German tourists are Belgium’s largest foreign visitor group at the coast, and a new direct high-speed rail ICE service between Cologne and Ostend aims to make travel to the North Sea even easier. Deutsche Bahn launched the seasonal weekend connection on Saturday 6 June, marking the return of a direct rail link between the two…
TGV 9870 Brussels – Strasbourg to be extended to Basel
According to railway observers and fans on Het Grote Belgische Trein Forum (The Big Belgian Train Forum), the SNCF-operated TGV 9870 from Brussels in Belgium to Strasbourg in Alsace, France, will be extended to Basel in Switzerland. This would happen from the mid-December timetable update.
RAIL BALTICA | Tallinn – Valga / Valka – Riga – Vilnius by train
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…
NMBS / SNCB to expand train services by 3% under 2026–2029 transport plan
Belgium‘s Federal Government has approved a new three-year rail transport plan that will see state-owned train operator NMBS / SNCB expand its train services by a further 3% between December 2026 and 2029. One of the most notable changes will be the introduction of additional early-morning trains to Brussels Airport – Zaventem, allowing passengers from…
ANTWERP-LINKEROEVER | Average of 530 people take the train at Linkeroever on weekdays
Since the reopening Antwerp-Linkeroever Railway Station on 2 May 2026, an average of 530 people have been boarding trains there on weekdays. Most of these travellers are heading towards Antwerp-Central Railway Station, Gazet van Antwerpen reports.
DENDERMONDE – PUURS | Scheldeland in Stoom celebrates 40 years of museum line 52
The Dendermonde-Puurs Steam Train or Stoomtrein Dendermonde-Puurs organisation will host the 18th edition of Scheldtland in Steam (Scheldeland in Stoom) on Saturday 4 July and Sunday 5 July 2026. This year’s event marks a special milestone: 40 years of operation on museum line 52.
European airport passenger traffic dips for first time since COVID recovery as disruptions mount
For the first time since Europe’s air travel rebound began in April 2021, passenger traffic at European airports fell by 0.7% in April compared to last year, according to Airport Council International Europe (ACI Europe)’s latest report. The decline, though small, underscores growing challenges for travellers, from geopolitical tensions to industrial action and border control…
REVIEW | Swissôtel Nankai Osaka
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 | Concept design for Queen Astrid Square / Koningin Astridplein approved
Antwerp’s city council has approved the concept design for the redevelopment of Koningin Astridplein or Queen Astrid Square, marking a significant milestone in the renewal of one of the city’s most central and heavily used public spaces.
REVIEW | Catbird Hotel in Denver’s RiNo Art District
September 2025. After Oscar came to London in June 2024 and I joined him there for a day, I’m now going to his hometown of Denver in Colorado. My second trip to the United States in 2025, after visiting my uncle and aunt in Wilmington, North Carolina. No, Denver is is not on foreign tourists’…