A classy bar/restaurant in the heart of the old city, between St Bart's hospital and Smithfield market. I'm told it used to be a scruffy if charming place - but the new proprieters have done a great job smartening it up. The impressive menu serves a good variety of English dishes and the wine list is exemplary. A fine choice for a night out. It is named after Sir John, who lived in the flat upstairs.

43-44 Cloth Fair
Nearest Tube stations: Barbican (Circle/Metropolitan/H&C) or St Paul's (Central).

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Tasteful and attractively-priced restaurant offering traditional Flemish food and more. I had pumpkin soup and chicken waterzooi, both of which were delicious.

Sint-Veerleplein, opposite Gravensteen.

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The Castle of Counts was founded in the 12th century and after an interesting history that saw it converted to a cotton mill in the 19th century, has been restored more or less to its former glory. The armoury displays some startling weaponry but is surpassed by the exhibition of 'Instruments of Correction', a highly euphemistic name for the tools of torture seen here. Fascinating.

Sint-Veerleplein
www.trabel.com/gent/gravensteen.htm

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A bar and brasserie on Markt with helpful waiters who are only too happy to make beer recommendations for you - I tried a number of trappist ales here. It's on the west side of the square, and the few metres between it and the tourist-heavy row of bars and restaurants on the north side seems to keep it reasonably popular with locals. An ideal place for a good, convivial night out.

Markt 16
www.craenenburg.be

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Unusual restaurant that brings you raw meat and a hot stone so you can cook it at your table. My partner and I did not realise until the food arrived, but after our initial trepidation it was good fun and certainly tasty. Not for the faint of heart or stomach but different, and not particularly expensive - as you would expect when you do all the work. Also serves the delicious local Brugse Zot beer.

Huidevettersplein - between Burg and Dijver, near Vismarkt.

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Lovely bistro just off the main tourist drag, with smiling, friendly staff and a welcome modern twist on traditional Belgian food - for a start not everything comes with chips! It holds only about 20 people, so get there early or book ahead. It's worth it.

Sint-Amandstraat 4
Tel: 050 34 01 22

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Welcoming three-star hotel in a delightful location on a canal and five minutes' walk from the centre of the town. Family-friendly with pleasant bedrooms and a sunny breakfast room. Reasonably priced too. Staying here was an altogether enjoyable experience.

Augustijnenrei 1
www.hoteleurop.com

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A hotel and restaurant on Ieper's main square. Old Tom offers decent accommodation at an attractive price, and the restaurant does some of the best (traditional Flemish) food in town. Convenient for the local attractions, and the welcome is friendly.

Grote Markt 8
www.oldtom.be

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A tiny bar squeezed into an alley between Bruges's two main squares, Markt and Burg. Half a dozen tables downstairs and a few more in the equally cosy (non-smoking) upstairs bar - so don't be surprised if there's no room. The beer is excellent, including their own De Garre triple on tap and the tasty Brugse Zot local brew. Instead of the usual peanuts you get a small bowl of delicious cheese as a snack. The choice of beers is not as extensive as at the better-known Het Brugs Beertjes, but I preferred De Garre - it's friendlier, cleaner and feels more like a proper bar rather than a tourist attraction.

De Garre 1, on the right as you walk from Markt to Burg. Hard to spot until you are right on top of it.

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This bar has a menu of over 250 beers - just about the widest selection in Ghent. It also has a huge, friendly bar-room with helpful staff and attracts congenial beer lovers from around the world. Find it just a minute's walk from the cannon that gives it its name ("Mad Meg" in English). A little touristy, especially during the day, but nonetheless appealing.

Vrijdagmarkt 50
09 224 24 55
www.dullegriet.be/01_Herberg_eng.htm

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A classic Flemish cathedral with huge wooden pulpit and everything you'd expect, but made slightly more special by the presence of the van Eycks' polyptich 'The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb'. It's kept in a side chapel and you have to pay a few euros to view it, but it's expertly displayed with a welter of illuminating information in the audio guide, covering both the painting itself and its unusual history. The 12th-century crypt is also worth a visit.

Sint-Baafsplein 4.
www.sintbaafskathedraal-gent.be/

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Like many bars in Belgium, this is a great place for beer lovers, with its extensive menu and commitment to serving unusual/local beers. But it's just a great bar to visit anyway, with a lively atmosphere, friendly staff, a large outdoor seating area and a wonderful location on the waterside. (The name is a play on words: it means "The Waterhouse on the Beerside", which is a bit of a crap joke but forgivable.) I was only in Ghent two days and went three times. The unique Gavandum dry-hopping beer was Beer of the Month at the time - if they're still serving it, it is not to be missed.

Groentenmarkt 9
09 225 06 80
www.waterhuisaandebierkant.be/e2.htm

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A fascinating history of the town with great maps and well-preserved Bavarian artefacts. There is also a puppet museum on the top floor that is a little unsettling but unique and well worth seeing. When I was there it also had an exhibition about the Nazis, an admirable example of a city facing up to its unpleasant past. The museum is free on Sundays.

St-Jacobs-Platz 1, a short walk through the marketplace from Marienplatz.
www.stadtmuseum-online.de

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Three-star hotel on Sonnenstrasse, just off the end of Kaufingerstrasse and handy for central sights such as Marienplatz and Frauenkirche as well as the Hauptbahnhof. Modern and friendly with a pleasant breakfast room on the first floor. I stayed in an en suite double room (in 2003) for a very reasonable 65 euros a night.

Sonnenstrasse 5, Munich, DE, 80331
www.hotelstravel.com/Europe/DE/Munich/HotelDaniel.html
www.holidaycityeurope.com/daniel-munich/index.htm
travela.priceline.com/hotel/overview-Germany_Bayern_Munich_Hotel_Daniel-5562305.html

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