101 Weekends In Europe, 2nd Edition E-Book

Robin Barton

• Herausgeber: Inkspire
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Seitenzahl: 279

Beschreibung

Discover the best of what each classic European destination has to offer! Whether you're looking for exciting nightlife or a tranquil escape, 101 Weekends in Europe, 2nd Edition is a compact and stylish travel guide that details everything today's modern travelers will want to know about 101 cities in Europe. From classic cities like Paris and Vienna to emerging destinations like Freiburg and Lecce, you'll learn about the culture, sights, shopping experience, accommodations, and cuisine each city has to offer, as well as how to get there. Updated with new cities, top 5 places of interest for each, references to new and significant openings, over 100 new images, and so much more, this attractive and comprehensive guide is the perfect companion for both seasoned lovers of weekend city breaks wanting to choose their next adventure, or for less-experienced travelers looking for inspiration. Author Robin Barton is a skilled writer, traveler, and magazine contributor, as well as an expert on European travel and city breaks.

Leseprobe

This second edition published in Great Britain in 2022 by Inkspire

Inkspire is an imprint of Fox Chapel Publishing It is distributed in the United Kingdom by Grantham Book Service, Trent Road, Grantham, Lincolnshire, NG31 7XQ www.foxchapelpublishing.com

Copyright © 2008, 2015, 2022 text Robin Barton Copyright © 2022 Inkspire

Robin Barton has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers and the copyright holders.

Although the publishers have made every effort to ensure that information contained in this book was meticulously researched and correct at the time of going to press, they accept no responsibility for any inaccuracies, loss, injury or inconvenience sustained by any person using this book as reference.

Print ISBN: 978-1-9136-1821-6

eISBN: 978-1-9136-1822-3

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Cover design: Tracey Freestone

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS

Front cover: Pajor Pawel/Shutterstock, Flaps: Karen Mandau/Shutterstock (right), Catarina Belova/Shutterstock (left); 4 Anna Bryukhanova/iStockphoto; 8 Bertrand Gardel/Hemis/Corbis; 10 Lars Endel/Alamy; 11 Jenny Rollo; 13 Radiokafka/Shutterstock; 14 Sina Ettmer Photography/Shutterstock; 16 Erik AJV/Shutterstock; 17 emperorcosar/Shutterstock; 18 Stan Rippel/Istockphoto; 20 Joan Manel/Shutterstock; 22 Tom Ang/Fotolia; 23 Zebra-Studio/Shutterstock; 25 Jaroslav Machacek/Fotolia; 26 Jaione Garcia/Shutterstock; 27 Martin M303/Shutterstock; 29 Olek Shmaliy/Shutterstock; 30 Oleksiy Mark/Shutterstock; 31 Todamo/Shutterstock; 33 kavalenkava/Shutterstock; 35 Anders E. Skanberg/Shutterstock; 37 Frédéric/Fotolia; 38 Bertl123/Shutterstock; 39 Simon Heaton; 40 avid Noble/PCL; 41 Gérard Defay/Fotolia; 424Max/Shutterstock; 43 David Noble; 44 Martin M303/Shutterstock; 45 Graham Lawrence/PCL; 46 Guy Marchand/Fotolia; 47 margouillat photo/Shutterstock; 48 Atlantide Phototravel/Corbis; 49 Sergey Dzyuba/Shutterstock; 50 saiko3p/Shutterstock; 51 proslgn/Shutterstock; 52 Samot/Shutterstock; 53 Catarina Belova/Shutterstock; 54 Samot/Shutterstock; 55 Emmanuelle Bessez/Fotolia; 57 Downer/Fotolia; 58 Brian Lawrence Images Ltd/PCL; 59 Mapman/Shutterstock; 60 Ttstudio/Shutterstock; 61 mije_shots/Shutterstock; 62 foto-select/Shutterstock; 63 paparazzza/Shutterstock; 64 f11photo/Shutterstock; 66 Sergio Cattivelli/scanstockphoto; 69 laTresca/Fotolia; 71 Puripat Lertpunyaroj/Shutterstock; 72 Lisa Vanovitch/scanstockphoto; 74 mikemike10/Shutterstock; 75 Stephen L Saks/PCL; 76 GeirHval/scanstockphoto; 77 Luca Fabbian/Shutterstock; 79 Clive Sawyer/PCL; 80 Sergio Pintaudi/Fotolia; 81 Rasto SK/Shutterstock; 82 givaga/Shutterstock; 83 Balate Dorin/Shutterstock; 84 Picture Finders/PCL; 85 Edmund Nagele/Pictures Colour Library; 86 Stéphanie Marassoglou/Fotolia; 87 Doug Pearson/JAI/Corbis; 88 David Barnes/PCL; 89 dezign80/Shutterstock; 90 cge2010/Shutterstock; 91 RJ Lerich/PCL; 92 kavalenkava/Shutterstock; 93 Michele Ponzio/Shutterstock; 94 Zdenek Matyas Photography/Shutterstock; 95 Adisa/Shutterstock; 96 leoks/Shutterstock; 98 Dmitry Rukhlenko/Shutterstock; 100 Mantas/Fotolia; 102 AnnTriling/scanstockphoto; 104 Yasonya/Shutterstock; 105 Dennis van de Water/Shutterstock; 106 S-F/Shutterstock; 108 Brian Lawrence Images Ltd/PCL; 109 John/Fotolia; 111 Magdalena Majer/Fotolia; 112RomanSlavik.com/ Shutterstock; 113 Mateusz Skoneczny/Shutterstock; 114 Vantime/Fotolia; 116 Monica Wells/PCL; 117 saiko3p/Shutterstock; 119 Ioan Panaite/Shutterstock; 121 Ttstudio/Shutterstock; 123 RossHelen/Shutterstock; 125 Ian O’Hanlon/Fotolia; 127 Pajor Pawel/Shutterstock; 128 V_E/Shutterstock; 129 Rudy Mareel/Shutterstock; 130 Botond Horvath/Shutterstock; 131 Macronatura.es/Shutterstock; 132 Cala Xarraca/PCL; 133 Grzegorz Lepiarz/Istockphoto; 134 ESB Professional/Shutterstock; 135 Inter Vision Ltd/Pictures Colour Library; 136 Sun_Shine/Shutterstock; 137 Edmund Nagele/PCL; 138 Boris Stroujko/Shutterstock; 139 LucVi/Shutterstock; 140 Valencia-STB; 142 By KatrineAanensen/Shutterstock; 143 Marcia Cobar/Shutterstock; 144 Oleksiy Mark/Shutterstock; 145 Mistervlad/Shutterstock; 147 Moritz Frei/Fotolia; 148 S-F/Shutterstock; 149 Alexander Demyanenko/Shutterstock; 150 Gustavo Fadel/scanstockphoto; 152 Belfast Tourism; 153 Andres Rodriguez/scanstockphoto; 154 Gail Johnson/Fotolia; 155 Michal 11/Shutterstock; 156 EQRoy/Shutterstock; 157 photogl/Fotolia; 158 Lukasz Pajor/Shutterstock; 159 Andy333/Shutterstock; 160 Caron Badkin/Shutterstock

CONTENTS

YOUR NEXT 101 WEEKENDS IN EUROPE

DESTINATION MAP

WHERE TO GO IF YOU LIKE...

AUSTRIA

001 INNSBRUCK

002 SALZBURG

003 VIENNA

BELGIUM

004 ANTWERP

005 BRUSSELS

006 BRUGES

BULGARIA

007 SOFIA

CROATIA

008 DUBROVNIK

009 SPLIT

CZECH REPUBLIC

010 BRNO

011 PRAGUE

DENMARK

012 AARHUS

013 COPENHAGEN

ESTONIA

014 TALLINN

FINLAND

015 HELSINKI

FRANCE

016 ANGERS

017 AVIGNON

018 BERGERAC

019 BIARRITZ

020 BORDEAUX

021 BREST

022 CARCASSONNE

023 DIJON

024 GRENOBLE

025 LA ROCHELLE

026 LIMOGES

027 LYON

028 MONTPELLIER

029 NICE

030 PARIS

031 PAU

GERMANY

032 BERLIN

033 COLOGNE

034 DRESDEN

035 FREIBURG

036 HAMBURG

037 LEIPZIG

038 MUNICH

GREECE

039 ATHENS

HUNGARY

040 BUDAPEST

ICELAND

041 REYKJAVÍK

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

042 CORK

043 DUBLIN

044 GALWAY

ITALY

045 BOLOGNA

046 CAGLIARI

047 FLORENCE

048 LECCE

049 MILAN

050 NAPLES

051 PALERMO

052 PARMA

053 PERUGIA

054 ROME

055 SIENA

056 SYRACUSE

057 TURIN

058 VENICE

059 VERONA

LATVIA

060 RĪGA

LITHUANIA

061 VILNIUS

LUXEMBOURG

062 LUXEMBOURG

NETHERLANDS

063 AMSTERDAM

064 DELFT

NORWAY

065 BERGEN

066 OSLO

POLAND

067 GDANSK/SOPOT/GDYNIA

068 KRAKÓW

069 WARSAW

070 WROCLAW

PORTUGAL

071 LISBON

072 PORTO

ROMANIA

073 BUCHAREST

RUSSIA

074 ST PETERSBURG

SLOVAKIA

075 BRATISLAVA

SLOVENIA

076 LJUBLJANA

SPAIN

077 BARCELONA

078 BILBAO

079 GRANADA

080 IBIZA

081 JEREZ

082 MADRID

083 MÁLAGA

084 PALMA

085 SAN SEBASTIÁN

086 SEVILLE

087 VALENCIA

SWEDEN

088 GOTHENBURG

089 KIRUNA

090 STOCKHOLM

SWITZERLAND

091 BASEL

092 BERN

093 GENEVA

094 ZÜRICH

UNITED KINGDOM

095 BELFAST

096 CARDIFF

097 EDINBURGH

098 GLASGOW

099 LONDON

100 NEWQUAY

101 OXFORD

Alexander III Bridge, Paris

YOUR NEXT 101 WEEKENDS IN EUROPE

As worshippers attend services in St Petersburg, London’s nightlife gets under way and Parisian bakers will soon be rolling the day’s first croissants. Europe might be dwarfed by other continents but what it lacks in size it makes up for in diversity, depth and history.

From the Italian Renaissance to the Industrial Revolution, Europe has shaped the modern world. But it hasn’t neglected the little pleasures in life such as chocolate, whisky and perfume. Whatever your passion, you can feed it somewhere in Europe.

In the last fifteen years or so, our travel habits have changed profoundly. Short on time, hungry for new experiences, we have embraced the long weekend break. The boom of the internet and the European Open Skies Treaty created ideal conditions for low-cost air travel. No longer did you have to book an expensive flight to a national hub and then travel onward, now you could fly direct to cities like Seville, Tallinn or Naples.

Today, about 70 low-cost airlines operate across Europe, from Scandinavia to Spain. They sell e-tickets online, with prices varying according to demand. Train travel has also pressed the fast-forward button with high-speed links between European cities becoming much more widespread.

The purpose of this book is to help you plan your next weekend in Europe, and the next and the next... It will spark ideas, champion some of Europe’s less obvious destinations –

A Taste of Europe

•Most adventurous places – sailing Croatia’s Adriatic coast, surfing the Atlantic at Biarritz, kite surfing at Tarifa in Andalucia, mountain biking in the Scottish Borders, laying first tracks at La Grave, off-road driving in Iceland

•Jaw-dropping sights – Cologne’s cathedral, the Uffizi gallery in Florence, the Alhambra in Granada, the Hermitage in St Petersburg, the Guggenheim in Bilbao

•Where to find heavenly meals – Bologna, Cork, Dijon Luxembourg, Lyon, San Sebastián, Turin

•Musical nights out – a winter ball in Vienna, cabaret in Berlin, show-hopping in Edinburgh during the festival, open-air classical concerts in Budapest, pub gigs in Galway

•Best for architecture – Aarhus, Glasgow, Siena, Syracuse, Lecce, Helsinki, Oslo, Málaga

•Top for shops – Antwerp, Milan, Paris, London

Low-cost Airlines versus Standard Airlines

Budget air travel can mean making a few compromises. Here are the ways that low-cost airlines differ from the traditional, national carriers.

• Stricter baggage restrictions – you may not be allowed as large a free allowance and you may have to pay to check in luggage o Tighter ticket restrictions – it may be impossible or expensive to change or amend tickets

• Check-in times are tightly policed

• The destination’s airport may not be a city’s main airport but a smaller airport further from the city centre

• No free in-flight snacks or meals

• The ticket may incur hidden fees and taxes

Leipzig, Bologna, Bergen and others – and suggest new ways of experiencing old favourites. Organised by country, 101 of the most memorable weekend destinations are described. Some European regions are accessed by little-known airports, such as the Dordogne (Bergerac), Umbria (Perugia) and The Loire (Angers). These places are listed under the gateway city. Where a destination majors in a particular area – such as food, culture, sightseeing or adventure – there are suggested itineraries.

Nowhere else rewards unscripted travel quite like Europe. World-famous sights – the Colosseum, the Alhambra, the Eiffel Tower – might hog the limelight but the most magical experiences are often found in the out-of-the-way places: the perfect moules frites in a Belgian café, the shimmer of the aurora borealis above Reykjavík or a balmy, Christmas-time stroll along Palma’s seafront past palm trees garlanded with lights.

Of Europe’s 48 countries, 27 are members of the European Union (the EU), a post-war, pan-European group of governments working towards common economic and political goals. The most recent member to join was Croatia in 2013. The EU’s single currency, the euro, is used by half the member states. Border controls are minimal in the EU for member states. Citizens of the UK and the US can travel in Europe's Schengen zone for 90 days without a visa, but always check the latest information.

Like the best tapas, the beauty of weekending in Europe is that it always leaves you wanting more, another quick hit of pleasure. If you don’t like somewhere, well, that's fine as there are plenty of options to choose from.

WHERE TO GO IF YOU LIKE...

FOOD...

Bologna

Bruges

Brussels

Carcassonne

Copenhagen

Dijon

Luxembourg

Lyon

Parma

Perugia

San Sebastián

Turin

DRINK...

Bordeaux

Brussels

Jerez

Porto

MUSIC...

Budapest

Galway

Salzburg

Seville

Vienna

FESTIVALS...

Edinburgh

Salzburg

Vienna

FASHION...

Antwerp

London

Milan

Paris

WINTER SPORTS...

Geneva

Grenoble

Innsbruck

Kiruna

WATER SPORTS...

Biarritz

Dubrovnik

Newquay

Split

ARCHITECTURE...

Aarhus

Barcelona

Glasgow

Helsinki

Lecce

Málaga

Oslo

Siena

Syracuse

ADVENTURE SPORTS...

Bergen

Ljubljana

Pau

ROMANCE...

Paris

Prague

Tallinn

ART...

Amsterdam

Basel

Bilbao

Copenhagen

Delft

Florence

Luxembourg

Málaga

Paris

Siena

St Petersburg

NIGHTLIFE...

Barcelona

Berlin

Kraków

Lisbon

London

CAFÉ CULTURE...

Brno

Rīga

Siena

Sofia

Vilnius

Vienna

SIGHTSEEING...

Athens

Brno

Cologne

Copenhagen

Edinburgh

Granada

Kraków

Oxford

Palma

Paris

Prague

Salzburg

Tallinn

Vienna

Wroclaw

Night time in Dubrovnik

AUSTRIA

Restrained, ordered and slightly unfashionable; this Austrian stereotype couldn’t be further from the truth. With a rich musical heritage, cities like Salzburg and Vienna also have smart neighbourhoods packed with bars and clubs. And while Austria’s infrastructure may work with Teutonic efficiency, like one of legendary skier Herman Maier’s downhill runs, when Austrians let their hair down they don’t hold back. Austria’s winter ski resorts may look quaint but the nightlife is, in most, as exciting as the skiing. Whether you’re an outdoors lover or a fan of culture, architecture and slick city life, Austria can offer great weekends away whatever the time of year.

TIME DIFFERENCE GMT +1 (Central European Summer Time +2)

TELEPHONE CODE +43

CURRENCY Euro

LANGUAGE German

NATIONAL TRANSPORT WEBSITEwww.oebb.at

POPULATION 8,500,000

SIZE OF COUNTRY 83,855 sq km (32,377 sq m)

CAPITAL Vienna

WHEN TO GO In winter, Austria is an alpine wonderland with ski resorts readily accessible from Innsbruck and small Seefeld to the massive Mayrhofen ski area. Spring brings warm weather and sunshine to the mountains, when hikers and cyclists explore the meadows and villages. Salzburg and Vienna are also year-round destinations with music festivals during the summer and charming markets at Christmas. Temperatures can get very high in mid-summer: the most pleasant months are April to the end of June and September to October.

TOURIST INFORMATIONwww.austria.info

001 INNSBRUCK

TOP 5

BERGISEL

GOLDENES DACHL

HOFBURG

HOFKIRCHE

SCHLOSS AMBRAS

HOW TO GET THERE

Airlines flying direct to Innsbruck include easyJet, British Airways, Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines. Innsbruck’s central train station receives direct services from Munich and Verona.

FURTHER INFORMATION

www.innsbruck.info

Is a weekend’s skiing an unrealistic proposition? Only if you can’t get on the slopes by lunchtime on the first day. There’s no such problem at Innsbruck where early-bird flights leave the UK at 7 am, meaning that a midday start is perfectly possible. The skiing at Innsbruck, one of the most well-rounded Austrian resorts, is centred on a handful of villages just a 20-minute drive from the city. Bigger, glitzier names – St Anton and Kitzbühel – are an hour away by car but for a weekend you’re better off getting to grips with slopes closer to your base such as Igls, site of an Olympic-standard bobsleigh track, and Seefeld, a village with extensive cross-country ski tracks. The low-key, laid-back Austrian resort of Mayrhofen is 40 minutes from Innsbruck and is perhaps the biggest draw for snow-seekers in the area. Boasting one of Europe’s best fun parks, with jumps sending boarders as high as 20m (66ft) in the air, Mayrhofen caters to skiers and boarders alike. It’s a low-lying resort so expect the snow to vanish towards the end of the season, but it still offers the steepest piste in Austria: the Harakiri.

The self-styled capital of the Alps is the only European city to offer world-class skiing – it has twice hosted the Winter Olympics – and a hefty dose of culture. Even summer visitors will find plenty to do, including hiking in the surrounding mountains. The city’s most notable sight is the Golden Roof, a three-story Tyrolean balcony in the heart of Innsbruck’s medieval Old Town. It’s not actually golden; the effect comes from the copper tiles. The balcony dates from the start of the 16th century and the surrounding buildings are similarly historic. The Imperial Palace is older than the Golden Roof and it’s an impressive, Gothic building that later underwent a baroque makeover.

“The self-styled Capital of the Alps is the only European city to offer world-class skiing”

If you're looking for nightlife, there are evenings at the opera to be had or dinner at restaurants that serve a wide variety of cuisines, not just that hearty staple of Austrian mountain life, Tiroler grostl (Tyrolean hash).

The slopes above Mayrhofen

002 SALZBURG

TOP 5

DOM

FESTUNG HOHENSALZBURG

MOZART-WOHNHAUS

RESIDENZ

SCHLOSS HELLBRUNN

HOW TO GET THERE

Airlines with direct services to Salzburg include British Airways, Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines. Train connections are excellent with high-speed services from Paris requiring just one change, and fast, frequent services from Munich and Vienna.

FURTHER INFORMATION

www.salzburg.info

www.museumdermoderne.at

July and August see Mozart’s birthplace come alive with music. The annual Salzburg Festival is one of the world’s great cultural occasions. The opera festival was founded in 1920 and now has an international repertoire of performers and directors. Over the years the main venue, an open-air theatre cut into cliffs, has expanded and is now named the House of Mozart. Don’t be misled by the title, as the month-long festival showcases music from composers old and new.

Salzburg’s Altstadt, the Old Town, also known as the Left Bank, is on high ground overlooked by the Mönchsberg cliffs. You can take a lift to the top of the mountain for views over Salzburg and the River Salzach. Up here, the Museum of Modern Art exhibits post-war art and focuses on photography, graphic and electronic artwork, and has 700 pieces of sculptures. Making your way down to ground level again, you can continue the sightseeing by walking to St Rupert’s cathedral, an Italianate church in Residenzplatz.

Salzburg is a compact and comfortably well-off city with parks, lakes and easy access to the mountainous countryside. Two of the city’s parks are featured in The Sound of Music; Julie Andrews sang ‘Do-Re-Mi’ in the Mirabell Gardens, and the gazebo in the Schlosspark just outside the city also makes an appearance. They are popular photo stops for visitors.

Mozart

There’s plenty of Mozart memorabilia in the souvenir shops but when it comes to sites associated with the composer, Salzburg doesn’t go over the top. In 1756, the prodigy was born at 9 Getreidegasse, now the Geburtshaus, a museum with some early instruments of his. As a young adult, Mozart lived at 8 Makartplatz and the museum here has a more detailed account of his life.

Winter panorama of the city

003 VIENNA

TOP 5

ALBERTINA MODERN

HOFBURG PALACE

KAISERAPPARTEMENTS

KUNSTHISTORISCHES MUSEUM VIENNA

RATHAUS

HOW TO GET THERE

More than 30 airlines fly direct to the Austrian capital but you can also reach it internationally by train (including several sleeper services) or by ferry down the Danube from Bratislava.

FURTHER INFORMATION

www.wien.info

www.wiener-staatsoper.at

www.austria.info

www.schoenbrunn.at

Mozart was born in Salzburg but it is clear where his affections lay: ‘When I am in Salzburg I long for a hundred amusements but here not for a single one’ he wrote to his father from Vienna. ‘For just to be in Vienna is entertainment enough,’ he concluded. Mozart’s most successful years were undoubtedly those he spent in the Austrian capital. You can get a flavour of the art and music of Vienna in just a few days, although if you are particularly interested in the arts, you should expect to make a return visit to do everything you missed first time round.

New attractions are regularly added to the city’s repertoire, one of the most recent being the Albertina Modern museum, which houses work by Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst and Austrian artists such as Maria Lassnig.

Vienna is organised rather like an onion, with the Old Town, the UNESCO-protected Innere Stadt, bordered by a series of ring roads on one side and the Danube to the northeast. Most of the key attractions are in the Innere Stadt and it is easy to navigate your way to the remainder; a tram service circles the inner ring road (the Ringstrasse) and you can jump off at any point. From this ring road, you can get good views of old Vienna’s neo-classical architecture.

Many things in central Vienna are expensive but not the sound of music. You can buy tickets to the Viennese State Opera on the day of performance at a very reasonable rate, if you’re happy with standing room only. Tickets are also sold a month in advance online, which is another way of saving money. Theatres and concert halls abound in Vienna (there are three opera houses alone, although none match the splendour of the State Opera house) so there will be something on whenever you visit. Another way to hear music for free is to go to church on Sunday; the city’s darkly Gothic cathedral, the Stephansdom, has two morning masses.

This is a city fuelled by coffee and pastries, and its cafés – recognised by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage – open for a very leisurely Sunday brunch. Afterwards you can walk off the calories in the gardens of the Schloss Schönbrunn, the city’s baroque palace and onetime residence of the Habsburg royals.

Mozart is as celebrated in Vienna as he is in Salzburg. His apartment on Domgasse – a whirlwind of riotous behaviour, as well as the setting for the composition of The Marriage of Figaro – is preserved as the Mozarthaus.

Vienna also has an edgier underbelly most readily found along the Gurtel, an outer ring road below an elevated U-Bahn track. Attracted by low rents and a very un-Viennese cityscape, bars and clubs have sprung up around stations such as Nussdorferstrasse. Vienna also has a thriving electro music scene, attracting DJs and producers from across Europe.

Many cities have breweries and distilleries to visit but Vienna is unique among the world’s capitals in producing wine from vineyards within the city limits. Vines were first planted as early as 1132 and by the Middle Ages, Vienna’s districts each had their own vineyards. In subsequent centuries, taverns – known as heurigers – sprang up to serve the city’s wine. This special culture was acknowledged by UNESCO in 2019 when Vienna’s wine scene was added to its list of intangible cultural heritage.

Waltz This Way

Viennese balls are legendary for their glamour but they are also surprisingly accessible, a tradition that dates back to the 18th century when Emperor Joseph II threw open the doors to his dancehall in the Hofburg Palace and permitted the public to watch the nobility at play. Vienna’s waltzing season starts on New Year’s Eve with the Imperial Ball at the Hofburg and continues for three months and more than 450 balls in a uniquely European carnival of music and dancing. The grande dame of the Viennese Ball season is the Vienna Opera Ball, which takes place in the main auditorium of the Opera House on 31 January. Tickets are expensive and highly sought after. Men wear white tie and tails and women a full-length ball gown – if you’re not in the habit of attending balls, a gown can be rented from several Viennese boutiques. Similarly, dance lessons are widely available in the city (at the Elmayer Dancing School, for example) so you need not look like you have two left feet. The winter party season comes to a head with the colourful Fasching on Ash Wednesday when drunken revelry takes over from stately waltzing.

Café inside the Kunsthistorisches Museum

Alte Hofburg

BELGIUM

Sandwiched between northern France and western Germany, Belgium has taken the best from both cultures to produce an exclusively Belgian take on food and drink. Belgian beer, its purity as rigorously guarded as beers in Germany, is perhaps the best in the world. Culinary classics, such as moules frites, are served in the many excellent restaurants in cities from Antwerp to Brussels. Belgians love their cycling, producing one of the all-time greats, Eddy Merckx, who won the Tour de France five times. Sightseeing is a rewarding pastime, with the picturesque city of Bruges topping the must-see list, while Antwerp pleases fashionistas.

TIME DIFFERENCE GMT +1 (Central European Summer Time +2)

TELEPHONE CODE +32

CURRENCY Euro

LANGUAGE Dutch and French

NATIONAL TRANSPORT WEBSITESwww.belgiantrain.be; www.eurostar.com

POPULATION 11,500,000

SIZE OF COUNTRY 30,520 sq km (11,784 sq m)

CAPITAL Brussels

WHEN TO GO Autumn and winter can be gloomy in Belgium, with cold temperatures and grey weather. Even spring can be variable. The best time for city breaks to Antwerp, Bruges and Brussels is May to September.

TOURIST INFORMATIONwww.visitbelgium.com

004 ANTWERP

TOP 5

GROTE MARKT

MUSEUM MAYER VAN DEN BERGH

MUSEUM PLANTIN-MORETUS

ONZE-LIEVE-VROUWEKATHEDRAAL

RUBENSHUIS

HOW TO GET THERE

Most flights to tiny Antwerp airport are from the UK or Germany. There are frequent fast trains to Antwerp’s central station from Brussels, Amsterdam and beyond.

FURTHER INFORMATION

www.visitantwerp.be

Diamonds might be forever but Antwerp is as famous for its fashion scene these days as it is for being the hub of Europe’s diamond trading business. Belgian designers such as Ann Demeulemeester, Dirk Bikkemberg and Dries van Noten have cut out a distinctive corner of the fashion world, separate from Paris, Milan and London, in this Belgian city. Shopping for fashion is one of Antwerp’s top attractions; make your way to Nationalestraat, Sint-Antoniusstraat and Kammenstraat for the independent outlets of Belgium’s leading designers.

The source of this thread of Belgian fashion know-how goes back many centuries to when Flanders was at the heart of Europe’s textile weaving industry. To make the most of the woven wool, the Antwerp Royal Academy of the Fine Arts was founded in 1663, which includes one of the most famous schools of fashion design in the world. The end of year show is one of the surest indicators of future talent. The fabulous ModeMusuem on Nationalestraat showcases Belgian design and fashion.

The city’s artistic reputation doesn’t just rest on the shoulders of its designers. The 17th-century painter Peter Paul Rubens lived and worked in Antwerp, teaching, among others, the artist Antony van Dyck. Antwerp’s Gothic cathedral contains four works by Rubens, while others are displayed in the Royal Museum of the Fine Arts. Pay a visit to Rubenshuis to see a dozen more canvasses. And in Snijder-Rockoxhuis, another of Antwerp’s enchanting house-museums, you’ll find works by van Dyck and Brueghel.

Antwerp is also a colossal and wealthy seaport, straddling the River Scheldt, but its centre has retained many intriguing features, particularly in the Grote Markt part of the old town where 16th-century architecture still dazzles. The harbourside has been redeveloped with the arrival of bars and restaurants; this is a city that enjoys a night out, preferably fuelled by the superb Belgian beers, before you hit Antwerp’s lounges and clubs. You can also expect some cutting-edge hotels in which to lay your head.

The Port House

005 BRUSSELS

TOP 5

CENTRE BELGE DE LA BANDE DESSINÉE

GALERIES ST-HUBERT

GRAND PLACE

MUSÉE HORTA

MUSÉES ROYAUX DES BEAUX-ARTS

HOW TO GET THERE

If flying, make sure you go to Brussels International airport (BRU), not the smaller outlying airports. Several national carriers serve Brussels. The city is also quickly reached by train from London, Paris and other major cities thanks to excellent connections with Eurostar, TGV and Thalys.

FURTHER INFORMATION

www.visit.brussels

It takes a good sense of timing and direction to penetrate Brussels’ ring road, but if you arrive by train rather than car, the journey couldn’t be smoother. The Belgian capital has superb rail links with London, Paris and other European cities, as you might expect from a city that defines the modern European Union. The city is the home of the European Commission, NATO and the Council of the European Union.

It’s also home to many excellent restaurants. Brussels boasts a constellation of Michelin stars, with hundreds of brasseries and restaurants operating to a very high standard. Moules frites (mussels with french fries) is to Brussels what fish and chips is to the UK. The streets around the Grand Place are a good hunting ground for a plate of the freshest mussels. Although everyone should try the city speciality at least once, foodies will find themselves exploring menus with gusto for glimpses of Belgian culinary genius, such as rabbit stewed in beer.

And beer is another superb reason to spend the weekend in Brussels; 600 reasons in fact, as that is how many varieties are sold in bars throughout the city. Brussels alone makes 120 types of beer, but beware of the strength of some them. Belgian beer’s appeal lies in its variety: from frisky, hoppy ales to dark, winey stouts, there’s something for every meal. With so many beers available, Belgians have an incentive to get the bars right too, and many of Brussels’ best bars are wonderfully time-warped places.

Belgium fostered the art nouveau movement and Brussels’ most pervasive architect, Victor Horta, created some beautifully coherent examples of the style. Horta’s home has been turned into a museum but you can also enjoy art nouveau architecture with a beer in your hand at the Mort Subite bar on Rue Montagne aux Herbes Potagères.

The latest attractions in the city include the Library of the Dukes of Burgundy, now open to the public. Construction of a new contemporary art museum, KANAL, has started and is due to open in 2023, collaborating with the Pompidou Centre, in Paris.

The Grand Place, Brussels

006 BRUGES

TOP 5

BELFORT

BURG

GROENINGEMUSEUM

MARKT

MUSEUM SINT-JANSHOSPITAAL

HOW TO GET THERE

Budget airlines serve Ostend-Bruges airport but it can be more convenient to take the direct rail service from Brussels to Bruges.

FURTHER INFORMATION

www.visitbruges.be

It’s a fine line between preserving a medieval gem of a city and the disappointment of theme-park heritage: this gorgeous Flemish city stays just on the right side. The city’s lofty gabled houses overlook placid canals now plied by sightseeing boats, while horse-drawn carts rattle along the car-free cobbled streets.

There are few must-see museums but Bruges’ status as an extremely popular city break is based on two factors: the wonderfully pretty streets to roam around and the highest concentration of chocolatiers in Europe.

Belgian chocolate is one of life’s most pleasurable indulgences and there are about 50 shops in central Bruges where you can taste a little piece of heaven. Try one of the 60 varieties at the Chocolate Line shop on Simon Stevinplein, founded by Dominique Persoone, the self-styled ‘shock-o-latier’. Many of the shops are covered by the Chocolate Walks, a map sold by the tourist office that also entitles you to free tastings. If you are still mad about the cocoa bean, there is the Choco-Story museum and an annual Chocolate Festival in April.

Bruges’ roots lie in the Flemish aptitude for trade. Belgium has access to the sea and a position at the heart of Europe, so for centuries trade, particularly in Flemish cloth, flourished. Bruges’ affluence can be seen in the grand merchants’ houses all around the city and the imposing civic buildings surrounding the vast Market Square. No modern buildings intrude here. The Town Hall is a masterpiece of Gothic architecture; the ceiling of the dazzling Gothic Room dates from 1402 and paintings found here illustrate Bruges’ lucrative past.

The city centre is very compact and can be covered on foot in half an hour; if you arrive by car, park at one of the underground car parks on the edge of the centre.

Colourful buildings on a Bruges canal