 Shopping
There are plenty of shopping opportunities in both Brussels and Bruges.
Not far from the Grand Place is a street that becomes pedestrian only on the
weekends. Its is lined with shops. Remember that in most of Europe
shops are closed on Sundays. Brussels claims to have the world's
first enclosed shopping arcade, the Galaries St. Hubert (1846). You can
also find plenty of shops at the Place du Grand Sablon and further down the hill
along the rue de Rollebeek. Things to buy in Belgium include lace,
tapestries, chocolate and beer.
Getting There
We flew direct from DFW on the now defunct Sabena airlines. There is also
connecting service through Paris and London. Brussels is 3 hours by train
(Eurostar) from London and 1 hour and 20 minutes from Paris (Thalys). The
Brussels airport is located a short distance from town and connected to the city
by frequent train service.
Getting Around
We explored Brussels completely on foot. To reach Bruges we took the train
from the Gare de Nord station and in an hour we were in Bruges. We took a bus to
the city center and then walked around, eventually making it back to the train
station.
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