Brussels I returned back to Brussels with a tight itinerary planned as was only staying for the one night. Luckily the sunny weather continued as I enjoyed walking around the capital. I arrived in Brussels early to ensure I got to see as much as I could possibly fit in within one day. I first stopped off at the Atomium, which was built for the 1958 World Fair. I did not know this before my visit, but discovered that this was Brussels most famous landmark structure. The Atomium was never intended to be a permanent structure but stayed after proving to be a very popular attraction. The Atomium has 9 spheres and each one is 60ft in diameter. The spheres are linked together with escalators and stairs, with 5 of the spheres containing exhibition rooms and ... read more

When researching about Luxembourg, I discovered there was a small place called Vianden that was north of Luxembourg City and close to the German border. The first photo I saw of Vianden when researching was this magnificent castle on a rock, surrounded by greenery, a river and lots of houses. I was taken aback by this beautiful, peaceful looking town and there was no way that I was going to miss the opportunity to visit this place. My guidebook recommended doing 'A Tour of Petite Suisse Luxembourgeoise' with the Petite Suisse meaning Little Switzerland. The book recommended starting at a small town called Echternach and ending at Vianden via Petite Suisse Luxembourgeoise. The route is about 22 miles (35 km) and will take at least half a day by car or a whole day by foot. ... read more

Originally I had planned to stay in Brussels for two consecutive days but I had to rearrange my itinerary slightly to fit in my trip to Luxembourg. I could have easily moved my couple of days in Brussels to the following week, but faced the dilemma of missing the annual Belgian Beer Festival and I was really looking forward to this so I decided to do one of the two days and revisit Brussels the following week. Brussels is the capital of Belgium and I knew driving my car into this large city would most probably be stressful and expensive. I did some research and discovered that there was a free car park on the outskirts of the capital next to the metro station called Ceria. The Ceria metro station is only 20 minutes away from ... read more

I was really excited about visiting Bruges having seen many photos of this medieval fairytale looking place, as well as hearing great reviews from family and friends. I can honestly say that my excitement for visiting this place did not end up with disappointment and would say that Bruges is right up there in my all-time top 5 favourites cities. Before visiting Bruges, I did not know too much about it, except that it was surrounded by meandering canals and lined with medieval buildings. I discovered that Bruges was the hub of trade in the 13th century with other European countries and learnt that the city became the world's first tourist destination in the late 19th century. Upon entering the 13th century markt, I found the Historium Brugge. This attraction is very popular with tourists as ... read more

Money is a bit tight for 2015 with buying a house so plans to visit Peru have been put on hold. But a year without any travelling? Surely I couldn't possibly manage that! I had some money saved and decided that I'd like to visit Belgium. The British pound had been strong against the Euro prior to the Greek bailout so I got planning my itinerary and accommodation quickly. Also, I had discovered a site called Couchsurfing and had managed to arrange a few nights of being hosted for free. As a supermarket called Tesco says "every little helps" especially when travelling on a tight budget. With Belgium being so close to the UK, I decided that I'd be able to see more locations by taking my car. I drove my car to the port of ... read more