 Off urban areas: terroirs food, nature, sites... by Norali | Go shopping in Belgium with recommendations, reviews, tips and photos posted by real travelers and locals. Map |
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The mostly bought souvenir - apart from chocolate and beer - in Belgium (and more in Brussels and Brugge) is Lace.
Plenty of lace shops sell different kinds of lace and tapestries. Leave a Comment Theme: Local Craft
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You can only find local craft in a specialised store... plenty of them in touristic areas.
No problem to find them.
* Lace
typical belgian, but different in every city...
you'll find it in Bruges, Brussels, Mechelen, Lier, ...
* Tapestries
one of our top export products until the 16th century
* Cristal
in Wallonia, most famous is Val Saint-Lambert in Liege
It's handmade, so be prepared to pay a lot of euros... but it's worth every cent of it. Leave a Comment Theme: Local Craft
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 Antiques in Les marolles,
Brussels by Norali
Well, if you happened to be interested in antiques, you would surely know about Sablon area & its shops. Not to look over either: Marolles area, incl. Rue des Minimes area, Rue Haute & Rue Blaes.
In general, I have a thing for the huge hubs that use to gather many antiques shops. I don't talk about Trade Mart, rather a center where many antiquaires (who have their own galleries & shops elsewhere) are gathered, BUT without partitioning, so as to give a feeling of closeness, like wandering in a big shop of a sole person. In fact, while strolling in Sablon Antiques Center & in Galerie des Minimes in Brussels, you wouldn't even notice that tens of antiquaires are exhibiting (20ish in Sablon Antiques Center over 600 sq²). In Antwerp, I've heard of Antwerps Antiques Market, 30 merchants spread over 2.000 sq².
Until recently, I didn't find the need to advertize about antique places in Antwerp. Thing is, some close friends were involved in antiques shopping while spending summer holidays in Belgium. They asked me to lead them to Antwerp, for the antiques. Why Antwerp specifically? "Because", my friends replied, "Antwerp is a passage of the stolen antiques items from the UK (!)"... So, since they were into filling their newly built English-style cottage in Madagascar, they really wanted to go to Antwerp, expecting the prices to be lower there than anywhere else in Belgium, or was it the choice to be more varied ? Whatever... It was a French antiques magazine who gave them the hint.. so I tend to believe this would be helpful and accurate. Not because it is French, it's because it's an insider tip. :)
No pain, no gain... Go strolling there, bargain, observe.. soak up the ambience. And if shopping is not your forte, you can always head to pubs to chilling out (or warm up).
The hubs are not specialised in one thing, but in antiques: from trinkets to furniture through books, vintage jewelry, paintings... since they use to gather many specialists. In a sense, the centers are a kind of windowdisplays for the antiques shops in the area (or even beyond since hubs in Brussels include antiquaires from Gent, Courtrai...)
In Belgium, don't look over the comic strips collections: a whole series of Tintin on sales, for instance. For them, you'd rather go downtown in the Bourse area (Bd du Midi, Rue du Midi, Bd Lemonnier) has lots of second-hand vinyls, books, plates.
Lately, I saw moulds for chocolatemaking too. Yes, they were parts of an antiques stall on Place du Sablon.
-Place du Jeu de balle: flea market everyday, the Sunday markets being the most important one (till 1pm). To find the rarities, go there early enough. Still, it is cheaper if you go there on weekdays. Hehe, sellers know about tricks there.
-Place du Sablon: on Saturdays.
:))) depends.. bargain !!! Leave a Comment Theme: AntiquesDirections: Antwerp: Kloosterstraat and surrounding are the places for that. Brussels: Bourse area (comics strips & vinyls & books) - Marolles (flea markets & shops) - Sablon (flea markets & shops, rather one the expensive side)
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 pralines by yashiko
This is something you have to get when you are in Belgium. Easy to take home with you. And I assure you that your friends and family will be pleased to see you again (with a box of pralines).
You can buy them from stores like Leonidas or Godiva which are big companies who only make choclates. The often have also shops in other countries. But local stores also sell this. Choclatier is a good profession here so you'll find them easely in every city.
My alltime favorite store is Chocolatier Bury in Antwerp.
you can buy premade packages of pralines, but you also can pick them out yourself . This way you can choose what you like most.
about 15 euro per kilo of pralines. Leave a Comment Theme: Food and Drink
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 by DanielF
There are tenths of brands that produce chocolate in Belgium, but Pralines, chocolate confections with different fillings, are de rigueur if you want to bring back home some chocolate as gift. They are sold by the box (ballotin), and you can decide the weight and even choose individually the pralines that you prefer.
Many chocolatiers still produce their pralines by hand and are considerably more expensive than average, but there are also several larger companies with shops all across the country and even abroad. They still have very competitive prices when you compare with what you pay overseas. Every season, more and more sophisticated new lines are introduced so that you never get tired of consuming chocolate (as if that would ever be possible). Leave a Comment Theme: Food and Drink
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 by nicole8Leave a Comment Theme: Food and Drink
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 Lace worker by yashiko
Nowadays local people don't buy much anymore. But I have to admid that there are sometimes nice works to find. Like a beautiful veil for a wedding dress or so. Good handmade works is something I appriciate much, and that is also for lace.
If you like lace you deffinitly should look around in Belgium. Cities like Brugge, Antwerp, Lier and Brussels are know for their beautiful lace.
It depend on what you want . But be carefull, the major shops in highly touristic streets might overprice. But also keep in mind that you pay for good handmade things. Leave a Comment Theme: Local CraftDirections: Antwerpen, Lier, Brussel, Brugge
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 Still now, people flock in to
look around, shop.. by Norali
Then, the first to have built a covered shopping mall in Europe (or so I was told). That was in the 19th when Galeries St-Hubert were built in Brussels. A shopping mecca ? Seems yes... but the gallery also has a double function: the ground-level always occupied by shops, whilst the upper floors designed for apartments and habitation.
I could see in a TV program the interior of those apartments... beautiful.. and expensive. Also, those who own apartments there don't want to get rid off them... Would have done the same. That should be luxury: the feeling of uniqueness... Un côté fin de race, if you know what I mean. Between 1820 and 1880, seven of these glass-domed galleries were built in Brussels. St. Hubert gallery and Passage du Nord are amongst the ones who were kept.
Sooo... all of that to say that in Brussels, you may go there to see prestigious Belgian shops and brands: chocolate brands (the first Neuhaus outlet is in St-Hubert), Belgian designers boutiques (cloth, leather goods), jewelry (bijoux anciens- vintage; oriental jewelry; designer pieces )... Plus, it has some interesting bookshops, music shops also.
In Galeries St-Hubert:
- Delvaux leather goods;
- Expensive chocolate, if you don't mind about the price;
- Belgian design cloth;
- The bijoux anciens if it is your style
- Particular book collections (those huge books with nice photos of paintings, landscapes, costumes...). They are in this shop that is on the corner of the Galeries and Rue des bouchers (OK.. I would have not said enough: avoid the Mediterranean-style restaurants in this street).
Elsewhere in Belgium:
- Cheaper chocolate (except Marcolini and Wittamer);
- Belgian design cloth and accessories (see city pages);
- Beer (not my type);
- Speculoos cookies;
- Comic strips;
- Jenever (many sorts);
.. more to come.. and check cities pages
depends :)) Leave a Comment Theme: Women's ClothesAddress: Galeries St-Hubert in BrusselsDirections: on Rue marché aux herbes - Grasmarkt straat. Near Grand-PLace. Nearest metro and train station: Gare centrale (Central station)
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 by nicole8Leave a Comment Theme: Women's Clothes
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 Elixir de Spa by belgianchocolate
I can't help myself , but I like these sort of drinks.
SPA! the name rings a bell. Actually it is a
little city in Belgium and every SPA in the world
borrowed the name from this place.
Our royals loved this city , for the bathing
and the good life.
Now the original 'Elixir de Spa' is brewed in
Antwerp. By 'FX de Beukelaer'. Even up to
today this distillery is a Belgian Royal Warrant Holder.
But it that important?
It is said that this drink goes back till the
12th century. That is was brewed near Spa
by the friars of the Capuchin order.
In 1956 the recipi was bought and came to
Antwerp.
It a composition of 40 local herbs and famous
for it's digestive qualities.
You wont find it at a lot of places.
It is a nostalgic drink for romantic souls.
Buy it in Antwerp at the Vagant (Reyndersstraat).
The small bottle is the perfect gift I think. Leave a Comment
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