FRANCE | Train excursion to Maubeuge and Lille

September 2025. A few days before our Journey Across Japan, Sam, Danny, and I went an a day excursion to Maubeuge and Lille in France, just across the border with Belgium. Some proper #CrossBorderRail. From Charleroi-Central Railway Station in Wallonia, there is an S63 suburban train (while the scenery is very green and nut urban…

Aachen Christmas Market Trains from Vilvoorde / Antwerp / Lier / Hasselt and Braine-le-Comte / Mons / Charleroi-Central / Namur on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 December 2025

Heritage rail organisation PFT-TSP has confirmed that its Weihnachtsmarkt-Express will run again this winter, offering passengers a festive rail journey from Belgium to Aachen (Aken, Aix-la-Chapelle) in Germany on Saturday 13 December 2025. The special train, which will call Vilvoorde, Antwerp-Central, Lier and Hasselt, will provide a direct and comfortable connection to Aachen Hauptbahnhof –…

BELGIUM | Trams in Liège

April 2025. For the first time since 1968, trams ride on the streets of Liège (Luik, Lüttich). Belgium has now five cities with trams: Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi and now Liège. And, of course there’s the Coast Tram or Kusttram in West Flanders, with 67 km the longest tram line in the world. Danny and…

BELGIUM | Meise Botanic Garden

During the Ascension weekend in May 2025, Jeroen and I visited the Meise Botanic Garden. World famous in Belgium, but I had never been. 

Leuven and East Brabant named European Capital of Culture 2030

Leuven (Louvain) and the East Brabant reference region have been named European Capital of Culture 2030 by the European jury. The announcement was made at the Royal Library of Belgium in Brussels, where Leuven’s bid, presented under the banner LOV2030 – Leuven & Beyond, triumphed over its Belgian rivals Namur (Namen) in Wallonia and Sint-Jans-Molenbeek…

BELGIUM | Flight shame? Airports break records during 2025 summer season

On Monday 28 July 2025 , Brussels Airport recorded its highest number of passengers since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Around 48,000 people boarded a flight, while 44,000 arrived, De Morgen reported. The surge in travellers was attributed to the end of Tomorrowland, the traditional changeover weekend, and the final days of…

How Belgium has changed in the last 25 years

Today is the National Holiday of Belgium. On 21 July 1831, Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha took the constitutional oath to become King of the Belgians. The 21st century is now 25 years old. In January 2025, the newspaper De Morgen looked at how the country has changed in a quarter century. Quite a…