Living in Belgium | Europe's Most Magical Country Where Every Street Is a Fairy Tale | 4K

On a cold beach of the North Sea, fishermen still ride horses into the water to pull their nets. In another small town, people with mental illnesses have lived with local families for generations. And just by stepping across an almost invisible border, the language in schools, on television, and in the streets can change completely. This is Belgium. One of the smallest countries in Western Europe, but also one of the hardest to define. The tradition of catching shrimp on horseback in Oostdoenkerke, the community care model in Gilles, and Belgian beer culture have all been recognized by UNESCO in different forms. Belgium is made up of unique geographical and cultural pieces. The country consists of Flanders in the north, Wallonia in the south, and the Brussels capital region in the middle, which is distinctly international. The country has three official language communities, Dutch-speaking, French-speaking, and German-speaking. The capital, Brussels, officially uses both French and Dutch. The language communities have the right to manage areas very close to daily life, such as education, culture, media, language use, and part of social policy. Therefore, two families on opposite sides of the country can study in different systems, watch different television channels, and follow completely different cultural figures. But life in Belgium does not just happen through famous palaces or tourist sites. Every day, people take trains, trams, or bicycles through old neighborhoods, stopping at small cafes next to churches and squares. They gather at weekend markets, bakeries, fry shacks, and neighborhood bars. Life in the capital, Brussels, is always multilingual and multicultural, creating a sharp contrast between the vibrant urban rhythm in Brussels and Antwerp and the slower pace of life in Wallonia and small towns. To understand the human depth of this country, look at the tradition of the families in Gilles, where they take people experiencing mental health issues into their homes to live under one roof. They share meals, do household chores together, and participate in community life. The people receiving care are not completely separated behind the walls of treatment facilities, creating relationships that can last for many years. UNESCO selected the Gilles community care model for the Register of Good Safeguarding Practices in 2023. Belgium is small, but it has a deep and wide influence on popular culture and international life through unique inventions. This is the home of Tintin, the Smurfs, and a long tradition of Belgian comic books. This is also where John Joseph Merlin introduced the first inline roller skates while playing the violin at a party, even though at that time he had not yet invented brakes. A country without a single common language still maintains a national identity, and one of the most humane mental care models in the world did not start in a hospital, but around a family dinner table. But when Belgians do not always speak the same language, what makes them recognize each other? The answer might lie in the simplest thing, what they eat and drink together. Fries are a small food, but a source of great pride for the people here. There has always been an endless debate about the origin of this dish between Belgium and France. Belgians often tell the anecdote of the people of the Meuse River region, who fried small cut potatoes when the cold winter made fishing in the river difficult. Instead of absolute claims about the place of invention, it is the culture of fry shacks that turns this dish into a national culture. Potatoes are fried multiple times to create a crispy outside and soft inside, served in a paper cone or a paper box, and eaten with many types of sauces from stalls that appear from grand squares to ordinary neighborhoods. Fries, beer and chocolate are viewed by the Flanders tourism industry itself as important icons of the local culinary culture. When it comes to pastries, there is no single Belgian waffle. Locals distinguish clearly between two different types. The Brussels waffle is rectangular, light, fluffy, with deep pockets, a crispy exterior, and is usually eaten with powdered sugar, whipped cream or fruit. In contrast, the Liège waffle is smaller and denser, irregular in shape, containing pearl sugar pieces in the dough that form a caramelized sugar coating when baked and can easily be eaten by hand directly on the street. Belgian chocolate possesses a unique history. Jean Neuhaus originally covered medicine with chocolate to reduce the unpleasant taste for patients. In 1912, his grandson replaced the medicine with a sweet filling, forming the modern Belgian praline. Later, the Ballotin box was born to protect the soft chocolates from being crushed. One of the sweetest symbols of Belgium did not start in a bakery, but behind the counter of a pharmacy. The savory cuisine of Belgium is also rich with mousse frise, consisting of steamed mussels with celery, onions, wine or broth, served with fries, connecting the North Sea to urban diners. Carbonade flamande or stew fleas is a slow-cooked beef stew with beer, creating a thick, slightly sweet sauce with a malty flavor. Waterzooi has an origin tied to Ghent, cooked with fish or chicken, vegetables, cream and eggs, fitting for the cold and wet climate. Grey shrimp croquettes are made from the small grey shrimp of the North Sea, featuring a thick, creamy filling coated in crispy breadcrumbs. The Wallonia region is famous for boulets à la ligeoise, large meatballs combined with a sweet and sour sauce made from onions, vinegar, fruit syrup and raisins. Beer in Belgium is not just a drink. UNESCO describes nearly 1,500 types of beer produced by many different fermentation methods, from Trappist beer tied to monasteries, naturally fermented Lambic beer, Gose beer blended from multiple Lambic batches, to Saison beer tied to rural traditions and fruit beers. Each type of beer usually has a uniquely shaped glass. Beer appears in stews, festivals and every social gathering. Belgian beer culture was inscribed by UNESCO in 2016 In Leuven, the old market square is dubbed the longest bar in Europe, as beer bars sit side by side around the square, where students, locals and tourists share the space. In Belgium, the shape of the glass is sometimes almost as important as the type of beer inside, and the most famous chocolate in the country started from an idea to hide the bitter taste of medicine. But these foods were not born in a vacuum. They grew up among cities where belfries, guildhalls and canals have kept their shapes for centuries. Bruges is a city reflected on the water. In the historic centre recognized by UNESCO in the year 2000, the marked square appears with colourful guildhalls and a tall belfry tower. Walking up the 366 steps of the belfry, visitors can look out over a panoramic view of ancient tiled roofs under the mist. Boat trips on the canals take viewers past low bridges and old buildings, proving its title as the Venice of the North. Nearby is Minuater, the Lake of Love, home to a bridge and a legend of eternal love, creating a poetic moment of quiet after the crowded square. The living culture of Bruges is also preserved through the procession of the Holy Blood, inscribed by UNESCO in 2009, and the regular carillon bells ringing through the neighbourhoods where religious rituals still pass through modern streets. The city of Ghent is a place where the past has not been turned into a mere tourist stage. It stands out with three proud towers, Saint Nicholas Church, the belfry, and Saint Bavo's Cathedral. Ghent has cobblestone streets, canals flowing through, and a more modern life than Bruges. The Castle of the Counts, Gravenstein, built in the 12th century, has served as a castle, a court, a prison, and a cotton mill, offering panoramic views from its ramparts. Inside Saint Bavo's Cathedral rests the masterpiece, the Ghent Altarpiece, with its full name The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, completed by the Van Eyck brothers in 1432. This artwork went through much damage, displacement, theft, and multiple restorations to become one of the most important pieces of European art. Outside the central suburbs, Lahn Castle stands firm with its preserved ramparts and a collection of antique silver, reflecting the aristocratic life of the past. Leuven is a city of academia and beer. The Gothic town hall of the city impresses with a façade featuring 236 statues, which were added mostly in the 19th century. The Old Market Square, nicknamed the longest bar in Europe, is always bustling with beer culture and student life. It also features the Groot Begijnhof, a beguinage, a community of women who lived a devout life but did not necessarily become nuns. They could work, manage property, and serve the community. The small houses, courtyards, and cobblestone streets here reflect a rare social model in medieval Europe, which has been recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Bruges is a preserved city, Ghent is a medieval city that is still living, and Leuven is where the past blends into students, beer, and academia. A castle could once be the residence of a count, then become a prison and then a factory, and a religious painting could go through nearly six centuries of theft, war, and restoration, but still return to the exact cathedral where it was created. These cities show how Belgium has preserved its past. But beyond the stone walls is a completely different country, with a cold sea, peat bogs, ancient forests, and lands once torn apart by war. Ostend was a small fishing village before King Leopold I chose it as a summer retreat. The royal presence drew the nobility and wealthy tourists, turning the city into the queen of Belgian seaside resorts. It has about nine kilometers of sandy beaches stretching along the coastal promenade, cafes, restaurants, and many activities like windsurfing and kitesurfing. Tucked away on the coast is Fort Napoleon, a pentagonal structure built between 1810 and 1814 to protect the coast under Napoleon, which later bore heavy marks of both world wars before becoming a museum. In Oestdwingkerke, shrimp fishing on horseback is a striking cultural site. Large horses patiently pull nets through shallow waters, followed by fishermen dressed in waterproof gear. The grey shrimp are gathered into baskets hanging on both sides of the horse after being caught. This trade depends closely on the tides, weather, and knowledge passed down through generations, standing as a community tradition maintained and inscribed by UNESCO in 2013. Not far from the medieval city of Bruges is the Zwin, a coastal nature reserve with mudflats, salt marshes, migratory birds, and salt-tolerant plants, creating a contrasting world of wilderness. Moving east, the High Fens appears like a miniature tundra landscape. This is a cold plateau with peat bogs, moors, wooden boardwalks, mist, and frost in winter. Signal de Bottrange is the highest point in Belgium, located here, surrounded by forests, streams, and lakes, bringing a landscape completely different from the crowded squares. Belgium also possesses distinctive forests. The Hallibos Forest is famous for its spring season of blue and purple bluebells, turning the entire forest floor a different color for a few weeks, requiring close-up shots of flowers combined with wide views of the forest landscape. Right outside Brussels is the Sonian Forest, with its tall beech trees, trails, and morning mist, creating a contrast with the European administrative quarter and the flow of city traffic. Part of this forest is included in the ancient beech forests recognized by UNESCO. To the south, the Ardennes mountain region is covered by thick forests, hills, valleys, and winding rivers. Locals and tourists often hike and kayak to explore these natural waterways. This land features ancient stone villages like La Roche-en-Ardenne, Bouillon, and Derby, with stone houses, sloping roofs, and cobbled streets. Derby is often promoted as one of the smallest cities in the world. Despite holding city status since the Middle Ages, with narrow streets, stone houses, 17th century buildings, and colorful shutters, Derby still keeps a peaceful atmosphere like an old village. In just a few hours, Belgium can take viewers from a forest of purple flowers to a frozen peat plateau, and then down to a beach where fishermen still ride horses into the sea. But Belgium is not only shaped by nature or ancient cities. In Brussels and Antwerp, political power, avant-garde art, global commerce, and memories that are hard to face coexist in a very small space. The capital, Brussels, has many contrasting faces. It concentrates the administrative buildings of Europe, trams, and morning commuters, mixed with old neighborhoods, markets, and multilingual cafes. As evening falls, the grand place appears as the heart of the city. This central square is recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, thanks to the Gothic and Baroque architecture of the town hall and the intricately decorated guild halls. Alongside the ancient style is the 102-meter high Atomium, a structure modeling a giant magnified iron crystal. Built for the 1958 World's Fair, the Atomium was not originally intended to last permanently, but has become a symbol of science, modernization, and post-war optimism, allowing a panoramic view of Brussels from the upper sphere. Nearby is the Cinquantenaire Park, which celebrates the 50th anniversary of Belgian independence with a large arch, a military museum, an art and history museum, and the Orto World Centre, showing the image of power of a young nation wanting to assert its position. Brussels is also the cradle of Victor Horta and the Art Nouveau style. Buildings like the Hotel Tassel, Hotel Solvay, Hotel Van Ietveld, along with the home and workshop of Victor Horta, turned residential architecture into a total work of art. The architecture here is characterized by wrought iron, glass, spiral staircases, skylights, and curves inspired by plants. The major houses of Victor Horta have all been recognized as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. The port city of Antwerp is tied to its historic role and position as a long-standing center of the diamond trade. Diamond activity began to develop centuries ago, turning this place into a world-famous hub for trading, sorting, and cutting thanks to an international network of merchants, and a reputation for technique and trust. The wealth of Antwerp is shown through the Central Station, which is compared to a cathedral of the railroad with its glass dome, stone facade, and palace-like spaces. Another architectural highlight is the Gothic Cathedral of Our Lady, with a tall spire dominating the skyline, built over generations and home to artworks by the master painter Peter Paul Rubens. Located between Brussels and Antwerp is Mechelen, a city often overlooked but possessing a peaceful old town, and St. Rumbauld's Tower. From the top of the tower, viewers can observe the entire vast surrounding region, creating a relaxing pause between two major cities. Brussels once built the Atomium to look toward the future, while just a few neighborhoods away sit the Art Nouveau houses that changed world architecture, and Antwerp turns rough stones from many continents into symbols of wealth. But the greatest influence of Belgium does not always come from the capital or a commercial center. Sometimes it begins in a small town by the river, from an instrument maker looking for a sound that has never existed before. The city of Dunant is nestled between the Meuse River and steep cliffs. This is the birthplace of Adolphe Sax, who invented the saxophone. Along the Charles de Gaulle Bridge, colorful saxophone models are set up next to a memorial space and a museum dedicated to him. This instrument later became a key sound in jazz, rock, pop, and classical music around the world. On the high cliff is the Citadel of Dunant, dating back to the 11th century, which has been rebuilt many times. Visitors can take a cable car up to the Citadel to observe the river and the city below. At the foot of the cliff is the Collegiate Church of Notre-Dame, with its distinctive dome sitting right at the water's edge, where river cruises open up panoramic views. Namur, the capital of the Wallonia region, possesses a large citadel strategically located high up. It has narrow old streets, small squares, and a slower atmosphere than Brussels. The city is famous for the tradition of Namur stilt jousting, inscribed by UNESCO, where two teams standing on stilts try to throw their opponents off balance in the middle of a square surrounded by cheering crowds. Tongeren is the oldest city in Belgium, originating from Roman times, with archaeological layers still lying deep beneath the streets. The Basilica of Our Lady here stands out with a tall tower and a blend of Romanesque and Gothic architecture. The city's Gallo-Roman Museum leads viewers on a journey from prehistoric times to the end of the Roman period through ancient tools, statues, and detailed reconstructed villas. In the days before Lent, the Carnival of Binch takes place, featuring the characters of the who wear traditional costumes, wooden clogs, and masks, playing drums, and parading. This is a tradition originating from the Middle Ages, passed down through many generations by families and the community, and has been inscribed by UNESCO. Belgian music creates a diverse line of shifting sounds, from the carillon ringing out from medieval belfries, with its safeguarding program recognized by UNESCO in 2014, the singing voice of Jacques Brel in the chanson tradition, the saxophone sounds of Dinant, to the new beat genre of the late 20th century, with its slow, cold, and industrial electronic sound, creating a contrast between church sounds and nightclubs. Catholic beliefs once deeply influenced Belgian education, hospitals, festival calendars, and urban structures. Even though modern society is increasingly secular, church bells, processions, carnivals, and holidays still live on as community memories. At the same time, Brussels and Antwerp today have a more diverse religious life, thanks to new immigrant communities. The country of medieval bells and religious processions is also the place where the saxophone was born, and home to one of the darkest electronic music scenes in Europe. Festivals help the past return for a few days, but there are layers of the past that have never really disappeared. They lie underground, in war fields, and even in the wealth of royal buildings. The historical layers of Belgium began very early in Spiens, the Neolithic flint mines near Mons. Deep shafts were dug underground to get good stone for tools, proving that the mining tradition in this land appeared long before the coal and steel industries were born. This site has been recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. By the Middle Ages, the wealth of Flemish cities like Bruges and Ghent was built through trade, the textile industry, guilds, and trade routes that thrived under the Dukes of Burgundy. This is why relatively small cities possess such massive squares, town halls, and belfries. In 1815, the Battle of Waterloo broke out, marking the final defeat of Napoleon and the end of an empire. Today, the artificial hill called the Lion's Mound is built to mark the area where the Prince of Orange was wounded, opening up a panoramic view of the battlefield, creating a contrast between the current peaceful meadows and the battle that decided the fate of Europe in the past. The major turning point came in 1830 when an uprising broke out in Brussels, helping Belgium separate from the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Provisional Government declared independence on October 4, 1830. Later, Leopold I became the country's first king in 1831. July 21, the day he took his official oath, became the National Day of Belgium. After gaining independence, Belgium was the first country on the European continent to step strongly into the Industrial Revolution. Coal, iron, steel, railways, and factories grew rapidly. Liege, Charleroi, and the mining sites in Wallonia became major industrial centers. Beneath the beautiful avenues and train stations, thousands of laborers worked in difficult conditions. Four major mining sites including Grand Hornu, Bois du Luc, Bois du Cazier, and Blegny Mine have been recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites. These sites include complete mines, extraction towers, workers' housing, schools, churches, and administrative spaces, creating an almost complete society built around coal. Another historical chapter that cannot be avoided is the connection with the Congo. From 1885 to 1908, the Congo Free State existed under the personal control of King Leopold II before being turned into the colony of the Belgian Congo in 1908. This colonial activity generated large economic benefits but came with violence, forced labor, and long-lasting consequences. Part of the profit from the royal domain in the Congo was used to fund massive construction projects in Belgium. The Africa Museum in Tervuren was originally used by Leopold II as a tool to promote the colonial project and attract investors. Today, the museum itself must question how it displays and explains the history it once helped legitimize. Part of Belgium's splendor was built during the period when the king's power reached into Central Africa. What remains today is not just museums and avenues but also an unfinished debate about memory, responsibility, and how to retell the past. Belgium is also a place that holds the painful memories of two world wars. In Ypres and the fields of Flanders Fields, the trenches, the location of Passchendaele, the use of poison gas, and the military cemeteries are still there. There stands the Menin Gate, where the last post ceremony sounds every single day to remember about 1 million soldiers from more than 50 countries who were wounded, went missing, or died on this major battlefield of the Western Front. The city was once completely destroyed and then rebuilt, but the current fields still bear heavy marks of war. In Ypres, war is not just in museums. It is still beneath the fields that locals cultivate every day. By World War II, the forested mountains of the Ardennes became the battlefield for the Battle of the Bulge in the winter of 1944 to 1945. This was one of the last major counteroffensives by Nazi Germany on the Western Front, taking place in dense forests, heavy snow, and difficult terrain. The museums and memorials here create a deep contrast between the peaceful landscape today and the fierce past of the battlefield. Going through many historical changes and tensions between language communities, along with economic differences between Flanders and Wallonia, Belgium carried out state reforms to change from a centralized country into a federation. Power is shared equally among three regions and three language communities. Belgium did not erase differences, but built institutions so that those differences could coexist. The Golden Squares, Grand Stations, and Royal Museums of Belgium cannot be separated from coal mines, industrial labor, war, and colonial history. After all those cracks, the final question is no longer what Belgium went through, but why this country has not fallen apart. Today, trains still regularly run between Brussels, Ghent, and Antwerp. Students walk into schools and absorb knowledge in different languages. Church bells continue to ring across ancient squares, and beer bars open their doors to guests every afternoon. On the North Sea beach, fishermen still prepare horses before the tide comes in. Families in Gilles sit down at the dinner table together. People hike among the wilderness of the High Fens or the Ardennes, and the sound of the last post still patiently rings out under the arch of the Menin Gate. Belgium is the intersection of complex layers of identity between Flanders and Wallonia, between Dutch, French, and German, between traditional Catholicism and a modern secular society. There is the simultaneous presence of medieval belfries and electronic music, of stone villages alongside powerful international organizations, of monastery beers with vibrant club life, and of solemn Gothic architecture with the free curves of Art Nouveau. It is a place where national pride always walks alongside historical memories that are hard to face. Belgium exists not because everyone here speaks the same language, reads the same newspaper, or looks at history in a single way. This country exists because they have learned how to build a system in which differences do not need to disappear completely to make room for uniformity. Perhaps the most special thing about Belgium does not lie in chocolate, diamonds, or splendid squares. It lies in the ability of a very small land to hold many different worlds inside itself and still call them all by the same name. If the journey through the ancient cities, cold forests, and lesser-known stories of Belgium has brought you closer to this country, please hit like, subscribe to the channel, and continue to join us on our next explorations.