Antwerp welcomed a record 2.96 million day-trippers this summer of 2026, while overnight stays also continued to grow. The city recorded 543,418 overnight stays, up 3.8% from summer 2025. Major events including Antwerp Pride, The Tall Ships Races, Tomorrowland and the Bollekesfeest produced clear peaks in visitor numbers, while international interest increased particularly strongly from…
Tag: France
SAN MARINO | 2025 record year for tourism
I turned 45 in June. I have this tradition – when possible – of not being in Belgium for my birthday. From Sweden in 2013 to the Châteaux of the Loire Valley in 2014, Lake Orta in 2015, Rome in 2016, London in 2018, North Carolina and Virginia in 2019, England in 2022, and Rotterdam…
MALAYSIA | 42.2 million tourists in 2025, becoming Southeast Asia’s most visited destination
The Philippines in 1996-1997, China in 2000, Vietnam in 2009, Japan in 2013 and 2025, South Korea in 2014 and 2024, Taiwan in 2017 (the starting point of Trip By Trip), Singapore in 2018, Hong Kong and Macau in 2023. I like travelling to East Asia. Yet I never visited Thailand, for many westerners the…
10 underrated cities in Europe to visit in 2026-2027
Italy’s Urban Mood Magazine has highlighted ten European cities it believes travellers should visit in 2026, before they become firmly established on the mainstream tourist circuit.
‘Flight radar for rail’: TrainTracker24 tracks trains in Belgium, France, Italy, Spain (and Luxembourg)
A new digital platform is offering a real-time view of European rail traffic, allowing users to follow trains on a live map and consult information on delays, cancellations and disruptions.
European Sleeper plans Brussels – Antwerp – Malmö night train for 2028
European Sleeper is exploring a new night train linking Brussels in Belgium with Malmö in Sweden via the Netherlands, and Copenhagen in Denmark, in cooperation with German rail operator RDC Deutschland. The service could start in April 2028, creating a direct overnight connection between the Benelux and Scandinavia for the first time in more than…
Virgin Trains takes major step towards London to Brussels, Paris and Amsterdam services
Virgin Trains has taken a major step towards challenging Eurostar‘s dominance of cross-Channel passenger rail services after the United Kingdom‘s rail regulator gave the green light to a track access agreement that could allow the company to launch international services in 2030.
10 AUGUST 1826 – 10 AUGUST 2026 | 200 years of ‘omnibus’ urban public transport
April 2026. Let’s go to France. My first idea was going on a midweek getaway to Le Mans in the Sarthe department, in the Pays de la Loire or Lands of the Loire region. But there were no tours available for the Circuit de la Sarthe. So instead I opted for Nantes in the Loire-Atlantique…
BALTIC STATES | A week for Tallinn in Estonia, Riga in Latvia and Vilnius in Lithuania by train, exploring Rail Baltica
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…
GoVolta unveils ambitious expansion with new services to Cologne, Luxembourg, Strasbourg, and high-speed trains to Paris
Dutch open-access operator GoVolta has announced its most ambitious expansion plans yet, notifying the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (Autoriteit Consument & Markt, ACM) of three new international routes while also seeking permission to carry domestic passengers on its Amsterdam to Berlin and Amsterdam to Paris services. Spoiler alert: notifying a government agency such…