Seeing Belgium by Train – Part 2

London

Though not exactly Belgium, it is close to the capital and a popular UK destination. By Eurostar train, you can get there fast from Brussels. The train passes through the Channel Tunnel and reaches speeds of up to 300 km/h. So we reached our destination after two hours, and had a good eight hours to explore the city before the return train. In addition to a mandatory stop on the Harry Potter platform at King's Cross station, we first headed to the nearby British Museum. Admission is free, but the museum itself did not seem as impressive as the Louvre in Paris. We visited the other sights only from the outside, passing Trafalgar Square, Big Ben Bell Tower and Westminster Abbey. A good experience was St. James' park in front of Buckingham Palace, teeming with brave squirrels that can also be fed. All in all, even in such a short time, London can be well experienced.

Ghent

Another famous, charming northern city, an hour away from Brussels. We were still tired from the previous day's trip, so we did not do much sightseeing. We stopped at the Museum of Fine Arts on the outskirts of the city, which did not impress us much in terms of the range of paintings and types of exhibitions compared to other museums. In the afternoon, we stopped at another cat café run by a non-profit organisation that tries to find homes for cats with low chances of adoption. Despite being a typically old city, it has some modern touches, such as a larger, hidden street of graffiti art and the City Pavilion, which had a modern sculpture in the centre. Finally, we walked across St Michael's Bridge for a better view of the city.

Tournai

A rather French city in the southern part of Belgium. It is close to France, but it was still a quick drive. The town is designed in a circle, like a fortress, with a river running through it, along which you can walk through the whole town in half an hour. In addition to the cathedral, the ancient Pont des Trosu bridge from the 13th century stands out, but it was not possible to cross it at that time. We also stopped at the Museum of Military History. Although it was interesting to see many objects from Belgium's distant and nearby military history, the museum was not very well adapted for English-speaking tourists. The gentleman at reception was not proficient in English, and most of the writing and explanations on the wall were in French, requiring ongoing translation by phone. But it is more of a local museum in a small town, so that is not so unusual.

Namur

A small town south of Brussels, near Charleroi. It is notable for its giant fortress on the hill of the Citadel of Namur, which can be reached on foot, and there is a cheap cable car from the town to the top that runs constantly. Guided tours of underground tunnels and train rides are also available at the castle. Unfortunately, we missed the English tour, so I recommend checking the information on the website beforehand, as the tours are not frequent. On the way to the fortress, we stopped at a bronze statue of a giant tortoise with a rider. Since its installation in 2015, the work Searching for Utopia has become a symbol of the city and an indispensable element. Another famous art site in the city is the museum of the Symbolist artist Félicien Rops.

Mechelen

On the last day, we chose another small town north of Brussels as a stopover. Despite its small size, it has one of the most beautiful main squares and, in proportion to the square, a really huge church with a famous bell tower. They stand out mainly because of the strong white colour of the whole building, which is not necessarily typical of churches, and the rough exterior architecture. The tower can be accessed with an entrance fee, and what follows are more than 500 stairs, along the old, narrow and spiral staircase. It is not so bad, though, as there are several stations in between, where the history of the tower and the operation of the bells at the top are described. Despite the strenuous journey up, we did not find the view very rewarding, as the surrounding area itself offers nothing charming or outstanding apart from the city buildings, and going up was actually a better experience.

In general, we were happy with the trip, we were happy that we managed to carry out most of the plans and that we saw the things we set out to do. We were surprised by the weather. At the beginning of September, we expected the autumn weather for the northern part of Europe. In both Belgium and London, temperatures reached 30 degrees Celsius. Hiking in the cities was therefore not always the most pleasant, but fortunately we were well-equipped with sun protection. Still, these seemed better conditions than if it was raining all the time. For a more relaxed and sustainable train journey, Belgium's well-maintained and connected infrastructure, with fast access to almost every spot, makes it a very good destination that I would recommend to anyone, even if it is just a stopover between other European countries.