Classic City Tour of Brussels & Other Options
We will have a full (jet-lagged) day in Brussels plus most of the next day before boarding ship for May 2 Brussels-Amsterdam. Does the classic city tour with Tauck take you in any museums? Do you have time to browse in the market square? What should we be sure to do in our extra time?
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Tauck's website will provide a brief description of what the excursion covers. The Grote Markt—the central square—is a lovely place to explore even though Tauck will probably give you an orientation/architectural tour of the area. If I had stayed longer—I was only there briefly on a holiday market cruise—I would have liked to have toured the beautiful city hall.
We will be on the 4/12 tour but reading the description and knowing it is only 3 hours long, it is highly unlikely that any museums are included. In addition many or the great building such as the Royal Palace are not open to the public. If you are not to get lagged you can try to go Bruge or Ghent on your own. The Central station is a very short walk from the Hotel Amigo. You can also book at tour one or both days. On tour day one I am assuming that we won't need to be at the hotel until 230ish to get the provided transportation to the ship. We booked a tour with a tour company called WithLocals. We have used them before and they have a wide variety of tours in Brussels. Our tour ends at 1PM. You can always choose to make your way to the ship on your own if you choose a tour that ends later than the the hotel pickup time. If you are doing a private driving type tour outside of Brussels, they may be able to drop you of at the ship. If you are a museum person you can get your tickets online early such as the Museum of Fine Arts which is not far from the pre stay hotel.
Pam, there is a certain "science" to reading Tauck itineraries. If it says something like "a city tour" that means basically a drive/walk by not that you are likely to enter any of the buildings. If you're going to get a guided tour of a site it will say something like "a guided visit to the Red Star Line Museum". We're on one of the summer tours to this area and looking at the Hotel Amigo it seems to be in the heart of the pedestrian area very close to the Grand-Place/market square so we will be doing some exploring of that area on our own. Note: I edited this to correct Grand Palace to Grand-Place.
I wrote to the concierge at the Hotel Amigo and they sent me a wonderful list of fine dining suggestions for dinner on our pre-tour night. It certainly helped to narrow the long list on several sites. We are traveling April 15
It’s a very simple meal, but when in Brussels have mussels. They do really good mussels.
Yes, they do. I had mussels in Brussels at one of the food stands during the Yuletide holiday cruise. Absolutely scrumptious!
Randiespecter - After your tour please consider posting some thoughts about your trip, especially where you ate for your fine dining, pre-tour meal. We also enjoy having at least one formal dinner during pre-and-post tour days. It's a great way to begin and end a holiday.
We have also experienced some very nice pre-set menu meals with wine pairings at many of Tauck's hotels. I have not stayed at the Amigo, however. Have a wonderful journey.
We will be spending an extra 2 days in Brussels pre trip on the Tauck Brussels to Amsterdam trip. Any suggestions for places to eat or things to see?
As mentioned, Brussels’ mussels are divine.
We are taking this trip in April/May. Doing a couple PreTour nights in Brugge & only one extra day in Brussels before our cruise starts. I have never had mussels (not sure why, they just seem so unappealing to me), but I am def going to try them while we are there.
AlanFlash - I have only been to Brussels once on Tauck’s Yuletide cruise and my time there was limited. When I return, however, I plan on visiting some of the European Union (EU) facilities. I think that would be a very educational experience.
Good morning AlanFlash: Restaurants-Fin de Siecle, Spinnekopke, t Kelderke(2 minutes form the hotel on the Grand Place) and Nuetngenough. I prefer the latter two. Try a stomp, carbonnades(flemish stew), wterzooi or even a pork knuckle.
if you have time for a day trip out of the city take a tour on grab a train from the Centraal Station which is close to the hotel Amigo. Stops are listed both in Dutch and French. Because you have to decide between Brugge or Ghent do one of those first, about an hour by train. You can purchase your tickets online before hand. 2nd class if fine. If going to Brugge, it can get crowded so either go early or try to stay after 3 and grab an early evening train back. Other day trips would be Lueven, Antwerp(we did this to have some extra time,) or for a long day head to Waterloo or WW1 battlefields(you will need a tour for easier transportation.). You could also head to Maastricht/Achen or Dinant.
in Brussels grab a tour. We have used WithLocals. Take more than just the highlight tour. Take one that will show you parts of St Catherines area. They can adjust the itinerary if needed. An Art Nouveau tour is also an option, try to have Horta's house on the tour. Try a food tour with Secret Food Tours or Hungry Mary.
AlanFlash, we only had our Gift of Time day in Brussels and the one restaurant we visited in the Grand Place was soso. I'm sure there are better choices. We did have an excellent waffle at a tiny place across from the Hotel Amigo called Obe.
We visited the Brussel's City museum which is on the Grand Place. It has some interesting displays including the history of the Manneken Pis Statue. Some quite funny trivia about it. The statue is a very short walk from the hotel and a little further on there is the GardeRobe MannekenPis which is a tiny place with 150 (of the more than a 1000) costumes that have been donated on display. The ticket for the city museum also covers this museum.
We had a delicious meal at La Roue D’Or, a short walk from the Amigo. It was recommended by the concierge.
I remember one afternoon on the Yuletide cruise in Belgium, the chef prepared a stew with meat, onions, mustard, beer and bread for thickening. I don’t remember its name but it was good, very rich but good.
AlanFlash - I also visited Brussels's City Museum and the Maneken Pis Museum and booked a city tour with Viator and a tour to Bruges and Ghent also with Viator but maybe those are included in your trip.