In the 17th and 18th century the shipping industry made a fortune for the people of Hindeloopen. At that time this town, with a fleet of 100 ships, even developed its own style of dress and interior design. Where Hindeloopen was once on a bay of the North Sea (the Zuiderzee), in the early-1930s the …
A city of 30,000 in Friesland, Heerenveen has a sporting prowess that belies its modest size. Thialf, the Netherlands’ top speed skating arena is here, and this is big news in a nation that leaves all competition trailing on the ice. The local football team , SC Heerenveen will forever be synonymous with the famed …
This ever-growing city is the largest urban centre in Gelderland’s Achterhoek region. Doetinchem’s streetscape is modern, after devastating bombing raids by Allied forces at the close of the Second World War. The central Sint-Catherinakerk was quickly rebuilt and has some historic furnishings and a Medieval font discovered during the restoration. The Stadsmuseum is an excellent …
South of Brussels and just on the Flemish side of the boundary between Flanders and Wallonia, Halle is an endearing city around a white Gothic church. For a few short weeks around April people flock here when the Hallerbos forest is bedded with bluebells as far as the eye can see. You need to be …
Even older than Amsterdam, Doesburg is a fortified city where the Oude IJssel flows into Gelderse IJssel, a branch of the Rhine. In Medieval times trade on the IJssel was booming, and during this period Doesburg was the economic capital of a region called the Doesburg Quarter, part of the larger Zutphen Quarter. The IJssel …
Anchored on both banks of the Dyle River, Wavre is a small city in Walloon Brabant not far from the boundary with Flanders. In the 1970s Wavre was put on the tourist map with the opening of Walibi Belgium, an amusement park bursting with innovative rides, complete with a water park. Wavre is often known …
In 1486 Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I made the little town of Chimay a principality, and declared that its first prince Charles I de Croÿ would have the same rank of any other in the empire. Even now, Chimay is known as the “cité princière” (princely city), and the 21st prince resides at the opulent …
This town in a deep wooded valley in the Ardennes has a story that begins with the foundation of an abbey in the 7th century. For more than a millennium up to the French Revolution Malmedy belonged to the Princely Abbey of Stavelot-Malmedy, controlled by 77 successive prince-abbots. The abbey church eventually became a cathedral, …
On its meandering course through the Ardennes the Semois River has carved out some of the most iconic landscapes in Belgium. The views over the long loops at Bouillon, Frahan and Le Tombeau du Géant are timeless. For many centuries the peninsulas created by the river were ideal for defence, good news for a city …
In a gap between high dunes on the west coast of Walcheren, Zoutelande is an amiable village on what is known as the Zeeland Riviera. The Blue Flag beach at Zoutelande is at a kink in Walcheren’s coastline, and so faces south, granting it more hours of sunshine than any other location in the Netherlands. …