Top choice in Northeast Belgium
Hidden behind big wooden gates, one of Belgium’s loveliest begijnhoven loops round a long, narrow garden set with a grotto, church and religious statues. Founded before 1340, it features tile-roofed brick houses with lanterns and matching shutters, and beside a sheep-mown lawn area, the excellent Begijnhof Museum.
Turnhout’s last begijn died in 2002 but today's residents retain a close sense of community, exemplified by the terrace-fronted club-pub at the western end.
24.93 MILES
The medieval building and 1622 courtyard garden alone would be worth a visit, but it's the world's oldest printing press, priceless manuscripts and…
24.5 MILES
This delightfully indulgent 1611 mansion was built as a home and studio for celebrated painter Pieter Paul Rubens. It was rescued from ruins in 1937 and…
24.76 MILES
Belgium’s finest Gothic cathedral was 169 years in the making (1352–1521). Wherever you wander in Antwerp, its gracious, 123m-high spire has a habit of…
28.93 MILES
This soaring, Gothic-vaulted cathedral features a 1723 monumental pulpit, a 1630 Van Dyck crucifixion scene in the south transept, and dozens more fine…
29.48 MILES
One of the finest churches in the Netherlands, this cathedral took from 1336 to 1550 to complete. The interior has late-Gothic stained-glass windows, an…
21.28 MILES
Is Efteling Europe's greatest theme park? The Dutch certainly think so. Their 'Disneyland' pulls in more than four million visitors annually and offers a…
24.17 MILES
From Keith Richards' tape-recorder to a wide-screen projector that once won an Oscar, this engaging museum tells the extraordinary story of the light-bulb…
23.94 MILES
Centred on a 14th-century church and sporting a few artists’ studio-galleries, this picturesque village-within-a-village is a five-street grid of lovely…
0.08 MILES
Guarded by a cannon, the spired, 16th-century Matten Thoren mansion hosts this lovable city history museum whose mishmash of art and artefacts range from…
0.13 MILES
Turnhout was founded as an 11th-century hunting retreat for the Hertog (Duke) of Brabant. By the 13th century their lodge had developed into the moated…
0.18 MILES
In a 1688 convent-house, this excellent little museum introduces the life of a begijn starting with an eight-minute video (English available) and a…
0.49 MILES
Celebrating Turnhout’s role as one of the world’s largest producers of playing cards (1.3 million packs per day), this extensive museum displays a range…
8.05 MILES
Together Baarle Nassau (NL) and Baarle Hertog (B) form an extraordinary geopolitical quirk divided by the world's messiest border jigsaw: 22 miniature…
9.51 MILES
Hoogstraten's fabulous belfry is an enormous 105m-tall red-brick edifice picked out with dots of white-stone detail in a style known as speklagen. Dating…
9.53 MILES
In an idyllic rural location on the northeast edge of town, Laermolen is small but still functioning watermill dating from 1381.
9.57 MILES
With two leafy quadrangles of pretty whitewashed houses and a remarkably oversized baroque chapel, this peaceful spot is one of Flanders' least-known…