Villas in Belgium

With its historic cities, wonderful cuisine, pockets of truly beautiful countryside, and of course its world-leading beer and chocolate industries, Belgium has so much to offer. And what can be better than coming home to a fabulous villa after a day’s sightseeing? You can choose from a wide range of villas to rent all across Belgium, particularly in Région Wallonne in the south of the country.

There are so many enormous countryside villas in Belgium to choose from! With 10, 12 or even 15 bedrooms, modern interiors, and extensive, manicured gardens, these are wonderful places to celebrate an event with your close ones, or simply use as a base for your exploration of the country.

There is no other place where chocolate is as famous and prestigious as in Belgium, and its capital, at least as far as most chocolate aficionados are concerned, is the World Capital of Chocolate. Brussels is home to Neuhaus, the shop where the world’s first chocolates were created nearly a century ago. You can easily spend an entire afternoon in this shop choosing among the many different types and shapes of heavenly chocolates.

While it is a tiny nation geographically, Belgium is a global powerhouse in terms of its beer. The beer culture is so vital to the fabric of the nation that it’s officially protected by a world cultural heritage by UNESCO. Make sure to try the nation’s finest craft beers, including the award-winning Tripel Karmeliet, Affligem Blond and Chimay Blue. And of course, visit one of the many breweries, which have the uncanny quality of being located in charming cities or the idyllic countryside. Make sure to check out the brewery Espace Chimay, run by monks, which has being brewing beer since 1862, or for more mainstream Belgium beer, the fascinating Stella Artois Brewery.

.There is a wonderful variety of trekking to be had in Belgium, from the High Fens Natural Reserve with its exceptional flora and fauna, to the Semois valley, with its delightful forest which is home to stags and wild hog, and Warche, which takes you on a tour past ragged rocks and beautiful deluges. But the number one hiking destination in Belgium is the Ardennes, a wild and beautifully scenic region in the southeast corner of the country, boasting lush forests, green, rolling hills, meandering rivers, stunning caves and the quaintest of villages.

A key to the front line of World War One, the battlefields are now a major pilgrimage site. The trenches are well-preserved and the area also contains vast cemeteries of soldiers who died here.

Belgium is flush with river trips for tourists, but none are so wondrous than that offered in the Meuse Valley in the far south of the country. Watch the sensational scenery unfurl; with dense forests interspersed by picturesque towns and backed by limestone cliffs.

Off the beaten track, get away from the crowds in the more famous Bruges and explore Mechelen’s Old Town to capture a sense of medieval Belgium, with its gabled architecture and fine old buildings.

In Belgium waffles are a national institution and sold on practically every street corner. Belgians make their waffles decorated with a dusting of powdered sugar and nothing else, making them light, crisp and soft.

Visit Waterloo, the place where Napoleon was finally defeated in the famous battle. An artificial hill rises up from the flatlands with a memorial lion sculpture atop that commemorates the day when Napoleon's army was finally stopped. As an added bonus, the summit offers lovely views over the surrounding countryside.

Located just outside Brussels, this is Belgium’s finest chateau, modelled after the castles in the Loire Valley in France. The surrounding park, which is known as Domaine Solvay, is the finest in the country, with an amazing collection of trees, meadows and lakes which attract all sorts of interesting wildlife, it makes for a great place for a relaxing stroll.

The smallest town on earth, Durbuy is living proof that the best things come in small packages. It offers a charming medieval setting with flowered, narrow and cobbled, pedestrian streets winding between ancient bluestone homes. A truly magical place for both children and adults!