Why Belgium
The country is small and dense: Brussels, Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp and Liège fit within an hour's train ride of each other, and each has a complete historic centre. You can visit several without ever changing hotel.
The squares of the old cloth towns — the Grand-Place in Brussels, the belfry of Bruges, the Graslei in Ghent — are among the best preserved civic ensembles in northern Europe. Add to them Flemish painting, comics, and a brewing culture inscribed on the intangible heritage list.
Getting around
The train links everything, with short journeys and moderate fares; a weekend ticket or a multi-trip book brings the unit price down. The stations are in the city centres, which makes a car pointless.
The historic centres are walked in full. Bruges and Ghent heavily restrict car traffic, and the low-emission zones of the large cities require a foreign vehicle to be registered in advance, on pain of an automatic fine.
Money
Cards are accepted everywhere, but many businesses take only debit cards on the local network and refuse credit cards. An international debit card and a little cash cover every case.
Tipping is not expected: service is included. Rounding up is enough.
Before you go
Bruges takes a flood of day visitors: arriving the evening before or staying the night completely changes the town, which empties after six.
Belgian beers are often between eight and twelve per cent, served in a small glass for that reason. Ordering them like pints is a beginner's mistake.
Fries are eaten at a friterie, not in a restaurant, and the sauce is charged for and unapologetically so. It is a meal, not a side.