 Dec. 12-17, 2012. Six days, five nights.    Christmas Beer Festival Tour of Belgium 2012 Itinerary Wed., Dec. 12 • Bruges –We meet at Arrivals Hall at Brussels International Airport (BRU) between 10-10:30 a.m. From there we board the train right below the airport to the romantic medieval city of Bruges. We’ll get checked in to our centrally located hotel, have a little free time, then meet for lunch and a canal boat tour. Tonight, we have our welcome dinner at one of my favorite restaurants featuring delectable cuisine a la biére and first-rate beer menu. Then it’s early to bed so we can be refreshed and ready to go on Belgium time. If you are already in Belgium, you also have the option of meeting at our hotel in Bruges instead of the airport. But wait, that’s not all! As an extra added bonus, you will also receive a copy of Around Bruges in 80 Beers, which will serve as your guide to the best beer places in town and suggest a beer in which to drink there! (Lunch & dinner) Thur., Dec. 13 • Bruges –Morning is free, and then we meet for lunch and a tour at Halve Maan Brewery and museum, home of Zot beer. This afternoon you have some more free time to take in the many sites of Bruges, rent a bike, take a carriage ride, visit museums, or just people watch, while savoring a Belgian beer in on a heated café terrace. You are on your own for dinner. Later this evening we meet for an informal tour of some of the most interesting beer cafés in the city. (Breakfast & lunch) Fri., Dec. 14 • Antwerp –After breakfast the morning is free for you to enjoy Bruges. Lunch is on our own, and then we meet back at out hotel, retrieve our luggage and then transfer by train to Antwerp. We check into our hotel, have some free time, and then later we meet at 5 p.m. in the lobby of our hotel to go to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in Antwerp. Afterwards, there is an informal pub crawl of some of the famous cafés of Antwerp, including the world-famous Kulminator. So much beer, such little time…(Breakfast & dinner)  While in Brussels, we’ll also see the picturesque Grand Place and several other beery highlights of the world’s capital. After kicking around Brussels this afternoon and lunch on your own, we take the train directly to the Christmas Beer Festival in Essen, where you will have your socks blown off (so wear two pairs) by the delectable Christmas beers available here. This is what the whole tour has been building toward and a decadent indulgence few beer drinkers will ever experience. You will become members of a very small and elite club of beer enthusiasts. This cannot be overstated. We’ll spend the evening at the Festival, have dinner on your own there, and then catch one of the last trains back to Antwerp for a nice, peaceful sleep, where visions of Christmas beers dance in our heads! (Breakfast) Sun., Dec. 16 • Antwerp –Morning is free to sleep in or explore. Then, we head to Westmalle to visit the famous taproom of the abbey, Café Trappisten. We’ll have a leisurely lunch; sample the beers, including the “TripTrap,” which is a mixture of the Westmalle Dubbel and Trippel combined. If we are lucky, we may also be able to sample the rare Westmalle Extra (3%), usually reserved for consumption by the monks. Afterwards, we will see the beautiful exterior of the Abbey and its spectacular tree-lined driveway. You will have a little free time this afternoon back in Antwerp, then we have our farewell dinner tonight and do an informal pub crawl of the city’s many great beer cafés. (Breakfast, lunch & dinner) Mon., Dec. 17 –Our grand Christmas Beer Festival Tour officially ends with breakfast. You may catch the train from Antwerp a short ride to the BRU airport and just about anywhere in Europe. Thanks for participating in the Christmas Beer Festival Tour of Belgium! (Breakfast) * Itinerary subject to change. * Prices based on double occupancy, per person, U.S. dollars, land only. Single room supplements apply (SS). We can also work with you to pair you with other single travelers to avoid the single supplement. Better yet, recruit a friend to come, too! Unless, of course, like Rick Steves says, you prefer to “snore alone.”
We require a minimum number of guests for each tour to be guaranteed to go, so it’s important to sign up ASAP, as opposed to waiting until the deadline. Also, tours can fill rapidly and suddenly, so signing up early ensures that you will go and not be disappointed. Please spread the word about BBM! tours to fellow Belgian beer enthusiasts, your friends in general, and encourage them to join the fun! Christmas In Belgium as explained by Shelton Bros. Importers: "Consider, for example, the normally straightforward matter of Santa Clause. In the merry month of December, there are at least six different Claus-like figures gadding about Belgium. Around December 6th, children in the Dutch-speaking part of the country are visited by Sint Niklaas and his violent sidekick, Svarte Pete. (Niklaas sorts the good kids from the bad. The good are rewarded with candy or toys; the bad end up with a shoe-full of seemingly useless twigs). Meanwhile, in the French-speaking part of the country, Saint Nicholas and his evil pal Pére Fouettard are out running the same ‘stick or treat’ racket, and, in the German-speaking part of the country, Nikolaus, with his companion Ruprecht, are doing the honors. A couple weeks later, on Christmas Eve, a fellow known as Kerstman (Christmas Man) visits the Dutch-speaking households, dispensing gifts to all, old and young alike, while his counterpart, Pére Noel (Father Christmas) hits the French-speaking joints, and Weihnachtsman (Christmas Man, again) services the German-speaking population. Fortunately, the timing and the geography are such that none of these Clausians characters ever cross paths. If they did—this being Belgium—they would curse each other, multi-lingually, and there would be punches thrown. It’s all too much, isn’t it? That’s why, in recent decades, the tradition of hearty Christmas brew has sprung up. Enjoy an ale or two, and stop trying to figure everything out." Cantillon photo to the right courtesy of Joe Stange and his beagle, Truman, at Thirstypilgrim.com  At the Christmas Beer Festival; so many beers such little time. "Ahh screw it, just give us one of each!" The Christmas lights of Bruges in December |
Bamberg Beer Me!Beer Santa Blog  |
• Essen Christmas Beer Festival Tour |
