Belgium

20 Tips for Eurorailing Around Europe for first time backpackers

April 29, 2017 by Karen Turner 34 Comments

As an American who did my first Eurotrip after graduating college AND now a European resident, I’ve learned a lot lessons about train travel in Europe.

These are tips for traveling around Europe by train for first-timers considering buying the Eurail pass, which is available to non-European citizens.

Non-European citizens living in Europe can also buy the Eurail pass, but you cannot use it in your country of residence. (Interrail is only for EU Citizens, so interrailing does differ in some ways. However many of these tips for European train travel might still be useful!)

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Belgium in 4 days: Beer, Chocolate, & Castles

December 16, 2019 by Karen Turner 9 Comments

The beginner’s guide to Belgium’s best sights! Includes travel tips and top 5 sights for visiting Antwerp, Ghent, and Bruges. Includes chocolate, beer, and castles! Read more for the best tourist sites to visit in Antwerp, Ghent, and Bruges as well as travel advice for visiting Belgium in a quick 4-day itinerary.

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A perfect 10-day itinerary for Amsterdam, Brussels, and Paris

June 26, 2019 by Karen Turner 2 Comments

As an American who has lived in Paris, briefly Brussels, and Amsterdam, I know that one of the popular routes for first-time travelers (as well as experienced travelers) is to spend a week (or 10 days) traveling from Amsterdam to Brussels to Paris. This is a great route as there are great train and bus connections between all of these cities. I’ll be doing an overview of what to do in each city along with some helpful tips for planning your itinerary!

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Day Trips from Brussels: Villers Abbey in Wallonia, Belgium

October 21, 2017 by Karen Turner 4 Comments

After reading about Abbaye de Villers after seeing some photos when researching day trips from Brussels, I had to visit this beautiful Belgian abbey! Villers Abbey is located in Villers-la-Ville within French part of Belgium, called Wallonia, and I consider one of the best things to see in Belgium.

This beautiful abbey is in ruins, which part of its charm, however keep reading for reasons to visit Villers Abbey, including amazing abbey beer, and beautiful photos of Abbaye de villers.

I first read about Villers Abbey on Atlas Obscura. I have a love for abandoned places and after seeing one photo of Abbaye Villers when researching day trips from Brussels, I was sold. My husband, my in-laws, and I had a blast running around this sprawling complex of beautifully preserved ruins with dreamy fall foliage (we visited in November)….

A week in Belgium: Your perfect Belgian itinerary for the best of Belgium

February 25, 2019 by Karen Turner 6 Comments

Living in the Netherlands makes it so easy to visit Belgium. I’ve visited Belgium countless times. Although Belgium is fairly small, many people skip some of my personal favorite highlights of Belgium as they speed through Antwerp and Brussels. This is a Belgian itinerary based on one of my favorite road trips through Belgium with my parents-in-law showing them the best of Belgium with a week!

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Secret Bruges: 20 unusual things to do in Bruges away from the crowds

January 26, 2020 by Karen Turner 2 Comments

As someone who loves to escape the crowds and find strange things, I wanted to put together this post about the best off the beaten path things to do in Bruges because it’s great to get away from the crowds especially in peak season. Similarly, I found many of the attractions mentioned on many lists to be quite touristy. This list includes 20 alternative things to do in Bruges and I’ll see if I can add more unusual things on my upcoming research trips.

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One perfect day in Antwerp: A self-guided walking tour with the best things to do in Antwerp

October 8, 2018 by Karen Turner 2 Comments

Antwerp is one of my favorite Belgian cities. As I live nearby, I regularly visit Antwerp just for the sake of it, so this post is a compilation of my favorite things to do in Antwerp, some cafes/restaurants, and beer cafes that you’ll want to stop off at.

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Where to find the exact filming locations for Undercover from Netflix

May 6, 2019 by Karen Turner 7 Comments

As a serial Netflix binger, you can believe I was so excited when I saw that Netflix had a new series about the Netherlands and Belgium called Undercover. This series takes place along the Belgium/Dutch border, however you’ll find a number of other filming locations for Undercover throughout Europe. I’ve done the hard work pinning down these Under filming locations in case you want to go in the shoes of your favorite undercover cops! I’ve tried to avoid spoilers here.

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A Europe Itinerary for 2 months in Europe: Your perfect itinerary for Europe

January 10, 2020 by Karen Turner 35 Comments

On my first trip to Europe, I made a lot of mistakes as I was trying to see many capital cities as possible in the shortest possible time. Halfway through my Europe trip, I was exhausted and I felt like I had barely seen any nature or small cities.

I’ve been very fortunate to have taken multiple European backpacking trips and I’ve been living in Europe for nearly three years now. I hope that I can help a bit with helping you create your perfect European itinerary that mixes capital cities with cultural centers and stunning nature to show you the best of Europe in two months! You’ll find a downloadable excel to help you plan your own European trip at the end!

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Where to stay in Brussels for every budget

August 11, 2018 by Karen Turner 1 Comment

Brussels and I have a complicated relationship: I don’t mean to go back, but it just seems to keep drawing me back. As a result, I’ve stayed at various hostels and hotels all around Brussels. To cover a few other places, I’ve asked fellow travel bloggers on their picks for where to stay in Brussels.

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