London Diary – Driving from London to Belgium

Jan 9, 2019

Happy 2019!

Driving to the “continent” from London over Christmas was an interesting experience. You drive to Folkstone, Kent and drive onto the train that takes you through EuroTunnel in an easy 30 minutes, cool! From Calais, France you can direct your car whichever way you want. Our main destination this time was Belgium.

Brussels

Is lovely. The good weather we were lucky to have was a nice break from London that has been grey and wet for weeks. The Christmas tree at the beautiful Grand Place is one of the grandest and quite magical at night. EU headquarter is a cool complex of buildings, almost futuristic. Many places like museum were closed but we had fun walking around the city and checking out the Christmas markets, largest of them is Winter Wonder near Grand Place. If you haven’t heard of the Pissing Boy, you can’t miss him. He is everywhere. You’d also find chocolate, fries, waffles and Gluhwein everywhere. My husband is quite smitten with Belgium beer. Luckily Basilica of Sacred Heart was open on Christmas Day and we went up to its Panorama for a fantastic bird’s eye view of the city.

Brugges

Is a gorgeous historic little town, with many architectural delight. Best view of it is from its Bell-fry at the market square. We made our way up there just as the sun was setting and the tower bell was ringing, perfect! Market square seems the center of the town where there is natural a Christmas market. I had the best fries from the stand right next to the entrance to the Bel-fry. What I like best is to have mayonnaise and ketchup on the side and dip in alteration. Brugges is small and easy to walk. Here is a link to a self-guided walking route: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/belgium/bruges/in-location/self-guided-tours/a/nar/389a6cd3-56eb-4306-a9fb-d6374c307bbe/1342451

 

Dunkirk

Driving made it possible for us to make a stop at Dunkirk. Although brief, it was a meaningful visit, remembering those who sacrificed, remembering how devastating war was and remembering how precious peace is.

Pretty sunset accompanying us on the drive back culminated at Calais, France. A beautiful send off. Au revoir!

P.S. Due to the different rules, you do need an EU driving kit which includes a GB sticker and a fire extinguisher among others and can be purchases online. Reservation for cross EuroTunell by car can be done on this website: https://www.eurotunnel.com/uk/home/