Tony’s Travels: On Holiday in Belgium

Something a touch different from my usual pop culture fare this time. I want to talk to you about my recent family holiday to northern Belgium, specifically Center Parcs De Haan. The first abroad trip for Mrs Black and I with our little one about to turn 3.

Partly because I think I’ve always quietly hankered a desire to be a bit of a travel writer. I love travelling. It’s not something I’ve had the chance to do constantly over the years but circumstances for various reasons mean I’ve probably been on holiday more in the last 3 years than I have in the last 13, both abroad and in the British Isles. It’s something I want to share that you might, hopefully, enjoy reading.

This holiday was geared around a trip to Center Parcs, which is something we’ve wanted to do ever since little Miss Black was a dot. Plenty of babies were knocking around the venue when we went but we’ve stuck to British locations previously. Now we felt she was old enough to enjoy the place more. We were almost right on that. Part of me feels we might have been better waiting until she was 4, but we all definitely enjoyed what the place had to offer.

Before we got there of course, we had to navigate Le Shuttle and all of the travelling logistics therein. We set off from our native Wiltshire on a Thursday afternoon which, even with a stop over at Cobham services in Surrey, took ages. Luckily we’d elected to stop at a Premier Inn in Folkestone the night before which turned out to be a smart call. Miss Black was exhausted and grouchy (so were we), so we were all able to grab a decent night’s sleep ahead of the crossing.

Le Shuttle is a fairly well-oiled machine, with a duty free area akin to a mini-airport, but it still seemed to take, again, ages to board its strange hybrid of ferry and train. We were pulled over for a purely randomised search where we were asked “are you carrying any guns or knives?” No, obviously. Who is answering yes to that? John Wick? Bizarre. Seemed like a box tick. Nevertheless, we finally made the half hour crossing getting on for midday on the Friday.

After the very humid transfer over, we were in France! Only my fourth time in the country, after school trips to Calais and Disneyland Paris in the 90s, and the latter again as a learning mentor in 2014 (part of a bizarre fortnight involving two abroad school trips, the first of which was Auschwitz - talk about a tonal shift!) We decided to alight for lunch on the beach in Dunkerque, famous of course for the 1940 Allied evacuation as the Nazis pushed British troops out of occupied France. One of the darkest moments of WW2 for Britain.

Not that you would know now. There’s a memorial and lots of flags symbolising European unity, but otherwise it is a fairly unremarkable blend of industrial port and seaside town. The beach had lovely sand, however, and the tide went out far making it all very spacious. We’ve been blessed with outstanding weather across this trip that probably wouldn’t always be the case so our brief hour or so in Dunqerque was perfectly pleasant.

Off then we travelled across the border from France to Belgium as we headed roughly an hour to De Haan and our Center Parcs. One boring element you notice is how immediately the signage of roads changes between countries across the invisible border, as in some respects does the landscape. France is flat but a bit wilder than the low country green of Flanders, which does very quickly feel more picturesque. This is brought into delightful relief when we reach De Haan. More on that little town later.

Arriving at Center Parcs, you’re struck by just how well organised the whole place is. The resort is structured like a leafy community of detached and semi-detached houses, most on ‘streets’ zoned by numbers, some on lakeside properties closer to the centre which contains the range of activities, with the towering swim space Aqua Mundo looming large (you can see it for miles, as we later discover). We spend the first day noodling around, checking out the play areas, sussing out the supermarket etc… and going for a swim. A relaxed start as we settle into our holiday home. We opted for a detached, ‘VIP’ space. You know it’s plush apparently because there’s a surf board included. Not sure that’ll get a vast amount of use!

Day two (or three) we elect to hire some E-bikes, which Mrs Black has especially always wanted to try. We want to cycle into nearby De Haan which is about a 10-15 minute jaunt up the road. It’s a great experience. Miss Black loves it. The streets in this part of Belgium are completely set up for cyclists, who are given almost as much space and importance on the road as cars. De Haan was, as I said, lovely; a fusion of postcard seaside town and Dutch-leaning 19th century architecture. Parks, cafes, walks, and the beach just down the road. Had a really nice hour or two there before cycling back.

Day four (let’s stick with that) was to my mind the big one: Bruges. Only twenty five minutes from Center Parcs, it was essential to visit one of the most picturesque medieval cities in Europe, and it did not disappoint. Just before I get to the sights - can I just tell you about the car park? A random aside but the main car park setup was, to my mind, better than most I’ve seen in the U.K. You pull off a tunnel dual carriageway into an underground car park in a seamless way. Digital lights and signs point to where free spaces are (that’s in England, I know, I saw it the other week in Bath) and they pump soft music in. To an underground car park! What a marvel.

Anyway, Bruges was a mix of classical splendour and modern capitalism, as you’d expect. The Belfry (immortalised in the Martin McDonagh black comedy In Bruges) towers above the landscape much as Salisbury Cathedral does that city (close to home so we go there often). It’s referred to often as the ‘Venice of the North’ and with canals running through the cobbled streets, ancient buildings and tourist attractions, you can see why. The boat tour looked stunning. I did do a similar one in Amsterdam over a decade ago but the queues with Miss Black in tow were too long for Bruges. If we ever return down the road, that’s one we’ll do.

Managed to explore the city and sneak in some traditional Belgian waffles covered in chocolate (from an excellent all-gluten free place called Go Fre, right off the main square), plus a great fast foody lunch. Was all just a delight and we came away determined that our next holiday in 2027 would be more of a city break, which we are already plotting.

Day five saw us again more local, a combination of swimming at Aqua Mundo late morning after a lazy start (most of which have been the case as Miss Black has been treating us to 8am wake ups, which she never does at home!) and back on the E-bikes which we only have for the rest of today, heading the opposite way from De Haan and over to the nearest coastal town called Wenduine. It was mainly a seafront of beach apartments but does have a fantastic ice cream parlour, Wafflehaus Annie’s, which is so popular there was a never ending queue almost around the block. It was worth the wait.

We then elected to cycle back via the coastal beach path toward De Haan and discovered a sandy beach of wavy dunes that would make Frank Herbert blush. Coupled with heat and blazing sunshine, you would never know this was the North Sea! We found it so attractive we elected to return there for day six, which was always planned as a ‘beach day’ instead of heading up to Blakenburge, the next coastal town up from Wenduine along the same stretch; indeed outside of Zeebrugge port, the last sizeable town of its like before you hit the Dutch border. Also the place Archduke Franz Ferdinand loved as a holiday spot and planned to return to after his tour of Sarajevo in 1914. Best laid plans and all that!

Our final day we elected to stay at Center Parcs and enjoy the facilities before the long drive and Le Shuttle crossing back to Britain. We travelled at the very same time of day, on a Friday, but we found it so much slicker getting out of France via the tunnel than into France. Far fewer cars head to the UK from Europe than into it, which from a population perspective undoubtedly makes sense, but regardless, only on the journey back up through Kent and Surrey did traffic trouble us!

So that’s it. Thanks for indulging me here blogging about my travels. It won’t be often. Next up, probably, is Copenhagen next May ‘27, which we won’t be driving to! But honestly, I can hugely recommend West Flanders. We did have rather freakishly good weather, in the midst of a European heatwave, which arguably accentuated certain aspects, but regardless it is a charming, clean, orderly and hugely picturesque part of Europe, which I hope you can gather through some of my photos. If you’re looking for an area slightly off the beaten path, northern Belgium is worth considering.

Do let me know if you’ve had any fun holiday adventures this summer in the comments!

AJB

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