Our fourth annual highly popular Beer & Heritage Tour is now ready for booking. This year we move out eastwards to take in some new sites in Limburg province. Again, we have secured the expert services of archaeologist Dave Buckley to keep us well informed on this tour. This tour is priced to include the full cost of all entrance fees and guided tours around all museums and sites visited on this five day tour, together with three 3 course meals plus a beer tasting.
Friday 27th August
Following our channel crossing with our coach we make our way from Calais to the Vlaschaard café in the old village of Stene for a three course meal* and our first Belgian beer. We then make our way to Walraversijde near Ostend, the site of a Flemish fishing village between the early 1300s and the seventeenth century, which is now an archaeological site and museum. Here we will each have an audio guide* and will see the museum* and reconstructed fisherman’s houses*. We then leave for Brussels calling in at the brand new De La Senne brewery for a tour* and a taste of Yvan’s beer*. We then head for central Brussels and our base for the next two nights at Hotel Ibis Brussels Centre St. Catherine. Podge’s Bar Guide to Brussels* will be available for an evening on the town.
Saturday 28th August
We leave the hotel by coach for the short drive south to Waterloo for a morning exploring the site of the famed battle of 1815 between Napoleon and Wellington who called it ‘the nearest run thing you ever saw’. Each traveller will be issued with a Battlefield Pass* entitling entry to all six attractions, being:
· a tour in an all terrain vehicle around the historic battlefield with audio commentary*
· a walk up the Lion Mound*
· an audio-visual show of the unfolding of the battle on a giant scale model*
· a film showing a selection of extracts from Bondarchuk’s film ‘Waterloo’*
· a visit to the battle panorama with colour and sound fresco*
· the wax museum*
The seventh battlefield attraction is the new Wellington Café with a choice of over 100 beers, where we conclude our visit. In the afternoon we proceed to nearby Alsemberg for a guided tour* of the Herisem Paper Mill which can trace its origins back to 1536 and where there is a working nineteenth century steam engine which will be fired up for us. We will also have a three course bier cuisine meal* and a beer tasting of Belgoo beers* at the mill café. Suitably refreshed we move on for an early evening visit* to Alsemberg Beer Weekend festival where we can sample from a selection of over 100 beers on offer. We return to central Brussels for an evening at leisure in the city and its great bars.
Sunday 29th August
Today our coach takes us east towards Maastricht for a guided tour* of the amazing fort at Eben Emael. This colossus was built in the 1930s to strengthen defences against Germany in the Meuse valley. This gigantic fort has 17 bunkers covering an area the size of 150 football fields and takes advantage of the natural protection of the Albert Canal on its east side with 60m high walls. Deep underground are fully equipped barracks including sleeping quarters, kitchen, showers, technical rooms, hospital, etc and an impressive tunnel system of over 5.5 km. On its construction in the 1930s worldwide military experts agreed it was one of the strongest points in Europe. Only one word could summarize the edifice: impregnable. Or was it? We will visit this amazing site and find out.
We leave in the early afternoon for a visit and food stop to Het Vijgeblad café, “possibly the best café in Limburg” who offer a massive range of quality beers including unfiltered Palm and Boon Lambic on hand pump, plus two house beers - Berrings Blauwbier and Berrings Koolputters Bier. From here, we make our way to the Castle Brewery Ter Dolen which is a lovely Sixteenth Century castle containing an ultra-modern brewery, a cosy pub and a beautiful and popular outdoor terrace for leisured quaffing of their Abbey beers. We will have a tour of the brewery* and a beer* or two. We then make our way to our base for the next two nights at Hotel Express by Holiday Inn Hasselt. Podge’s Bar Guide to Hasselt* will be available for an evening on the town.
Monday 30th August
Our first stop of the day is to Pelgrims Beer warehouse at Aarschot which is opening specially for us where we will have an opportunity to buy beers to take home. We then journey to Bokrijk, once an Abbey estate before being purchased by Limburg province in 1938 and later opened as the Flemish Open-Air Museum. It is one of the largest outdoor folk museums in Europe and contains buildings from all parts of Flanders, including seven bars. Here we will have a three course meal* at the St Gummarus Inn at the centre of the reconstructed Kempen village, opposite the pillory. The inn was originally built in the town of Lier before being moved and faithfully reconstructed here. Following our meal we take a ‘Hike into the Past’* where local English speaking guides will take us on a walking tour back to historical Flanders*. On the road, we will investigate how craftsmen used to live and work, and will relive the road travelled by peddlers, merchants and pilgrims. This will be followed by some free time to see more of the site and have a beer or two before heading back to Hasselt for a free evening enjoying its bars.
Tuesday 31st August
After leaving Hasselt we are aiming to make our first stop at the historic Slaghmuylder Brewery & museum in Ninove which is celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2010 where we hope to have a brewery tour* and tasting*. We then travel to Ruddervoorde for lunch and a beer at De Zwaan, a restaurant that stocks tasty beers from local De Leite Brewery. After which we make our way to Calais for the Channel crossing home in the evening, followed by the journey back to Chelmsford/Colchester.
The last arrangements for visits on this tour are being finalised and may be subject to change.
The price of this full five day tour is £465 per person based on sharing a twin or double room. There is a single supplement of £125 if you want your own room. We use a luxury coach throughout the Tour. Included in the price are coach travel from Colchester or Chelmsford, still and sparkling water available on the coach, hotel breakfasts on Tour plus all items marked with an asterisk above. Arrangements can be made for different joining points on the way from Colchester to Dover/Folkestone or even on the other side of the channel. Personal insurance is not included but is strongly advised, as is carrying the European Health Insurance Card which is available online, by phone or via the Post Office. If you would like to join us on this tour, please send a deposit of £100 per person (the balance is due five weeks before departure).
