Experience the best of
Belgium with Withlocals

If you like shopping, Belgium is the right place for you. Whether it’s for chocolate, beer, decorative stuff or clothing, you’ll find numerous shops to go to. The best way to go shopping in Belgium is with a local host by your side. They’ll know where the best deals are and help you find what you’re looking for.

Belgium is particularly famous for its fashion scene. Top notch designers like Dries Van Noten and Dirk Bikkembergs are born and bred in Belgium. If you’re into haute couture, take a stroll down Avenue Louise in Brussels. Or go to Antwerp, one of Europe’s most prominent fashion capitals. Antwerp is particularly famous for its vintage design.

If you like to eat, read on. If you don’t, go back to the strange planet you came from! Enjoying a home-cooked meal should really be on your list of top things to do in Belgium. Let a local host spoil you with a typical Belgian dish like steak, ‘chicon au gratin’, Belgian fries, meatballs in tomato sauce, ‘vol au vent’ or beef stew. Or perhaps you’re more into Mediterranean food?

Belgians love to cook Italian dishes!! Ever since the wave of Italian guest workers, the Italian cuisine has conquered kitchens all over Belgium. Whatever dish you’re having, you’re bound to have a good time, chatting away about Belgian culture, food or whatever topic comes up. Belgian locals are excellent hosts!

Get your sports on while visiting Belgium. Why would you not combine two of the most awesome things in life: traveling and doing sports?! If that sounds like fun to you, have a look at the local sports tours in Belgium.

Perhaps you’re interested in cycling around Bruges while exploring its medieval sites? Or maybe a running tour is more of your thing. In total, such tours are about 5 to 10 km (depending on which you choose), but don’t worry if you’re not in excellent shape. Your local guide will take many breaks. This way, you can take a breath while he tells you all about Belgium’s landmarks. Enjoy your endorphin fix!

A beer tasting is one of the top things to do in Belgium! It’s a true must. You haven’t really visited Belgium, if you haven’t drunk a Belgian beer. Don’t worry, you’ll definitely find some beers you like. There are plenty to choose from! Belgium has around 1200 different beers. If you’re not into bitter pale lagers, perhaps a sweet fruit beer might be your thing.

You’ll get the most from of a beer tasting if you’re accompanied by a local host. They’ll let you know which beers you’ll like best and which ones are particularly interesting, due to bizarre ingredients, or perhaps due to cool background stories. Schol!

Instead of just walking around looking at buildings, why not get creative for once? Belgium has a thriving art, film and literature scene. But that’s not all. Tons of creative workshops in the fields of photography, theater, film, literature, crafts and pottery are constantly organized, so locals are quite used to them.

If you take a creative workshop by a local – like our top-rated upcycling workshop – you’ll get the chance to learn something new while chatting to a local. You can hear all about the Belgian culture while getting your hands dirty. Sounds good, huh? Join your host and get your creativity going!

Visiting Antwerp is by far one of the top things to do in Belgium. This cool metropole is famous for its fashion scene, architecture, Jewish Quarter and vintage design. Oh yes, and its historic center, of course! Do we need to say more?

Maybe the best thing about Antwerp is the notion that it isn’t overrun by tourists yet. The city feels real. If you truly want to know Antwerp like a local, we highly recommend a tour by one of our local guides. There are many tours to choose from: a city highlights tour, a vintage tour, a tour in the Jewish Quarter. Antwerp has so much to offer.

Treat your taste buds: go on a food tour with a Belgian local! Belgium is famous for its delicious food. Belgian chocolate, for instance, is the best in the world – there’s no discussion here! And then there are the wonderful Belgian fries, of course. Yup, not FRENCH fries. The French are just jealous.

But there’s more. Belgian Waffles. Chicory au gratin. Stoemp. The many sweets from Bruges. In short, it would be a pity if you’d miss out on Belgium’s many delicious dishes. A food tour is truly one of the top things to do in Belgium! Your local host will direct you to the best culinary delights as well as tell you all of the little stories behind them.

Bruges is an absolute win. And exploring Bruges with a local guide by your side is even better. He’ll guide you to Bruges’ hidden gems and guard you from its tourist traps. With its impressive historic architecture, lovely canals and cute little streets, Bruges is rightfully called ‘The Venice of the North’. Visiting it truly is among the top things to do in Belgium.

If you’re a movie geek, you might want to consider asking your local host to take you to the spots where In Bruges was filmed. The Belfry, a medieval bell tower, for example. Ask your local guide about the other famous spots, they’ll know everything.

Get to know Belgium’s multicultural side during a tour by a local. Over the years – centuries, even – Belgium has attracted many different nationalities and cultural groups. The result? Belgium’s big cities are like multicultural patchworks: a Chinatown here, a Jewish Quarter there, and Arabic neighborhoods in between. Not exploring the multicultural side of Belgium would be like going to Rome without visiting Vatican City!

Immerse yourself in Antwerp’s Jewish Quarter, go to the many cozy shops in Brussels’ Matongé district and shop for yummy North African herbs in Borgerhout. We highly recommend a multicultural tour by one of our lovely local hosts. You’ll get so much more from it!