This trip was possible thanks to our close vicinity to Belgium. Aachen, being a border town gives easy access to both Netherlands and Belgium. Belgium is famous for its tourist friendly attitude, Waffles, Chocolates as well as being the seat of the European Union. We decided on visiting Antwerp, Bruges and Brussels in Belgium which was a 3 days and 2 nights trip.
Travelling in Europe is cheaper for youth's below the age of 26. If you have crossed the age, you'll be categorized under Adults and ticket rates won't get any cheaper. For people who want to explore Belgium, you can always visit the website SNCB which gives you information on offers, group tickets etc. The best offer that is available for youth under 26 is the holiday offer. In the specified time period, i.e. holiday period , one can travel a week anywhere around Belgium for 18 Euros !!!!!!. The below given website shows the specified dates in a year where this ticket can be availed.
https://www.belgiantrain.be/en/tickets-and-railcards/go-unlimited
Ticket prices don't go overboard as in Germany when you book tickets under a low time margin. However, dynamic pricing still exists and a rise in the ticket rates could be expected. People travelling from Germany could check both the DB website and SNCB website to compare the prices. You can take the cheaper ticket out of these two.
There are three major things to do before you start your travel.
1. Book your initial and final tickets at the earliest with sufficient buffer time for you to catch the trains.
2. Try to check out the opening timings of the various places you would like to visit. Some of the places might be closed and could also have a very different opening and closing time than you expected. Do not compromise the trip just due to this carelessness.
3. Hostels to be booked earlier as the beds can get booked very fast as well as the rates get higher if you do not book early.
If you are not able to go during the holidays, there are still some options for youths (under 26). The day ticket for normal trains cost 6.6 Euros. The advantage of this ticket is that, it is very flexible and can be cancelled a day before with refund. You can travel from point A to point B in any train on that day (except ICE trains). These tickets can be purchased through the SNCB site/app or you can utilize the ticket machines in the railway stations.
Itinerary:
Day 1: Reach Antwerp at 11:00, Depart to Bruges at Night, Stay at Bruges
Day 2: Travel around Bruges, Depart to Brussels in Evening, Stay at Brussels
Day 3. Travel around Brussels, Return
A Disadvantage of this itinerary is to carry bags around as we checked in at the hostels late night. You can avoid it by depositing your bags in locker rooms. The hostel in Bruges allowed us to keep the bags for free. However the Hotel in Brussels (Meininger Hotel) was charging for the locker room. It was a pretty high rate and the same can be said about the lockers in the railway station.
Hostels were booked via Hostelworld.com. You could find different Hostels in it. Find some Hostels with good reviews. The rate would be 20-25 Euros/person one night.
Antwerp
We took a local train from Aachen to Welkenraedt for 3.3 Euros and took a day ticket worth 6.6 Euros for Antwerp. Don't get startled by the board as it contains the location names in both its languages (Antwerpen/Anvers). You would be experiencing this at various other locations.
The major choice of Antwerp as the first location were my travel buddies. Antwerp has, I believe the only Jain Temple in the European Union. So my devoted travel buddies planned to go there. So as I mentioned earlier, one must always check the timings of the places to visit. We can not enter the temple at any time we want. My buddies were lucky enough to get in before the gates shut at the Shankheswar Parsvanath Jain Temple, Antwerp. The bus tickets would cost around 5-7 Euros from Antwerpen Central Station. So before you plan the trip, check out the timings of the Jain Temple.
Antwerp is famous for it's diamonds and is called as the diamond capital of the country. You could find the streets filled with various diamond shops. Feel free to explore if you have the money.
When you google for places to visit in Antwerp, the Central station pops up. As they mention, its worth a view. It is a gigantic railway station with multiple levels of train platforms.
If you want to experience Indian restaurants, there are a wide variety of them around Antwerp. We visited the Ahaar Deluxe (Vegetarian). Eat as much as you want, but do not waste food. That's the motto of the Buffet for 10 Euros.
Some of the major tourist attractions are the Grote Markt, Cathedral of our Lady, Antwerpen Zoo, Museum aan de Stroom (MAS) and all sorts of Museums.
PS: It was raining at Antwerp :P
Antwerp is the second largest port in Europe
The riverfront offers a very good view of the river and you can chill out here for some time. A lot of cafe's and restaurants are close by. There was a Giant Wheel near it when we were present and it costed around 8 Euros with the Student ID card. It was worth the ride (until some moments later) to see the city view.
If you are a low patience guy and you wanna improve it, be on a trip with your vegan friends ;) . Searching for a vegan restaurant was quite a task actually. If you plan to travel a lot around Antwerp, try to take the day ticket, which we didn't. We mostly travelled by foot.
We entered the MAS museum, which consists of supporting information centers related to the port of Antwerp. It's free of cost to go to the panoramic view point at the terrace and you get a full view of Antwerp. However the museum has entry fees and it was closed by the time we arrived.
We took the evening train from Antwerp to Bruges. Our Hostel was 2-3 stops away from the Bruges station. One can pay the bus ticket via your debit card. It's 2.5 Euros for any stop and you just need to press your card to the machine. The outskirts of the place is quite deserted and try not to lose your way as you won't find much people outside at night time.
Bruges
This was the most sought out destination in the itinerary as it's one of the most beautiful places in the country. You can take a day pass here in case you want to travel outside the Bruges center, or else you just need to walk around the inner circle to go places. You can take the Day ticket from a vending machine at the bus terminal which costs around 7.5 Euros. ( I suggest to take a day ticket as there are travel to your hostel from station and the return and you will be travelling somewhere else as well).
It's such a beautiful place that walking around gives you such good vibes. Our first destination was a boat ride as the weather was not improving and we wanted to do it before the rain hit. We just walked to the nearest canal ride which costed around 10 Euros and was worth the money.
Belgium is a card friendly place
Enroute the canal ride you can see a lot of shops for souvenirs and Belgian chocolates. Swans and Ducks are another site that you will see along the canal ride. You can go for it if you have the mood for it. You can try various assortments of chocolates from the shops.
The outskirts of the river offers walking lanes and you can go through these when you have got the time. Some old reminiscent windmills are also found along the way.
Before we further continued along the plan, it was time to taste the famous Belgian Waffles. We had to go our separate ways as finding a vegan waffle place was getting harder. The places that google shows are not really vegan waffles. So my buddies found it lot harder to find the place. I meanwhile searched on google the best rated Belgian waffle place (Chef Albert) and went there to have it. It had all sorts of waffles ranging from 2 to 10 Euros. I had a waffle with Belgian chocolates, cream and strawberries in it. You also get a cute flag along with it. It costed around 6.5 Euros.
We headed to the Bell tower (Belfry), an old but still functioning tower. It costed 12 Euros for the entry ( I guess it was also a student/youth ticket). You have to climb 350 flights of narrow stairs (It's quite a task). You would find a lot of information of the tower and also the mechanism of the Bell. If you wait for 15-20 minutes, you can see how the instrument is being played at the top floor.
The square around the Bell Tower is quite lively and occasional musical events also occurs. We tried out the Belgian Fries+ Mayonnaise combo from one of the stalls outside in the square (2.5 Euros).
The rain which persisted really ruined our mood, but there was a band playing in this weather, trying to keep our spirits up. It was a really good performance and it was one of the best things I found here.
You can visit other places in and around Bruges such as Basilica of the Holy blood, Town Hall, Liberty of Bruges, Sint-Salvatorskathedraal, Beer Museum's, etc. The market is a great place to be and you can spend some quality time here, but it also closes after some time in the evening. The bus terminal back to the station can be found here.
We boarded the train to Brussels as we wanted to experience the night time at Brussels. ( Day ticket cost 6.6 Euros as mentioned earlier)
Brussels
The city center of Brussels is HUGE. Being a Saturday night, people were flocking along the paths, restaurants and pubs. We went to our hotel and kept our luggage and came out. The river side looked amazing as well as the Grand Palace.
We took a day ticket for the entire day as the places we covered where quite far. We had to travel 20 minutes to Atomium in the tram.
The first destination was Atomium which was part of the expo (1958) happened in Belgium and a tourist attraction. The student ticket costs around 8 euros, but the normal should cost around 20 Euros. There is also a park nearby known as Mini Europe, which has a scaled down version of major places in Europe.
Atomium is a different experience due to its structure. Inside, you will find your regular Museum vibes and information about the Atomium. There are a few light shows around floors, which gives a nice change.
The next stop was the EU Parliament. However a thorough check was not done beforehand, as we got to know it's closed on Sundays. However the EU Parliamentarium was open, which is a museum dedicated to the history and information regarding EU founding. It's a great place to be and you can spend an entire day here alone. They provide you audio guide devices and it's a good experience. You can keep your bags in the locker room. Also the EU Parliamentarium is free of cost entry. ( You get the earphones and the stylus pen at the end).
After spending nearly 2 hours, we had to get out. We were still in the 1970s I believe. They have sectioned every decade and information related to that. The ground floor offers other varieties of experiences such as movies, activities of EU etc. The lunch was near the EU Parliament, another Indian Restaurant Escapade. We went to the Saravana Bhavan and I would say it was worth the money spent. For rates- Check google .
The city center is buzzling with people and a lot of shops are available for purchasing souvenirs, dresses etc.
We went to the famous statute "Manneken Pis". It's a really crowded place and getting a picture with it also takes time. I thought this was a grand szied statue, but it was really surprising to see how tiny it was.
Another go to place in Brussels is the Delirium Café which one of the most sought out place in Brussels. There is no off time or season for this place. The queue here stretches quite far.
We travelled around a bit, visited the King's Palace and later headed home with time in hand.
The day ticket helped as we could make our journey at the time we desired.
Brussels and Antwerp seems similar and hence when you plan a trip maybe you can avoid Antwerp, as most people visit Ghent. Again Ghent is nearby to Bruges and I believe both might be similar. It's your choice where you want to go finally. A missed opportunity for us in Bruges was that we could not visit Ostend, a beach near to Bruges due to bad weather. Maybe you can add it to your itinerary. Be in touch with people who travel and get valuable tips from them. This article will age and the details in it can change as well overtime.
Overall it was rainy every day and it really dampened the mood. The last hour in Belgium was when the Sun shone up just to add further misery to our lives. However we tried the best we could do and ticked all the things we wanted to do. A pleasant weather would have actually helped a lot. So try to pick a good season to go (Summer) for your trip. #SamarthVegan#RushabhVegan
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