I feel like a recalcitrant student, deliberately ignoring exam instructions. The second round of the BritCham Bake-off has set some pretty stringent conditions: a pastry bottom and top (can be latticed), served outside its dish and containing at least one item of fruit. Maybe I’ve been on the...

Anderlecht football club has demanded an increased allocation of tickets for the club's return match against Paris St-Germain (PSG) at the Parc des Princes in the French capital ( photo ) on Tuesday 5 November, despite the threat of clashes between Belgian and French fans. When the two teams met...

Plans by the Flemish government to increase the capacity of the Brussels Ring will expose almost one million people to an increased risk of health problems caused by fine particulates, according to the Flemish environmental organisation Bond Beter Leefmilieu (BBL). BBL, according to a press release...

On the second day of announcements leading up to its congress in January, the Flemish nationalist party N-VA unveiled a radical plan for Brussels yesterday, which would strip the capital of its status as a full region. There would be just two regions left under the N-VA’s plan – Flanders and...

The city of Antwerp has banned the possession and use of fireworks in public places over the next three months. In normal circumstances, setting off fireworks and firecrackers, as well as lighting fires, are banned in public places at all times. The new Antwerp regulation goes further, banning the...

There are many reasons to visit Amsterdam: the canals, the bustling city life, the parks and the many museums, including the Van Gogh and the Rijksmuseum. The latter reopened in April 2013, after almost 10 years of renovation. It’s in the borough known as Amsterdam-South, which is a great area to...

If it’s family fun you are in search of, look no further than the Halloween Festival at the Museum of Fantastic Art and Witches’ Walk at Maison Pelgrims in Saint-Gilles. As well as creepy treats and a scavenger hunt on Thursday evening, there’s a Witches’ Walk through the neighbourhood with kids (...

The property market in Brussels, both commercial and residential, has shaken off the 2008 credit crunch and is showing signs of recovery, believes Rod Scrivener, head of valuations at the Belgian office of property firm Jones Lang Lasalle. Belgium, Scrivener, from the UK, has spent the past 23...

Belgium is number eight in the Lonely Planet guidebook’s top 10 list of “2014’s most unmissable destinations”. Described as “Europe’s underrated gem,” it is noted for its picturesque cities – Bruges, Antwerp and Ghent – as well as food and drink, countryside, coast and culture. The forthcoming...

The Red Star Line Museum, which opened on 28 September on Antwerp’s waterfront, has clocked 26,586 visitors so far, and many of its guided tours are fully booked until the end of the year. The museum recounts the history of the Red Star Line shipping company, which took emigrants from across Europe...