# Travel Suggestions for England, Belgium, and Hungary



## keymasher (Nov 10, 2016)

Beginning to get serious about trip planning and would love to get some input from Talk Classical members. Will be taking about a two-week vacation to ring in my 30th year from mid September to early October. The first week of the trip will likely take place in London and parts of Belgium (haven't quite hammered out where, but Bruges and Ghent are on the short list of places and would love to make it to Saint-Sixtus Abbey), followed by about a week or so in Hungary (with time probably split between Budapest and Tokaj).

I have only been to Hungary before, so the other two are clean slates. It will just be the girlfriend and I travelling, so kid friendly isn't important. Wine and beer tourism is certainly a priority, but would love to hear input on other attractions such as restaurants or classical music venues. Let me know if more information would be useful. Also, there isn't a travel forum on TC that I'm missing is there? Seems like there is a pretty diverse crowd of posters, so it might be helpful for inquiries like this. Thanks in advance.


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

Brussels:

Art Nouveau - the Hôtel Solvay, the Musée Horta and the Galeries St Hubert

The Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts (art gallery)

The Musée royal de l’Afrique centrale

Go for a walk in the Fôret des Soignes

Sit at a café in the Grand Place and watch the world go by

If you're into Belgian comics (Tintin, Blake & Mortimer, Spirou, etc.) check out the Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée (BD).

Mini-Europe; the Atomium; the Cinquantenaire museums

The flea markets at the Sablon

Since you’re interested in music, you should go to La Monnaie.

Go out of town to Waterloo.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Antwerp and Brugge not to be missed in Belgium, I rate it above Brussels.


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## Guest (Apr 14, 2017)

Tricky...which 'England' do you want to see? Cathedral Town? Try Winchester rather than Canterbury, it's less touristy. If you want views, a list of the UK's top views was just published...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-39563034

You might then struggle to get around, but number 8 should be manageable. While you're in London, you might like Camden Town - I've only ever driven through it on the way to the M1 (I used to live down south, but now live Up North so only get to London once a year), but it looked like great fun. I'm sure Londoners will tell you where's hip these days...I just do the galleries.

If you venture northwards, Hadrian's Wall offers great views, and the Solway Firth can look serene in the sunshine, with plenty of birdlife (I'm taking the dog there this morning!)


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## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

What about Yorkshire Dales? So many parts of it to choose from. Beautiful scenery and quaint villages!!


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## keymasher (Nov 10, 2016)

Thanks for all of the input!

I should have mentioned that we'll almost certainly be in Brussels for at least some time, so I really appreciate the suggestions for there. "Sit at a café in the Grand Place and watch the world go by" sounds fantastic. Also, Antwerp hadn't crossed my mind previously as a destination, and it looks stunning. Certainly a place to do some further research on.

To provide a bit more information on our time in England (probably, would be really surprised if we ended up making it to other parts of the UK, which is really unfortunate), I'm thinking that our time there should probably be fairly "London-centric," primarily due to convenience. That's where we'll be flying into, so jetlag and needing to adjust to the time difference will be in full effect (coming from the states). Also, I'm imagining we'll have at most four days there before heading to Belgium. Trying, feebly, to avoid spreading ourselves too thin but still get a chance to experience a lot. I got sick as a dog by the end of my last time in Europe from burning the candle at both ends, and would like to avoid that happening again. We'll see. Although, the Solway Firth and Yorkshire Dales both look gorgeous. Pretty envious of that dog-walking location! Yorkshire Dales looks like almost as close to a perfect vacation spot as I can imagine, too.

I would like to avoid renting a car in London, so any tips on transportation are very appreciated. Also, if there are locations I should know about that are pretty easy to get to outside the city that would make a good day trip, I'm all ears! 

I really appreciate the input so far. If anyone ever finds themselves planning to spend some time in Detroit, I'll do my best to provide some suggestions. I thought this community's collective brain would be great to pick!


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## TxllxT (Mar 2, 2011)

Sorry to say, I'm not at all enthusiastic about Brussels. Only when you stand on the Great Market at certain places you will not see the ugly skyscrapers from the sixties/seventies that have destroyed the old town impression once and for all. Brussels has a very eerie depressive+dangerous 'banlieu' (the suburban area) and one should evade the islamist quarter of Molenbeek at all cost.

Bruges and Ghent are a different story. Very medieval. Beautiful for wandering around or for making trips by sight seeing boat. The university town of Leuven is a gem too. But Belgium as a whole is IMO scarred with unbelievable ugliness...


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

Will be happy t help re London but honestly its such a HUGE place its hard to know where to start.

So 
Which airport are you flying to?
Where are you staying?
What do you like to do? Kew Gardens/National Gallery/British Museum/London Dungeon/Soho nightlife/International sporting events/World centre of Music industries/....
Theres too much for any lifetime so you need to start chosing now. 

3 starters
The place i always send people that they'd otherwise miss. Sir John Soanes Museum
Travelling around is easy. Just tap any debit card as you get on a bus or go via the tube and its done About £1.50 a trip depending on distance.
Walk along the Thames. From Tower Bridge (south side) to Westminster Bridge. You'll be amazed by what you can find.

Enjoy


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## keymasher (Nov 10, 2016)

Belowpar said:


> Will be happy t help re London but honestly its such a HUGE place its hard to know where to start.
> 
> So
> Which airport are you flying to?
> ...


Thank you for the input! This certainly helps bring the trip into focus.

We're flying into LHR, but haven't yet settled on where we're staying. I really appreciate your suggestions of the Sir John Soane's Museum and the walk along the Thames. I would say the likely priorities for when we're there would be to take in a few museums, explore the scenery, catch a concert or a play, and drink some beer at a place where we might find some locals. I know very little about the restaurant scene in London, but I'd like to do at least one meal at a higher-end restaurant. I definitely need to do some restaurant research beyond the Michelin Guide, but I do still have some time. We're both pretty adventurous eaters, but it being pescatarian friendly is a priority.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Well,I'd bodyswerve the three of them and go to Scotland, Holland and Germany!!


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## keymasher (Nov 10, 2016)

Barbebleu said:


> Well,I'd bodyswerve the three of them and go to Scotland, Holland and Germany!!


Plane tickets are purchased. No going back now!


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## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

Some of my suggestions:

London: 
Some of the best museums in the world, and they're free. Not all museums are free in London, though. I like the British Museum and National Gallery, but another favourite of mine is the Victoria and Albert Museum, all the stuff looted by the British Empire. Lots of nice art pieces. Some of the pubs in London are good, though the country pubs out of the city are better. 

Brussels:
I made an effort to go the mini Europe, models of all of the major attractions in Europe. If memory serves me, it's near the Atomium. The square in Brussels is impressive. 

Bruges:
A nice town to wander and take photos.

Budapest:
I had a swim in the Szechenyi baths. I also visited Statue Park, all the old Soviet statues moved to one park, the House of Terror. I grew up near a NATO base during the Cold War. Soviet memorabilia is a curiosity for me. And the Great Market Hall was a nice place to wander.


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## keymasher (Nov 10, 2016)

senza sordino said:


> Some of my suggestions:
> 
> London:
> Some of the best museums in the world, and they're free. Not all museums are free in London, though. I like the British Museum and National Gallery, but another favourite of mine is the Victoria and Albert Museum, all the stuff looted by the British Empire. Lots of nice art pieces. Some of the pubs in London are good, though the country pubs out of the city are better.
> ...


Thank you very much for taking the time to respond to my post! Any pubs in particular you wouldn't mind sharing the names of? :cheers:


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## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

No sorry, I don't know the names of pubs specifically. A good guide book might help here. It depends on where in town you are exactly.


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## keymasher (Nov 10, 2016)

Not a problem. Thank you again for all of the suggestions you provided.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

> Thank you very much for taking the time to respond to my post! Any pubs in particular you wouldn't mind sharing the names of?


Remember when in Antwerp: Het 11de gebod.
( Roughly translates the 11th commitment with a  )


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