http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/ Welcome to Been there. Your tips on the places you know - that you love, live in or have just visited - are what make this guide. http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/24292 The tour guide we were lucky to join was a very entertaining man, who also told us a lot about city developement and the way Brussels deals with its historical monuments.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/24292 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/24184
The location is also ideal. Just a fifteen minute walk from Brussels' Grand Place, there is no problem with imbibing as much of this wonderful beer as you would like and then wondering how to get home. The metro public transport system makes this a wonderfully tasty and safe experience.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/24184 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/24087
What makes lambic beer unique is that it ferments spontaneously. The wort cools down in a shallow copper tray in the attic where it comes into contact with airborne wild yeasts.

You can wander through the barrel store, with its heady and musty aromas, where it will ferment for up to three years. Tasting is an education. You will be offered the slightly tart Gueuze, a blend of old and new lambics, and the sweeter Kriek beers, blended with fruit.

This is a fascinating and evocative museum, offering a rare insight into traditional brewing methods.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/24087 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/24079
The Musee Bruxellois de la Geuze offers a great tour around the Cantillon Brewery, the last working brewer of Lambic, a strange spontaneously-fermenting beer, that has to be tasted to be believed and once tasted will be craved ever after! It takes Lambic brews from three different years to make a Geuze beer, so it's something pretty special and well worth waiting for!

The Cantillon Brewery opened in 1900 and little has changed since then. It is a great retreat from the modern world to an age when people had more time to sit back and enjoy a glass of beer.

We loved the tour but got a little confused, after tasting and sampling, about all the processes and spontaneous fermentation, so we might have to go again to refresh the memory - hic.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/24079 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/22952
From Dinant, make your way to Anseremme, where a little mountain train takes you to the town of Houyet. Here the five-hour, 21km kayak trip sets off. It’s also possible to alight earlier at Gendron and take a shorter, 2.5-hour and 12km, trip back.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/22952 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/22836
It seems all the decent bands split between the UK festivals meet up in Belgium for one big event. Rock Werchter has won the ILMC Arthur Award for the four times in the last five years demonstrating that things are much more organized and as a bonus there is better chance of avoiding the rain.

Give it a go and you will be going back year after year.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/22836 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/21475 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/21475 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19460 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19460 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19459 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19459 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19457 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19457 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19455 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19455 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19456 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19456 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19454 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19454 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19451 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19451 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19450 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19450 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18600 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18600 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16820 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16820 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16113
Then head to "Het Park"in the town square for fantastic cuisine.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16113 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16112 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16112 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16109
Don’t bother with the slightly eccentric and haphazard metro system – just walk. Central Brussels is small enough to potter round in a day.

Aim for the splendid Place du Grand Sablon (where you can get the best chocolates in the world) then head downhill to La Bourse and Grand Place and west into the trendy St. Catherine and St. Géry areas.

Make sure you take in plenty of good food and drink along with the stunning Art Nouveau and Art Deco buildings that populate so many streets.

The best thing about Bruxelles/Brussel and the bilingual-Belgians is that they know all this; they just don’t go shouting it from every corner of the Grand Place.

I can heartily recommend buying the finest cheeses, meats and bread, beer and chocolates from the above areas, getting back on the Eurostar and turning all the other passengers green with envy as you tuck-in. Brussels is nearer than Paris too!]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16109