Where to stay in Belgium

What you will be charged

• A city tourist tax applies on top of the room rate in Brussels and most Belgian cities, charged per person per night. It is often not included in the price you booked online.
• Ask whether it is included when you book, so the bill at checkout is not a surprise.

The Brussels rhythm

• Brussels is a business city first. Hotel prices peak midweek when the EU institutions and the lobbying industry are working, and fall sharply at weekends.
• A Saturday night in Brussels is often cheaper than a Tuesday - the reverse of nearly everywhere else in Europe.
• Bruges and Ghent invert this, filling at weekends and in summer.

Practicalities

• You will be asked for your passport at check-in. Belgium registers guests, and given the general obligation to carry identity documents this is not the moment to have left it at home.
• Bruges is very small and very popular. Book months ahead in summer, or stay in Ghent - twenty minutes away by train, larger, cheaper and with a student population that keeps it alive in the evenings.
• Breakfast is frequently not included at the cheaper end in Brussels, and the difference is significant.