The ultimate travel idea that takes you to dazzling Belgium, with its many faces and idyllic landscapes, is here, so you can experience the most spectacular Christmas, the most dazzling New Year and the most serene Epiphany…
The ultimate travel idea that takes you to dazzling Belgium, with its many faces and idyllic landscapes, is here, so you can experience the most spectacular Christmas, the most dazzling New Year and the most serene Epiphany! We have created an authentic programme for you, with Belgium as its destination, so you can enjoy unforgettable experiences in the most beautiful corner of Europe! With an exclusive stay in Bruges, with its decorated canals and cobbled lanes, in a very central 4* hotel, and one overnight stay in Brussels! With tours of charming Ghent, one of the country’s best-kept secrets, and of Antwerp, where delicious chocolate flows and which is known as the city of diamonds! The greatest medieval treasures are wearing their festive best and waiting for you to discover them!
Departure and return point: Athens International Airport “Eleftherios Venizelos”
Departure time: 10.45
Meeting at the airport and direct flight to the capital of Belgium, Brussels. Departure for the capital of the province of West Flanders and one of the most beautiful cities in central Europe, Bruges. Transfer and check-in at the hotel. Free time for a first look at the picturesque squares, dreamy canals and cobbled lanes of this romantic city. Overnight stay.
Breakfast at the hotel. Today we will walk through the historic centre of this fairy-tale city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site with beautiful turrets large and small and cobbled lanes. We will visit the Church of Our Lady with the Belfry bell tower, the emblem of the city, which is 122 metres high. The sculpture of the Madonna and Child in the church is the work of Michelangelo. The lovely Burg square is dominated by the magnificent Gothic town hall. On this side of the city, in the Catholic Basilica of the Holy Blood, is the renowned phial of the Holy Blood, which contains a cloth with the blood of Jesus and is said to have been used by Joseph of Arimathea after Christ was taken down from the Cross. The phial was brought to the city after the Second Crusade by Thierry of Alsace and is carried in procession through the city’s streets every year. We will also see the park with the “Lake of Love”, the oldest hospital in Europe, St John’s, the much-photographed Bonifacius Bridge, the Palace of the Lords, the Arents gardens and finally the College of Europe, the first stock exchange in the world, a unique jewel of the city. Rest of the day free. Overnight stay.
Breakfast at the hotel. Departure for Belgium’s diamond port, Antwerp, which has rightly earned the nickname as it handles 70% of the world’s diamonds. The old town centre, built around the country’s most impressive cathedral, is as beautiful as it was centuries ago. The whole city feels like a museum, from the medieval castle by the river to the modern creations on the waterfront. The Gothic and Flemish Baroque architecture, a prime example of which is the house of Peter Paul Rubens, the greatest Baroque artist of northern Europe, will delight us. We will walk through the picturesque lanes with thousands of restaurants and bars, antique shops, art galleries, designer boutiques and shops selling diamonds and other precious stones, concentrated in the Jewish quarter. Return to Bruges. Overnight stay.
Breakfast. Departure for Brussels. On the way we will visit picturesque Ghent, one of the oldest cities in Belgium and capital of the province of East Flanders, a city that in the Middle Ages was one of Europe’s great trading ports. On our tour of the city’s medieval centre we will see the Castle of the Counts and St Bavo’s Cathedral, which holds works by the famous painter Rubens and by Hieronymus Bosch, as well as the wonderful triptych attributed to the Van Eyck brothers. On our arrival in Brussels we will begin a panoramic tour of this aristocratic city, seat of the European Union. We will see the beautiful Grand Place with its impressive Town Hall, the building that houses the City Museum and the Flemish Renaissance buildings, as well as the little statue of Manneken Pis, the symbol of the city, the Royal Palace, the Belgian Parliament, the Gothic Cathedral of St Michael and St Gudula, the European Union buildings, the Triumphal Arch in the Cinquantenaire park and finally the Atomium, the trademark of Brussels. Transfer to the hotel. Overnight stay.
Breakfast and free time until we are transferred to Brussels airport for our return flight to Athens.
