Tour OutlineThis truly epic Belgium gourmet & beer tour has been designed to show you the complete spectrum of beer culture that Belgium has to offer, from the illusive Trappiste monastic breweries, to the world renowned bier cafés of Bruxelles, Antwerpen and Bruges. We include brewery visits as well as beer-dinners at two of Belgium’s premier beer-restaurants, as well as learning about not just the beers of Belgium but also the culture, background, history as well as the geography of this incredible part of the world. We will visit every province in Belgium as well as along the way visiting every Belgian Trappiste monastery; we will also visit breweries representing every style of beer that Belgium has to offer, although unfortunately we cannot visit them all! Furthermore we will visit and overnight in the Bière de Garde regions of northern France, truly remarkable areas which we feel deserves their rightful place on this tour. The tour is typically 10-days in duration and starts and ends in Bruxelles or Düsseldorf, Germany. |
Tour Schedule |
Great Belgium Beer Tour (GBBT) |
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Contact andy@bier-mania.com Phone +49-(0)2157 810558 (Germany) Mobile +49-(0)177 7095599 Copyright © 2009 Bier-Mania!™ |
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Achouffe Brewery Tour! |
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Chateau Charmois, North France |
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Rodenbach Brewery West Vlaanderen, Belgium |
Tour Highlights*Visit all 6 Belgium Trappiste Monasteries Visit all 9 of Belgium‘s Provinces 4 Countries-Belgium, France, Netherlands and Germany Drink every style of Belgium beer Cafe Culture of Antwerpen and Bruges Bruxelles for 2 nights Beer Dinners Biere de Garde region of Northern France Saison Country Lambic Country Brewery visits The Ardennes
WW1 & WW2 sights Crusader Castles of Bouillon and Sedan
And much much more.......
*as outlined in Proposed Itinerary
Photos
Included*All accommodation x 9 nights All Breakfasts x 9 All evening meals (dinner) x 9 (includes Den Dyver) Brewery fees Transport (within the tour) Minibus Tour leader/guide/driver A good time! *as outlined in Proposed Itinerary
PricesPrices €2150.00 for the complete 10-day tour. 10% discount when 6 persons (if booked directly with us) Price is based on Double room
(See www.xe.com for exchange rates) Please email for a comprehensive quote and itinerary
Group Size3 minumum 6 maximum
Travel Agents/Group LeadersWe welcome all travel agents and clubs. Please email for quotes and commissions
Terms & ConditionsPlease see our Terms and Conditions |
Outline Tour ItineraryThis Great Belgium Beer Tour starts in Düsseldorf or Bruxelles, we suggest you fly in the day before the tour and not spend tour-time getting over the flight! Start the tour fresh! The itinerary is long, unfortunately we‘re not sure how to shorten this awesome tour! Enjoy! Day 1 We start this incredible 10-day adventure at the Trappiste Abbey at Achel on the Belgium/Dutch border, we have the chance to have a look around the grounds of this abbey as well as trying some of their beers in the cafe where we can also see the small brewery behind glass surrounds. Our lunch stop is at another Trappiste monastery, Westmalle where after we watch a short film about the Trappiste monastic way of life, we can enjoy their fine cheese washed down with some beer! Antwerpen is only a further 30 minute drive and after we check into our central Antwerp hotel, we have some free time to look around this gorgeous town before meeting up later to see some of Antwerp‘s bier cafes and have some excellent cuisine at Pelgrom restaurant, an amazing restaurant in a cellar in Antwerp's old town. Maybe you want to explore further, maybe you want to retire, see you in the morning. Overnight– Hotel Scheldezicht, Antwerpen Day 2 Today we head straight to the Bosteels Brewery in Buggenhout in East Flanders for a tour of this amazing brewéry followed by some of their excellent beer, Kwak and Triple Karmeliet on draught and maybe some Deus if we are lucky! We move on and check into our hotels in central Bruges around lunchtime, the rest of the day is yours to discover and meander around this amazing historic town, rightly recognised by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. We meet up later for a beer dinner at Den Dyver, probably Belgium‘s premier restaurant for beer cuisine, last year 2007 it was voted Belgium‘s best and will maybe even get the award again in 2008, good luck! After our beer dinner (around 2.5 hours) we maybe have some time to check out some of Bruges bier cafes. Or maybe you just want to take some photos of this incredible old town at night. Sleep well! Dream well! Overnight– Den Witten Leeuw, Hotel Goezeput, Bruges Day 3 We leave Bruges for a great day travelling across West Vlaanderen (West Flanders), an area steeped in history as well as some of the most diverse selection of beers in Belgium. After visiting Hill 62 and the In Flanders Fields Museum in Ypres, maybe you just want to look around the old town instead, we then go onto Westvleteren Trappiste Abbey where we can experience the beers, renowned for the label ’Best Beer in the World’, judge it for yourself! Great cheese as well. We have lunch at the Rohardushof, a typical Flanders cafe serving traditional Vlaams food (don’t judge it by the website!). Great food, great beer and the real Flanders. We then go over the border via Watou and into the Pas-de-Calais (French Flandres) region in France, famous for its Bière de Garde where we meet Daniel Thiriez and have a look around his Brasserie d’Esquelbeque. Again, great beers as well as some good unfiltered farmyard cider! We then drive the short distance onto Mont Cassel where we check into our excellent hotel in the middle of Cassel and have some free time to see this gorgeous town, if you have seen the film Chocolate then this town may ring a bell! Have a stroll up to the top of Mont Cassel or have a beer at Trois Moulins, a cafe in a time warp! Later on we meet up for some beer and excellent food at the Kasteelhof for some typical Vlaams food and beer, unfortunatly Denys‘ Estaminet Kerelshof has closed down! Overnight– Hotel Le Foch, Mont Cassel Day 4 Today we go out of France and into the Province of Hainaut (say I know!) and to the brewery famous for its Saison beer, Brasserie Dupont. We should have a tour here as well as some beer and excellent cheese after which we go onto Roeselare and the renowned Rodenbach Brewery for a tour and tasting of the beers. Part of Belgium‘s history and probably the largest collection of oak barrels in the world. The ‘sweet and sour‘ beers are pretty much unique in the world! We haven‘t forgotten lunch. There are 2 or 3 ‘frites‘ vans just outside Roeselare! After this we then head out on the motorway to Bruxelles where we will be for the next 2 nights. Tonight is a free night, maybe you want to meet up for a beer later in Delirium? Or just take in the atmosphere of this amazing town. Overnight– Hotel Astrid Centre*** (St Catherine), Bruxelles Day 5 Today is a free day to have a look around Bruxelles and all it has to offer. We meet later at our hotel and eat at La Villette, a quaint restaurant cooking excellent authentic Belgian food, just round the corner from our hotel. Overnight– Hotel Astrid Centre*** (St Catherine), Bruxelles Day 6 After the hustle and bustle of Bruxelles, we leave this city for the next stage of the tour when we travel through the rest of Wallonia. First stop today is Drie Fonteinen, an authentic lambic beer brewery, great beers, great look around the brewery! An hours drive takes us to our 4th Trappiste monastery at Chimay where we have a look around the Abbey and the grounds after which we go to the Auberge de Poteaupre for some beer, cheese and some lunch. Excellent food! After a long day we find ourselves at our hotel for the evening and ready for a good rest before going back into France in the morning. We should have time to have a look around the Crusader castle before meeting up later maybe for a beer. The town of Bouillon is an ancient town, again nestled between hills on a curve of a river, famous for its castle and the original crusader, Godfrey of Bouillon. The evening is yours to have a look around the town, maybe have some food, sit by the river and watch the sun go down over the castle? See you tomorrow. Overnight– Hotel de la Poste****, Bouillon/Belgium Day 7 Today is an action packed day when we travel into the region of the upper Meuse (Maas) river known as Pays de Meuse. The day takes us to a beer museum, a chateau brewery, through the WW1 battle grounds and to a farm brewery and finally back to Verdun, a truly remarkable day. First stop is the Chateau Charmois, a gorgeous Chateau with a micro-brewery in the old converted cow shed! Incredible place and Alain is a truly Artisanale farmer-brewer, awesome beer! We then head up the road to the European Beer Museum in Stenay, an interesting museum dedicated to beer, we also have our lunch here washed down with a few of the local beers! A drive across the scenic landscape of Lorraine take us through the area well known from WW1 and the Battle of Verdun. We stop at the destroyed village of Vauquois after which we head onto the Rarecourt farm brewery situated on the edge of this gorgeous village. This an amazing farm brewery and Jacques is another farmer-brewer who uses ingredients straight from his fields by the farm! After getting back to Verdun we can meet later in the evening for a beer. The rest of the evening is yours to have some food and stroll around the town. Overnight– Hotel Le Coq Hardi*** , Verdun (France) Day 8 Today is a busy day when we start the day with a visit to the Zone Rouge area near Verdun when we have the chance to visit some WW1 battle sites. We then have a scenic drive through this region and then up into the Belgian Ardennes and the amazing Trappiste monastery of Orval, probably the most historical of Belgium‘s 6 monastic breweries. We see some serious history here, all the way from the early 1000‘s, the French Revolution and to its expansion from 1926 after donations from the De Harenne family secured its future. Awesome place. History is of little significance without the present and we soon find ourselves sat down in the L‘Auberge Guardian for some Orval beer and excellent cheese. Paradise! We can also have some lunch here. A one hour drive then finds us in Bastogne where we can visit the largest American memorial in Europe, the Mardasson Memorial just outside the town. There is also the Bastogne Historical Centre (WW2). We then take the back roads to Houffalize and along the way we can see remnants of the severe fighting over the Christmas of December 1944. We then check into the 300-year old converted forgery La Vieille Forge, Mont (population 29 humans, 252 cows, 6 dogs). In the evening we have a beer dinner-a 3-course meal cooked with beer, awesome night! The fresh Ardennes air along with the great food, open fire and of course some beer should ensure you sleep well tonight! Overnight– La Vieille Forge, Mont, Mont/Belgium Day 9 Today is a loop of the Ardennes when we visit La Roche-en-Ardenne, Rochefort and then back to Achouffe for a brewery tour, proceeded by a few Chouffe beers and a sing song dedicated to the memory of La Chouffe (a gnome who lives in the forest of the Ardennes). We then return to La Vieille Forge, Mont (population now 36 humans, 252 cows, 6 dogs) for our final evening together and some more home cooked food at this wonderful Ardennes guest house. Overnight– La Vieille Forge, Mont, Mont/Belgium Day 10 Today we have a relaxing scenic drive through the Hautes Fagnes (high fens), a nature area on the border with Germany and also Belgium‘s highest point at 700 metres, crossing the border back into Germany before the tour comes to an end in Düsseldorf. Bye bye! Hope to see you on another tour! Optional Extras Day Zero With this option you arrive a day early in Düsseldorf and we start the tour the next day. The hotel is booked as a supplement and is not part of the tour. Works well as you have time to relax after your flight! We may even come over to Düsseldorf and join you for a beer and some food! Overnight– Hotel Lindenhof***, Düsseldorf or Zur Mühle, Kaldenkirchen Extra Night (day 10) After the 10-day tour, we recommend that you relax for one night in Düsseldorf before catching your flight home the next day. It also means you can take it easy Sunday evening and not worry about getting to the airport on the Sunday, we know it can be stressful catching flights, better to finish the tour first! Naturally we will help you with any arrangements. We can also arrange transfers to airports or train tickets, again as a supplement and not part of the tour. Overnight– Hotel Lindenhof***, Düsseldorf or Zur Mühle, Kaldenkirchen Cheers! |
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