A federal country, with three official languages and an intense regional rivalry, Belgium has a cultural diversity that belies its rather dull reputation among travellers. Its population of around ten million is divided between Flemish-speakers (about sixty percent) and French-speaking Walloons (forty percent), with a few pockets of German-speakers in the east. Prosperity has shifted back and forth between the two communities over the centuries, and relations remain acrimonious. The constitution was redrawn in 1980 on a federal basis, with three separate entities: the Flemish North, Walloon South, and Brussels, which is officially bilingual (although its population is eighty percent French-speaking). The north and south of Belgium are visually very different. Marking the meeting of the two, Brussels , the capital, is a culturally varied city at the heart of the European Union. The north , made up of the provinces of West and East Flanders, Antwerp, Limburg and much of Brabant, is mainly flat, with a landscape and architecture not unlike Holland. Antwerp is the second city, a bustling old port with doses of high art, redolent of its sixteenth-century golden age. Further south and west are the great historic cities, Bruges and Ghent , with a stunning concentration of Flemish art and architecture. Another enjoyable inland Flanders town is the cathedral city of Mechelen , halfway between Brussels and Antwerp. The southern reaches of Brabant are French-speaking, and merge into the Walloon province of Hainaut - rich agricultural country, scarred by pockets of industry and boasting the historic city of Tournai . East of here lies Belgium’s most scenically rewarding region, the Ardennes , an area of deep, wooded valleys, high elevations and dark caverns.

The Ardennes reach across the border into the northern part of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , a verdant landscape of rushing rivers and high hills topped with crumbling castles. Diekirch , Vianden and Echternach are perhaps the three best centres for touring the countryside, and Luxembourg City itself is at least worth a stop, although its population of around 80,000 is tiny by capital-city standards.

The Ardennes
There’s a popular conception that all of Belgium is pancake-flat - but it isn’t true. The southern part of the country holds the forested hills and river valleys of the Ardennes, popular with canoeists and hikers alike.

Belgian Chocolate
Often imitated but never bettered, Belgian chocolate is internationally famous: Leonidas are probably the cheapest chain, but many people prefer the chocolates of the smaller Neuhaus company. Every large town has at least a couple of chocolate shops.

Groeninge Museum
In Bruges, the Groeninge Museum has one of Europe’s most magnificent collections of Flemish medieval paintings, from the delicacy of works by Jan van Eyck to the bloodthirsty allegories of Gerard David.

Tournai
Often neglected by British tourists, Tournai’s antique town centre, with its narrow lanes and cobbled alleys, fans out from an imposing Romanesque Cathedral, decorated with extraordinary carvings of the Virtues and the Vices.

Musées Royaux des Beaux Arts
In Brussels, the Musées Royaux des Beaux Arts constitute Belgium’s most satisfying collection of fine art, with stunning samples of the work of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Rubens and the Belgian surrealists - most notably Magritte and Delvaux.

Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée
Catch up on Hergé’s Adventures of Tintin in Brussels at the Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée, which is devoted to the fascinating history of the country’s cartoons and comic strips.

Adoration of the Mystic Lamb
Of the hundreds of exquisite medieval paintings on view in Belgium, perhaps the most wonderful is the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, a stunning and extraordinarily intricate painting displayed in St Baafskathedraal in Ghent.

Onze Lieve Vrouwe Cathedral
If you’re heading for Antwerp, you must visit the Onze Lieve Vrouwe Cathedral and admire the three Rubens paintings hanging inside, as well as the fine sixteenth-century interior.

In Belgium, the weekend fades painlessly into the week with some shops staying closed till late on Monday morning, even in major cities. Nonetheless, normal shopping hours are Monday through Saturday 9/10am to 6pm or 7pm, with most supermarkets staying open on Fridays till 8pm or 9pm and many smaller places shutting down a little earlier on Saturday. In the big cities, a smattering of convenience stores ( magasins de nuit / avondwinkels ) stay open either all night or until around 1 or 2am every day including Sundays, and some souvenir shops open late or on Sunday. At the other extreme, some shops close for the half-day on Wednesday or Thursday afternoon, though this tradition has died out in all but the smaller towns and villages. Most museums are open Tues-Sat 10am-4/5pm, and often on Sunday. Outside the April-Sept period, many sightseeing places close unless they’re of prime touristic importance.Shops, banks and many museums are closed on the following public holidays : Jan 1; Easter Monday; May 1; Ascension (around mid-May); Whit Monday; Assumption (mid-Aug); Nov 1; Nov 11; Dec 25. In addition, the Belgium national day is July 21.

TrainsAntwerp to: Bruges (hourly; 1hr 20min); Ghent (every 30min; 50min).

Bruges to: Ostend (every 20min; 15min); Zeebrugge (hourly; 15min).

Brussels to: Antwerp (every 30min; 40min); Bruges (every 30min; 1hr); Ghent (every 30min; 40min); Luxembourg (every 2hr; 2hr 30min); Mechelen (every 30min; 20min); Namur (hourly; 50min); Ostend (hourly; 1hr 20min); Tournai (hourly; 1hr).

Namur to: Dinant (hourly; 30min); Luxembourg (hourly; 1hr 50min).

Buses

Diekirch to: Echternach (10 daily; 35min); Vianden (hourly; 20min).

Ettelbruck to: Echternach (10 daily; 45min); Vianden (12 daily; 30min).

In Belgium there are tourist offices in all but the smallest villages. They usually provide free maps, and in the larger towns offer an accommodation booking service. As for maps , the Belgian Tourist Office gives out a decent free map of the country that indicates the most important highways as well as provincial and international boundaries. Otherwise, the best-value general road map is the clear and easy-to-use Baedeker & AA Belgium and Luxembourg (1:250,000) map.