Castles and Cities of Flanders

Welcome to your Europamundo Trip Style!!! The information about the meeting place and start time of your circuit can be found on your voucher.

Departure from Brussels. We will stop at TERVUREN PARK with its lake trails and where Tervuren Palace is located, built by King Leopold II as his small Versailles, today houses the Museum of Africa.

We will arrive to LEUVEN, Flemish Brabant capital and seat of the oldest university in the Netherlands. We will start our guided tour with a stop at the Renaissance palace of Arenberg. Following to the city centre which historical heritage includes the biggest Beginaje (Beguinage) in Belgium, the historic university colleges, the Old Square (centre of the college life), the Main Square with its impressing gothic Town Hall and the magisterial church of St Peter, etc.


Next, we will know MECHELEN, city with a rich historical past. Its monuments are a witness of that, as the Cathedral, the three buildings of the Town Hall, the numerous churches, the Main Square and the Palace of Margaret of Austria. It was the residence of the princess that could have been queen of Castile and Aragon, considered an introducer of Renaissance in the Netherlands. Time for lunch.


In the afternoon we will start with a stop at CLEYDAEL CASTLE, classical 16th century brick castle. Afterwards, another stop at STERCKSHOF CASTLE, old 16th century manor residence on the bank of Schjin river, built in red brick with striking turrets and also surrounded by moat and French gardens.


Our day will finish in ANTWERP, economic and cultural capital of the Flemish region. We will take a stroll through its historical centre starting at the awesome railway station, the Diamond Quarter, Meir Avenue, Groen Square, Cathedral, Main Square, Town Hall, Meat House and we will finish in Steen, the small medieval fortress on the banks of the Scheldt river with breathtaking views over the river. Accommodation and free time to keep knowing the city if we please.

Today we will visit the eastern Flanders province making a stop in LAVERNE CASTLE, located in a bend of the river Scheldt, combining the look of a medieval fortress with a stately 17th century residence.

We will continue our tour in GHENT, capital of Eastern Flanders, emperor´s Charles V hometown, one of the richest monumental cities in Belgium. Our guide will accompany us following its historical city centre, admiring the Cathedral of St Bavo, the Town Hall, the Civil Bell Tower, the churches of St Michael and St Nicholas, the Dock of Herbs and the Counts Castle (entrance included). That is the only well-preserved medieval castle in Flanders, hosting impressing collections of weapons and armours in its interior as well as torture machines. We will leave Ghent and stop inside a huge park surrounded by a pond in POEKE CASTLE, built in the 18th century over the ruins of a medieval castle.


Then, we will go to BRUGES, the " Venice of the North´´, one of the most beautiful medieval sets in Europe, declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO. We will discover with our guide this bewitching city, its monuments and corners, the Minnewater or the "Lake of Love´´, the Beguinaje, the Hospital of St John, the church of Our Lady, Rosary Dock, Burg Square and Main Square with the Bell Tower and its palaces.


After lunch we will visit LOPPEM CASTLE (entrance included), majestic construction in Neo-Gothic style surrounded by a beautiful park with ponds, grottoes and labyrinth. Its interior keeps the original decoration and hosts an impressive collection of works of art and original furniture. Accommodation in Bruges. Free time for dinner and to keep enjoying the city of the channels illuminated at dusk.

Today, an intense day waits for us, touring the province of Eastern Flanders where we will start stopping at Tilligem Castle, beautiful Neo-Gothic reconstruction of an old medieval 13th century castle.

Next, the small town of VEURNE will wait for us, a real treasure to be discovered. Market Square is a large square shaped space, one of the most beautiful in the country. Very near to Veurne we will reach Beauvoorde Castle, an old medieval fortress rebuilt in a Renaissance style in the 17th century.


We will continue our tour through the Westhoek region, in a polder zone, to arrive at DIXMUDA, a Flemish city at the banks of Yser river. There we will know its Main Square, outstanding its Town Hall, the Gothic style St Nicholas Church and the 13th century Beguinage.


After lunch we will stop at Rumbeke Castle, Renaissance representative in Belgium, with its characteristic towers covered by cone roofs in a park with a pond and forests.


A few miles further we will reach the biggest city in Eastern Flanders, YPRES. Very important in the past, it was also the scene of the first chemical attack during the First World War. We will visit its Main Square, which highlights the impressive Cloth Market built in stone during the 13th century as a symbol of the strength and richness of the city and the old Gothic cathedral of St. Martin.


We will finish the day in CORTRIQUE where we can walk by its Flemish troubled history city centre, with a rich civil and religious heritage, outstanding the Main Square with its Gothic Town Hall, the Beguinage, the Chappell of the Counts and other churches.
Accommodation in Cortrique