The Flemish Art Cities of Ghent, Bruges and Antwerp

Itinerary

• Day 1 - Arrival in Ghent

  We travel to Belgium in the fastest and most comfortable manner, by Eurostar from London St Pancras to Lille. Here we will be met by our coach for the two hour drive to Ghent, where we stay at the 4* deluxe Hotel Harmony for the duration of the holiday. Run by the charming De Smet family, the hotel is ideally located in the heart of the historic centre. The rest of the afternoon is free for you to explore the town.

• Day 2 - Ghent

  Our first day will be spent in Ghent where we will visit the Musuem of Fine Arts and see its varied collection which ranges from works by Hieronymus Bosch and Rubens to Magritte and Rodin. We explore the Ghent City Museum which tells the story of the city from the Middle Ages to the present day from within a 14th century abbey, 17th century convent and a new 21st century building. In the afternoon we will take a walk through the historic centre and visit St Bavo’s Cathedral to view Van Eyck’s masterpiece ‘The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb’.

• Day 3 - Bruges

  In Bruges we discover an almost perfect mediaeval townscape, protected from modernisation by the farsightedness of the city’s 19th century fathers. Adding to the charm are the canals that meander through the city. We will visit the Groeningemuseum, home to a world-class collection of Flemish Primitives, and visit the recently refurbished Gruuthusemuseum, which brings the history of Bruges from its prosperous Burgundian period to life, through an exhibition of over 600 items. In the Church of Our Lady we will see Michelangelo’s profoundly moving ‘Madonna and Child’.

• Day 4 - Antwerp

  Today we will make a full day excursion to Antwerp including a visit to the fully renovated Royal Musuem of Fine Arts. An eleven-year project has added a modern white-cube gallery into the courtyards of the original neo-classical building, which dates from 1890. The impressive collection of Old Masters is hung alongside modern works in a series of thematic rooms, prompting fascinating comparisons and conversations between the pieces. We also visit the great Cathedral with the ineffably moving altarpiece by Rubens and the Mayer van den Bergh Museum, an intimate collection assembled by Fritz Mayer van den Bergh in the 19th century which includes Pieter Bruegel’s world-famous painting, ‘Mad Meg’.

• Day 5 - Return to London

  On our final morning there is some free time to explore Ghent independently before our transfer to Lille and our Eurostar back to London St Pancras.