Top Tourist Destinations in Belgium

Belgium may be small, but it is densely packed with attractions. The UNESCO-listed sites in Brussels' capital city span from the 14th-century guildhalls around the beautiful Grand Place to Victor Horta's early 20th-century Art Nouveau townhouses.

Bruges is a popular tourist destination, with its immaculately preserved medieval streets lining calm canals that attract thousands of visitors each year. However, many other cities in the Netherlands, particularly Ghent and Mechelen, have great Middle Ages architectural examples.

Many of Europe's most important events have taken place in this small country, which has played host to many of the continent's most important events.

At the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon met his match in Belgium, and Belgium was driven into the front lines during both the First and Second World Wars. The Ypres battlefields of World War I are today prominent pilgrimage sites and one of Belgium's most popular tourist destinations.

Belgium offers a significant chunk of European past in a bite-sized piece of territory, whether you're here for ancient or modern history.