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Hey there fellow travelers, Mark here with Wolters' World, and today we're here in Ghent, Belgium. And today we're going to talk about are some of the unwritten rules that tourists need to know before they come to Belgium. And I want to start with this one. You need to realize when you come to Belgium, every city has a totally different vibe. Every city has a totally different, like, personality. And it's not just, "Oh, it's the Walloon side or the Flanders side." No, no, no, no, no. You have to understand this, every city has its own kind of thing. So, if like you're here in Ghent, it's historic. The weekends are full of people enjoying the beer and the food and all kinds of things. I
mean, it's just a beautiful place to be. Or then you've got Bruges, which is that tourist fairy tale town that you just fall in love with when you're there. Or maybe you're looking at Brussels, which is that stuffy bureaucratic, more expensive museum place. Or maybe you're going to Leuven with the student vibe that's there. Or Antwerp with the hip fashion kind of stuff. I mean, literally go to the Ardennes. Like, everywhere you go, it's got a different personality. That's why when you come to Belgium, you really will have a very different experience depending on what city you go to, what region you go to, all kinds of things, all right? Now, the second unwritten rule that I think tourists
really, really need to realize when they come here to Belgium is that, yes, the beer is better in Belgium. And yes, the beer is a lot stronger than you expect. I mean, Belgium is famous for its beer because they do a lot of experimental, fantastic things. But you're going to have things like the Trappist ales, the triples, the doubles. I mean, there's so many great beers, the fruity kind of beers that are here. The cities will have their own famous stuff. Ghent is famous for its beer where they don't actually use hops, they use herbs to make it. I mean, there's so many great beers that are here. But the thing is, for tourists, what you don't realize is your Budweiser back home, your Bud Light is like 3%.
Here, the beers are 6, 7, 8, maybe 10% for your beer. That's why you have those small glasses. And if you're like knocking them back like they're easy, you might get knocked on your butt. So, just be smart with the alcohol when you are here, and you'll notice they have different glasses for different beers. That's one of the fun parts of it. So, those make actually good souvenirs. You can go buy them. Don't steal the glasses from the restaurants and bars. You can go get them at a normal store, all right? Now, another unwritten rule, which I think is very important for tourists to know is um you're a fool if you pass up the mussels, the chocolate, the waffles, or the fries when you're here because my goodness, when the
Belgians do food right, they do food right. The fries, like literally the frites, you could make them out of a meal here. They're that good and they're that plentiful. Get the Andalouse sauce. That's my recommendation for you. With tons of great sauces you can have. The waffles, yeah, whether you want the Liège waffle, which has got little like sugar pearls in there, or with the traditional like Brussels Belgian waffle you used to have with the powdered sugar on it or other things on it, you can enjoy that. But heck, the mussels with the beer and all the kind of stuff that's here, you can't go wrong. So, those are things you really have to have when you're here. And the thing is those
fries and the food, a lot of times it crosses the border. If you're not sure what I mean about the border, I'm not talking between France and Belgium or the Netherlands and Belgium. I'm talking about that border in the middle of the country, the north versus the south, Flanders versus Wallonia. And I think that's something to really kind of mention, an unwritten rule that tourists don't quite understand when they come here is there really is a linguistic, cultural divide in the country. So, the south, Wallonia, that's where they speak French. The people are a little more laid-back in kind of things. And you have Flanders, which is north, more industrial, more like pragmatic, more
direct when they're talking to you. And the thing is Wallonia, they speak French. And the north in Flanders, they speak Dutch. And yes, if you go to the very east, there are some German-speaking parts there. But you definitely have like a unwritten rule that if you're in Flanders, you're not speaking French. If you're in Wallonia, you're not speaking Flemish. That's why tourists are okay because we go into English instead. So, that's one of those nice things that are out there cuz you don't really have to worry about, you know, communicating here in Belgium. People will be able to talk with you no matter what. And if you're wondering in terms of tourism where you're going to be for those things. So, Flanders,
that's where you have Bruges, that's where you have Ghent, that's where you have Antwerp, right? You have Leuven there. If you're going to be looking at Wallonia, you've got the Ardennes, you've got Liège, you know, Mons, Charleroi, you have that. And then Brussels is this weird thing where it's kind of a little bit of both of them, so it kind of is an outlier when you're there cuz that is an unwritten rule. Brussels is very different than the rest of the country of how it's set up, so do be aware of that. That's why you want to go explore more of the country, not just do a Brussels visit. Yes, the Manneken Pis is a cool little statue to check
out, but there's so much more to see here. And the thing is, if you're not sure where to go or what to do, just ask a Belgian. They'll be very direct with you. And the unwritten rule is some people feel that the Belgians are rude. No, no, they're just very direct. They're very pragmatic. They want to get to the point. They're going to share their opinion and move on with their day. And so it's for some tourists that comes off as kind of rude or stand-offish, but it's more like, "Hey, they're not trying to be rude. They're just giving you the information fast and furious so you can move on with your day." So, be aware of that. And the directness, if we do that Flanders-Wallonia thing, I think the directness in like is more of a Flanders
than it is Wallonia, so you're going to see a little bit of a difference there. But still, be prepared for some direct like, "Hey, what do you want? What do you like? Let me tell what you should get." kind of stuff in your restaurants or when you're meeting people. Now, if you're going to be coming to Belgium, probably the two most popular places people go are Brussels and Bruges. And here's the thing, Brussels, because the European Union is based there, it's the capital, you never know when something's going on, so you always have to book ahead for Brussels, okay? Because it does book out because of the crazy things that happen there. But then also, you also have to book Bruges ahead as
well because Bruges is the most popular place for tourists to go in this country, and it is fantastic. I love Ghent, but Bruges still wins out for me. And the thing is, when you go there, it is full of tourists. Summertime, wintertime, fall, spring, weekend, daytime. So, it's another one of those places booking early, Bruges, Brussels, must-dos when you're here. Now, another unwritten rule I think is important to know as a traveler and while you can really explore a lot of the country is literally any city in Belgium can be a base to explore the rest of the country. Like I'm here in Ghent, right? Oh, in about 30 minutes I can be in, you know, Bruges. In about 30 minutes I can be in Brussels and like an hour and so I
could be almost less than an hour I could be in Antwerp and vice versa. Like you can really explore a lot of the country by just having one base. And let me tell you, you don't have to have a car to enjoy this country, all right? Because the train system goes all over so you can use that public transportation to explore so much. So you can base in Bruges and see all the kinds of things. You maybe you're in Brussels for work and you have a day off. Boom, you can see anywhere in the country which is so great. So go and explore anywhere and everywhere here in Belgium because it's so easy to do. And what's cool, like you public transportation's great, you can rent a car and do it or you can actually go
explore the country on bike as well. But I will tell you no matter if you're in the Ardennes or you're here in Ghent or you're in Bruges or in Antwerp, um the unwritten rule is the weather's going to suck at least part of the time you're here. Like I know that the flag doesn't have gray in its color scheme, but I think it should because you're going to have a lot of gray days when you're here. Even in the summertime you will have some overcast days and some rain. I mean, the hotel I'm staying at actually has umbrellas for every room because look, they're like, "Hey, it's probably going to rain eventually so do be prepared." So if you're coming here, throw that little like rain jacket in
your backpack when you're going for a ride or you're going out for the day or you're doing your day trip cuz undoubtedly some little cloud will come over and darken your day just for a little bit or for the entire day, but it is something you should be aware of. Now, going back to the food thing and I think this is one I've talked to a lot of travelers over the years about coming to Belgium and I've actually brought students here. I've taught here before, all kinds of stuff. So yeah, I've been to Belgium for quite a bit and one thing I've noticed is people have a different perspective of Belgian food depending on which country they came from when they're coming into Belgium. So, like
travelers that are coming from England or they're coming in from the US or they're coming in from the Netherlands especially. When they get to Belgium, they're like, "Oh my god, the food is fantastic. It is amazing." But, then the people that are coming from France are like, "Oh, the food's nice." Like they're not as impressed because you have to say it is since Belgium has the French and the Flemish and the Walloons and all this kind of stuff, you have a different kind of food culture here. And I would say it's more like 75% towards the French and 25% towards the Dutch if you're one of those travelers out there kind of planning out your foodie tours. But, it is one of those
things I would recommend coming from the Netherlands into Belgium because everything will seem amazing when it comes to the food. Now, let's talk about time here. And I think some of the unwritten rules with time that tourists don't realize is one, when it comes to shopping, yeah, don't be surprised if shops are closed at like 6:00 some days and closed on Sundays. So, you got to get your shopping done earlier in the day. But, also with time, it's one of those things that sometimes tourists don't know. Like is it one of those places where on time means you're 20 minutes late or 20 minutes early? Here in Belgium, you are on time. Like that is expected. If someone asks you, "Hey,
you want to go grab a beer at 9:00?" you're there at 9:00. You're not there at 9:05, you're not there at 8:30, you're there at 9:00. Like that's when you're meeting up to get it. It's very important. It's very one of those cultural things that sometimes tourists don't realize. They think, "Oh, my Belgians they stood me up." No, you were 10 minutes late and they went on to some other bar. It's really important that you stick to the time when you're here, okay? Though, the unwritten rule of the late trains kind of takes care of that in that way, but don't worry. In normal human settings, the Belgians are always on
time. And one of the reason why you want to be on time, it's about reservations. And here's another written rule I have for you. It doesn't matter where you are in Belgium, if you want to eat at a restaurant, make a reservation. And I'm not just talking on the weekends. Like if you're here in Ghent or Bruges or Brussels and there's a place you want to go, make the reservation so you know you have a spot cuz Belgians love to go out to eat. And when out to eat here in Belgium, it's really relaxed. No one is rushing you. You can enjoy the vol-au-vent, the kind of like the chicken pot pie of Belgium, or you can get the oh, the beef stew braised in beer. It's so good.
You can have that and the fries, endless fries. Like But, the thing is no one's going to rush you. Like they don't rush you. Like the service here, yeah, don't expect over-the-top service. But, the thing is with all this, you got to make sure you make a reservation because if you don't, you might actually just be having fries for dinner because the frituur, well, they don't take reservations. You just walk up and get some fries, maybe a fricadelle. And speaking of the frituur, the fry place, I think it's important to mention this. The unwritten rule is in general Belgium is expensive. I mean, it's not like Scandinavia expensive or Switzerland expensive, but it is one of the pricier countries. But, in terms of
budget food options for you, some of the biggest Belgian like de facto foods are actually quite affordable. Getting fries, right? I'm no joke. Getting frites for a meal, you're like, "Oh my god, that is a ton of fries I'm getting for that price. Awesome." Getting the waffle when you're on the street, that can be a good like economical thing to grab and eat for like a lunch or a snack or a breakfast. Or then the bakeries. The bakeries here are wonderful. And I will tell you, I don't know why, but the hotels in Belgium have incredibly high-priced breakfasts that aren't really worth it. So, just go to the bakeries, save yourself some money, and
get yourself some extra tastiness. The unwritten truth about Belgium, the two probably most dangerous things you have aside from bikers, are the trams and drinking a little bit too much of the local beer. Otherwise, you should be fine. Hey, and also, show respect to Belgium for the Smurfs, baby. Another unwritten rule I think you need to know when you come here to Belgium is that you really should make fun of the Dutch beer and the Dutch people and the Dutch beer and the Dutch food and the Dutch beer because they do like making fun of the Dutch beer and the Dutch people here in Belgium. Anyway, those are my kind of unwritten rules for
visiting Belgium. What are your unwritten rules? What have you noticed here that tourists don't realize? Let us know in the comments below so we can help other travelers enjoy this beautiful country, and I'll say bye from here in Ghent, Belgium.
