August 2025. We’re travelling to the Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and more specifically their respective capitals Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius. Are they interconnected by rail? Yes, but not in the most straightforward or userfriendly way possible. The Rail Baltica project should remedy this. Unsurprisingly though, this megaproject faces political and budgetary hurdles. It…
NORWAY | Tourism breaks record with 40.6 million guest nights in 2025
Tourism in the Kingdom of Norway reached new heights in 2025 and continued growing into early 2026, as rising numbers of international travellers headed north for fjords, mountain landscapes, Arctic adventures and cooler summer temperatures. The country recorded its strongest tourism year ever, driven particularly by foreign visitors, with hotels, camping sites and holiday accommodation…
From the Stonewall Riots to Brussels and Antwerp Pride: how much did the New York riots really influence queer activism in Belgium and the Netherlands?
Today is Brussels Pride‘s main event: the march, the parade, the walk. Whatever you want to call it. Every Pride season, the same story returns. In June 1969, patrons of the Stonewall Inn in New York fought back against a police raid. The riots that followed became the symbolic birth of modern LGBTQIA+ liberation and…
Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies unhappy with EU Passenger Package
On Wednesday 13 May 2026, the European Commission proposed new rules to simplify train travel, enabling single-ticket booking across Europe. The move aims to boost sustainable travel and help the European Union meet its climate goals by making rail a more attractive alternative to short flights. Rail companies will have one year to adjust their…
SATURDAY 8 AUGUST 2026 | Pride Express connects Utrecht – Amsterdam – Rotterdam Antwerp – Rotterdam Amsterdam – Utrecht for Antwerp Pride 2026
A week after linking Belgium, with Ghent, Brussels, and Antwerp to WorldPride in Amsterdam, the Pride Express will now return the favour and link the Netherlands, with Utrecht, Amsterdam, and Rotterdam to Antwerp for Antwerp Pride on Saturday 8 August 2026.
ANTWERP | Middelheimmuseum presents ‘Monster Chetwynd. A Friends Making Machine’: first Belgian solo show and open-air exhibition for British artist
The Middelheimmuseum in Antwerp will present ‘Monster Chetwynd. A Friends Making Machine’, the British artist’s first museum solo exhibition in Belgium and her first-ever open-air show, from 16 May to 11 October 2026.
NS will not run EuroCity trains to and from Brussels to Eindhoven
The Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) is not adopting Dutch train passengers union Rover‘s proposal to extend the EuroCity Brussels-South to Breda route to Eindhoven Central instead of Rotterdam Central, the organisation states.
REVIEW | Daiwa Roynet Hotel Kanazawa Eki Nishiguchi
Autumn 2025. We – Sam and Danny, Michel and Wille, and Timothy – are travelling to Japan for a quite classic tour of the Land of the Rising Sun. We are flying separately as we used miles. On the planning: Tokyo, Kanazawa, Shirakawa, Osaka, and Expo 2025, Hiroshima, Himeji, Miyajima, Kyoto, Nara, Nagoya, Hakone, and…
ANTWERP | St James’ Church (Sint-Jacobskerk) fully reopens after seven years of restoration
After an extensive seven-year restoration, the monumental St James’ Church (Sint-Jacobskerk) in Antwerp will fully reopen its doors to the public. From Friday 15 May, visitors will once again be able to explore the church and its rich heritage in all its glory.
BELGIUM | Beyond Darklands 2027, themed ‘The Ember Dunes’, from Tuesday 16 to Monday 22 February in Antwerp
Once upon a time Jeroen Van Lievenoogen started a kink and fetish festival called LeatherPride Belgium. That became Leather & Fetish Pride Belgium, and then Darklands, which was initially used to name the daytime activities. In 2026 the festival was rebranded Beyond Darklands. In 2027, Beyond Darklands will take place from Tuesday 16 to Monday…