WHAT TO DO IN ESSEN, GERMANY IN 24 HOURS? FREE THINGS TO DO IN ESSEN ON A BUDGET TRIP TO GERMANY ZOLLEVEREIN COAL MINE INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX The main reason I went to Essen was to visit the Zolleverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex, one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Germany. After visiting the Major Mining Sites of Wallonia (Bois du Luc, Bois du Cazier, Grand Hornu and Blegny Mine) in Belgium, and Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin in France, it was time for me to visit Germany to visit Zollerverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex.    ..read more

This article first appeared in My Travelogue by Bhushavali A ROAD TRIP IN NORTHERN FRANCE TO VISIT ITS UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITES AN ULTIMATE TRAVEL GUIDE TO VISIT THE NORD-PAS-DE-CALAIS MINING BASIN Terrils du Pays a Part Twin Slag heaps in Haillicourt. Photo by: Benoît Diéval. Read more ..read more

This article first appeared in My Travelogue by Bhushavali   ...THAT'S NOT A PLAYGROUND OR ANIMAL FARM Here are some earlier articles on the associated topic: Petting zoos/animal farms to visit in and around Brussels Top 10 Best Playgrounds in Brussels Top 10 + Unusual Museums in Brussels Read more ..read more

This article first appeared in My Travelogue by Bhushavali Quite amusingly, after a very short 2-week-long Spring Season, this year's hot summer existed for 2 weeks too, and now it's all rainy! So what to do with the kids. Here are 5 'indoor' expos for your kids this summer 2023. Most of these are temporary exhibitions that would wrap up by September ..read more

This article first appeared in My Travelogue by Bhushavali It all started with museumPASSmusées, adding Atlantikwall Raversyde to its list. As a holder of museumPASSmusées, I was looking at its website to see what they're all about to plan my visit there, and the more I learned about it, the more it shocked me!!! WHAT IS THE ATLANTIC WALL (ATLANTIKWALL)? To begin with, why that strange spelling? Well, Atlantikwall is the German spelling of Atlantic Wall. The Atlantikwall was an ambitious project of the Axis parties (led by Germany) during WWII. The idea was to build an extensive wa ..read more

This article first appeared in My Travelogue by Bhushavali Being Atyudarini's mother means, hunting playgrounds is something I do very much! There are several places where there's a space with a slide, a swing set, a see-saw, etc, or an extensive, complex playground set (like a Jungle Gym) with a series of activities. I've been to quite a few, but here are my favorites. All of these are managed by the Bruxelles Environnement and the respective communes. So they all are free of cost and are all open from Sunrise to Sunset. Scroll down directly to access the map of the Top 10 Playground o ..read more

This article first appeared in My Travelogue by Bhushavali   Just like how I traveled from Charleroi to LaBuissiere by train, along to river Sambre, this time I took the train & bus along the river Meuse. A portion of river Meuse, that connects Namur and Liege goes via Andenne, Huy, and other little towns and villages. So here's all about a long weekend trip from Brussels along the river Meuse. Read more ..read more

This article first appeared in My Travelogue by Bhushavali     The Ultimate Guide to See Tulips in Belgium ...and also Cherry Blossoms, Magnolias & Daffodils in Brussels... When I moved to Belgium, 'going to the Netherlands to see some Tulip fields' was right at the top of my wishlist. However, I came to know that Belgium itself has its own Tulip options and now, I could choose to not visit the Netherlands to see tulips! So here's all about Tulips in Belgium. Before I start, keep in mind that this is very seasonal, going to these places at any other time would give you ..read more

This article first appeared in My Travelogue by Bhushavali HALF-DAY TRIP FROM BRUSSELS BY BUS Just like Chimay Beer and Leffe Beer, Grimbergen beer is also well known in Belgium and it is also an Abbey beer that was initially brewed by monks in an abbey! Grimbergen is perhaps the closest Abbey beer town to Brussels (Cantillon brewery within Brussels is not an abbey beer). Reachable by DeLijn bus from Brussels in about 30 mins, Grimbergen is an easy half-day trip from Brussels though you can easily spend an entire day as well. Also Read: Half-Day trips from Brussels - Things to do in Fl ..read more

ONE OF THE PICTURESQUE CASTLES IN BELGIUM Castles in Belgium: Belgium is one of the countries is the highest number of castles density! While there may be more castles in many other countries incl. Germany or France, given the size of Belgium, the number of castles in Belgium is just too many! There are more than 10 castles near Brussels itself! If you go on a simple, 20-25km long node-to-node bike ride anywhere in Belgium, you'll definitely come across more than 2 castles, at least!!!  Read more ..read more