Podge’s Belgian Beer Tours

forthcoming tours

Podge’s Belgian Beer Tours was founded by Podge, aka Chris Pollard back in 1994 and is now run by his wife, co-beer-writer and co-traveller for thirty years, Siobhan McGinn. Podge was famous for his encyclopaedic knowledge of Belgian beers, breweries and culture, but Siobhan was never far behind him. On a recent Tour one traveller was overheard saying to a fellow traveller ‘Siobhan – she knows her stuff’. She and Podge travelled in Belgium for almost thirty years, first alone, then with Tours and visited hundreds of Belgian breweries and probably thousands of cafes.

Podge & Siobhan at Leuven Innovation Festival 2016.

As well as a Belgian beer expert, Siobhan is a historian and an expert on beer in the First World War in Flanders. She has a Master’s degree from Birmingham University in First World War Studies (2014). Siobhan personally conducts each Tour and loves to tell travellers on the coach microphone about Belgian culture, cow breeds, Flemish dog carts and the meaning of obscure Flemish road signs. Given that Siobhan also has a degree in English Law, another two Masters degrees in Victorian Studies and English Literature and is an Egyptologist, she is rarely short of subjects to talk about! You need a vacation. You need a beer. You need a beercation. Come and join us on one of the following great tours. We have pick up and drop off points in Suffolk, Essex and Kent as can be viewed on our joining points for Podge's Belgian Beer Tours Map.

Christmas in Gent 2023

Saturday 23 December - Wednesday 27 December 2023

This is our annual Christmas Tour based in Gent in East Flanders . Our stay for five days, four nights is the centrally based Ibis St Baafs Cathedral. Join us for a leisurely drive round Flanders in our cozy luxury 49-Seater coach with some winter beers! Read more.

The Great '30 Years and Still Going' Belgian Beer Tour 2024

Wednesday 06 March - Sunday 10 March 2024

This is a great beer Tour to celebrate 30 years of Podge's Belgian Beer Tours which begain in 1994. Our stay for five days, four nights is at the luxury Hotel Park in beery Kortrijk, city of the Battle of the Golden Spurs. It's going to be epic. Read more.

Toer de Geuze & LambicLand Revisited Tour 2024

Thursday 02 May - Monday 06 May 2024

This is our classic Tour taking in the biennial Toer de Geuze and based in the luxury Hotel Keizershof in Aalst, the perfect base for exploring LambicLand - the name coined by Podge for the area which produces Lambic beers, and the name of our book published 20 years ago. Come and join Siobhan for a Tour round her favourite beers, the incomparable lambic beers of Belgium. Read more.

Beer on the Waterfront 2024

Wednesday 26 June - Sunday 30 June 2024

An excellent summer beer Tour featuring the Belgian coast, rivers, canals and inland waterways and the breweries, beer cafes and restaurants which inhabit them. Staying for four nights, five days at the centrally based Ibis St Baafs catherdal Hotel, in Gent, that most beautiful of Flemish cities with an astonishing density of brilliant beer bars. Read more.

Beer & Battlefields 2024

Wednesday 04 September - Sunday 08 September 2024

This is our special 'like-no-other' Tour taking in the battlefields of Flanders in the First World War combined with Siobhan's other great specialism, Belgian beer. We are based for five days and four nights at the very central Novtel Flanders Fields in Ypres, at the heart of the salient. Join us for a Tour by comfy coach around the unforgettable Salient and hear what happened here and why. Read more.

Questions?

Questions?

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Tour archive

Browse past tours here. You can also browse previous tours on our old website here.