best French restaurants. Of course there are local differences: at the coast (in France as well as in Belgium) you have a better chance to find some good seafood, like mussels, turbot, sole or the famous North Sea shrimp. In the southern woods of the Ardennes (remember the battle of the Bulge?), you are better off choosing game or local fish like trout.
• English/Irish: There are Irish bars and pubs everywhere and Belgium is no exception, try the Schuman area of Brussels for more Irish pubs than you can shake a stick at. There is also an English pub just off of Place de la Monnaie in central Brussels.
• American: There are McDonald's or lookalikes in most towns. The Belgian variety is called "Quick". You may also find a local booth serving sausages, hot dogs or hamburgers. Try it: the meat tastes the same, but the bread is much better. Ketchup in this region is made with less sugar (even the Heinz brand). Pizza Hut, Domino's, and Subway also have establishments, but you won't find Burger King. There are no real American restaurants, although there is an American bar on the Toison d'Or in Brussels that serves food.
• Italian: Roughly 500,000 people in Belgium are Italian or have Italian heritage, and ties have been historically close between Belgium and Italy, so finding a tasty pizza or mouth-watering pastas is not difficult, especially in Brussels and Wallonia.
• Mexican: Only in the cities and rather costly for only medium quality. ChiChi's (near Bourse) serves Mexican American food but would not be considered a good value by American standards. ChiChi's uses reconstituted meats.
• Chinese: They have a long tradition of restaurants in Belgium. Rather cheap, but an acceptable quality.
• German/Austrian: Maxburg in the Schuman area (next to Spicy Grill) makes a good schnitzel.
• Greek/Spanish/Italian: Like all over the world, nice, rather cheap, with a good atmosphere and typical music (Greek: Choose meat, especially lamb) (Spanish: Choose paella and tapas) (Italian: Choose anything).
• Japanese/Thai: You usually find them only in the cities and they are rather expensive, but they give you great quality. The prices and the quality are both satisfying in a concentrated cluster of Thai restaurants near Bourse station. Avoid Phat Thai though if you don't want disruptions - as they let pan handlers and flower pushers enter and carry out their "work".
• Arabic/Moroccan: Rather cheap, with a great variety of local dishes, especially with lamb; no fish or pork or beef.
• Turkish: Rather cheap, with a great variety of local dishes, especially with chicken and lamb and also vegetarian dishes, dishes with fish are rare; no pork or beef.
• Belgium offers a wide selection of other international restaurants.

Pijte

For party-minded people, Belgium can be great. Most cities are close to each other and are either large urban areas (Brussels, Antwerp) or student areas (Leuven, Liège, Ghent), etc. In this little region, you will find the most clubs, cafés, restaurants per square mile in the world. A good starting point can be places with a strong student/youth culture: Leuven around its big university, Liège in the famous "carré" district, etc. You can expect a wide variety in music appreciation, going from jazz to the better electronic music to even some solid heavy metal bars. Just ask around for the better clubs and there you will most likely meet some music fanatics who can show you the better underground parties in this tiny country.

The government has a mostly liberal attitude towards bars, clubs and parties. They acknowledge the principle of "live and let live". As long as you don't cause public disturbance, vandalize property and get too drunk, the police will not intervene; this is also one of the main principles of Belgian social life, as drunk and disorderly behaviour is generally considered offensive. Of course, in student communities this is more tolerated, but generally, you are most respected if you party as hard as you like- but with a sense of discretion and self-control.

Officially, drugs are not allowed. But as long as you respect the aforementioned principles, you are not likely to get into serious trouble. Beware though, that driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs is not tolerated and traffic laws are strictly enforced in this matter. Especially in the weekends on main roads, you have a good chance of being stopped for an alcohol check.

Water

Tap water is drinkable everywhere in Belgium, but most restaurants do not serve it. Hot spring or some other mineral water is typically served and costs about €2 per bottle.Spa is like bru and chaudfontaine a very famous water brand.

Beer

Belgium is to beer what France is to wine; it is home to one of the greatest beer traditions in the world. Like other European countries in medieval times, beers were brewed in a huge variety of ways with many different ingredients. In addition to the standard ingredients of water, malted barley, hops and yeast, many herbs and spices were also used. This activity was often done in monasteries, each developing a particular style. For some reason, uniquely in Belgium many of these monasteries survived almost into modern times, and the process was handed over to a local commercial brewer if the monastery closed. These brewers would often augment the recipe and process slightly to soften the taste to make it more marketable, but the variety survived in this way. These beers are called Abbey beers and there are hundreds and hundreds with a range of complex tastes unimaginable until you've tried them.

The Trappist label is controlled by international law, similar to that of Champagne in France. There are only six Trappist Abbeys in Belgium that produce beer qualified to be called Trappist. In order to carry the Trappist label, there are several rules that must be adhered to during the brewing process. The beer must be fermented within the walls of the abbey, the monks of the abbey must be involved in the beer-making process, and profit from the sale of the beer must be directed towards supporting the monastery (similar to a non-profit organization).

Belgium offers an incredible diversity of beers. Wheat / white beers (with their mixture of barley and wheat) as well as Lambic beers (sour-tasting wheat beers brewed by spontaneous fermentation) originated in Belgium. For the non-beer lovers, lambic beers are still interesting to try, as they are often brewed in fruity flavors and don't have a usual beer taste. Several well known mass-produced Belgian beers are Stella Artois, Duvel, Leffe, Jupiler, Hoegaarden. The names given to some beers are pretty imaginative: e.g. Verboden Vrucht (Forbidden Fruit), Mort Subite (Sudden Death), De Kopstoot (Head Butt), Judas and Delirium Tremens.

Warmly recommended are also Kriek (sweet and sour cherry beer) and, for the Christmas season, Stille Nacht (Silent night).

Plain blond draughts (4%-5.5%): Stella Artois, Jupiler, Maes, Cristal, Primus, Martens, Bavik.

Trappist ales (5%-10%): Achel, Chimay, Orval, Rochefort, Westvleteren, Westmalle.

Geuze: Belle-Vue, the lambic Mort Subite (Sudden Death), Lindemans in Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, Timmermans, Boon, Cantillon, 3 Fonteinen, Oud Beersel, Giradin, Hanssens, De Troch.

White beers: Hoegaarden, Dentergemse, Brugse Witte.

Jenever

Mesto Hasselt is well known in Belgium for its local alcoholic beverage, called jenever. It is a rather strong liquor, but it comes in all kinds of tastes beyond your imagination, including vanilla, apple, cactus, kiwi, chocolate. Hasselt lies in the east of Belgium, and is about one hour away by train from Brussels and 50 minutes from Antwerp. Trains go two times an hour from Antwerp.

Pubs

Pubs, or cafés, are wide spread. They all have a large variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic, hot and cold beverages.Some serve food, others don't.Some might be specialised in beer, or wine, or cocktails, or something else.Smoking in pubs is forbidden by law.

Spi

Budget

• Couchsurfing. has a lot of members in Belgium 
• Vrienden op de fiets. If you are travelling in Flanders by bicycle or by foot, there is a list of 260 addresses where you can stay at private homes with bed and breakfast for no more than €18.50 per person per night, although you must also pay €9 for membership of this scheme. 

Hoteli

Belgium has many fine hotels. Kapital Bruselj has countless rather expensive business hotels catering to the European Union's bureaucrats, and while you can usually get a good room for under €100, prices can spike if there's a big EU shindig in town.

Nauči se

The different stages of education are the same in all communities:

• Basic education (Dutch: basisonderwijs; French: enseignement fondamental), consisting of
  • Pre-school (kleuteronderwijs; einseignement maternel): -6 years
  • Primary school (lager onderwijs; enseignement primaire): 6–12 years
• Secondary school (secundair onderwijs; enseignement secondaire): 12–18 years
• Higher education (hoger onderwijs; enseignement supérieure)
  • University (universiteit; université)
  • Polytechnic (hogeschool; haute école)

Education is organized by the regions (Dutch-speaking Flanders on the one hand, French and German speaking Wallonia on the other) and the small federal district of Brussels has schools run by both the Flemish and Walloon authorities. Both states recognize independent school networks, which cater to far more students than the state schools themselves. Most Flemish students go to a Flemish Catholic school. However, every independent school needs to follow the official state curriculum, and Catholicism in Flanders has long been extremely liberal anyway.

Work

Having one of the highest labour taxes in Europe, Belgium is struggling to reposition itself as a high-tech country. In that struggle, Flanders is far ahead and much wealthier than Wallonia, in contrast to the previous decades, where Wallonia's steel industry was the main export of Belgium. Highly skilled people will have the most chance to find work, and knowing multiple languages (Dutch, French, English and perhaps German) is almost a standard requirement. Interim offices providing temporary jobs are flourishing in a search to avoid the high labour taxes.

Belgium has one of the highest tax rates in the world. An employer who pays a salary about €1500 a month actually pays another €1500 or more in taxes. Where does this money go to? It goes to social security. People only pay a small charge for healthcare, for example. And the budget for education, arts and culture is enormous. The budget for defense is however very tiny.

Although Belgium is undesirable for building wealth, it's a good place for someone who already is wealthy to reside because there is very little capital gains tax (some forms of capital gain is not taxed at all).

Ostani varen

With the notable exceptions of certain parts of Bruselj (mostly the northern and western sections of the region) and Antwerp, Belgium is a very safe country. Tourists should not have to fear for their lives when taking basic precautions and knowing where they are going. Crimes such as murder are uncommon and natural hazards are rare.

As with much of Europe, however, petty crimes like pickpocketing do occur regularly, mostly in Brussels and more touristy cities, Bruges and Antwerp being prime examples. Aggravated assaults have occurred sporadically throughout the years, but they rarely involve tourists, except in Brussels.

Muslims and people of North African or Middle Eastern ancestry may experience mild resentment from certain people, a problem that is particularly acute among older generations, in rural areas, and wealthier sections of Bruselj in Antwerp. The burqa in niqab are illegal in public. With all that said, Belgians are noticeably more welcoming towards Muslims than other Europeans, and public expressions against Islam have become widely condemned.

People who are recognisably Jewish, such as men who wear kippot, have also experienced harassment and worse, and should check on current conditions for Jews before they go.

Marijuana laws are quite lenient, with small amounts only punishable by fines. You may get into trouble for smoking weed in public, though.

The emergency phone number in Belgium (fire, police, paramedics) is 112.

Ostani zdrav

In the winter, like most other European countries, only influenza will cause you a considerable inconvenience. No inoculations are needed to enter or leave Belgium.

Tap water is safe to drink throughout Belgium.

Povežite se

Belgium has a modern telephone system with nationwide cellular telephone coverage, and multiple internet access points in all cities, free in most libraries. Also in multiple gas stations, NMBS/SNCB train stations and diners on the highways there is Wi-Fi available.

• Many cafés offer free Wi-Fi nowadays, but don't write it on the door for whatever reason...
• if you can't find any you can always fall back on Quick, McDonalds, Lunch Garden, Carrefour Planet ali Starbucks which all offer free Wi-Fi.

Belgium has some of the slowest internet speeds in Western Europe.

Mobilni

Belgium uses the GSM standard of cellular phones (900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands) used in much of the world except parts of the Americas. There are three main companies (Proximus, Orange and Base, and a large number of MVNOs) offering wireless service. The country is almost totally covered.

It is no longer possible to buy anonymous prepaid SIM cards in Belgium as a result of new Belgian anti-terror legislation. Buying a SIM card in advance from Mobile Vikings now requires name and address registration. If you stay for some time, buy a pre-paid cell phone card that you can use in any phone that supports the GSM standard on the 900/1800 MHz bands. With these cards, incoming calls and SMSes are generally free. You can get SIM cards for the three main companies in dedicated phone shops.

All networks provide UMTS and HSDPA (3G) mobile internet coverage, and are rolling out a 4G network, mainly in the big cities.

Spoštovanje

Giving tips in bars or restaurants is virtually unheard of, even in larger cities. Doing so does shows that you were satisfied with the service given, but you are absolutely not obliged to do so. Depending on the total, a tip of €0.50 do €2.50 is considered generous.

Belgians in general are very proud of their comic book artists. The "Belgian school of comic books" is hailed as a national point of pride. There are dozens of beautiful yet expensive merchandise items, and the Belgians are fond of them. A plastic figurine of a comic book character or a special artwork of a hailed comic book artist would be a perfect gift for your Belgian friends and in-laws, for example.

Try to show appreciation for some of the things made in Belgium. For instance, French fries, beers, comic books, chocolate, and the like. Inquiries about them will be welcomed and appreciated by the vast majority of Belgians.

Do not speak French in Flanders or Dutch in Wallonia. Even if you're looking to practice your language skills, try not to speak the wrong language in the wrong region as it can be considered offensive. Some people won't hesitate to either dismiss you or at worst give an icy response. This doesn't apply to the German-speaking areas (as the German-speaking community is an observer in the Flanders-Wallonia dispute) and Brussels. As a tourist, it's better to communicate in English as it's considered to be the "diplomatic" language of the country.

The Flanders-Wallonia dispute and the possibility of Belgium partitioning are highly controversial issues and should be avoided. You should avoid discussing them where possible.

As with many countries in Europe, Inquiring about someone's salary or talking about your own is uncommon and in conversation is a great way to make someone feel uncomfortable. Similarly, discussing personal, political, or religious convictions are no-go areas until you're better acquainted with someone.

Do not tell the Walloons (and most of the people of Brussels) that they are French. Most Walloons, despite speaking French, are not and do not consider themselves French. And, for similar reasons, do not tell the Flemish (and also the people of Brussels) that they are Dutch. Most Flemings, despite speaking Dutch (Flemish), are not and do not consider themselves Dutch. The same applies to the 75,000 German-speaking Belgians, who have a heavy historical background with their neighbour Germany.