Things to do in Belgium

In Antwerp, dozens of kilometres of trenches, parapets and ramparts lie hidden under a thick crust of branches and leaves.

The Zwin region between Belgium and the Netherlands has had an eventful military past as a natural border since the Hundred Years' War broke loose. Even during World War I, the border region came back into focus.

World War I drove soldiers from all over the world to the battlefield in West Flanders. More than a hundred thousand Senegalese tirailleurs were also called up.

The Albert Canal was opened to shipping in 1939. However, its construction had consequences for rail traffic. Railway line 20's route between Hasselt and Maastricht was changed, and the Albert Canal at Gellik was crossed via a Vierendeel bridge.

Hikers in a new nature reserve in West Flanders were surprised to find the carcass of a Volkswagen van among the greenery. The van was reportedly once parked there as a hunting cabin.

The Belgian army erected an observation post on the remains of the presbytery of St Catherine's Chapel in Pervijze during World War I. 

Not much remains of Ramskapelle's former railway station today, as it was shot to pieces during the Battle of the Yser. The station was, therefore, right on the front line along the Yser.

Although today, Vloethemveld is a 350-hectare nature reserve a stone's throw from Bruges, it was once home to a Belgian army ammunition depot and the nature area also hides other military secrets.

In 1930, when Belgium celebrated its centenary, Antwerp and Liège staged a world exhibition. Dozens of countries settled there and built pavilions to show their best sides, including Sweden.

Together with Liège, Antwerp was home to the 1930 World's Exposition, a double exhibition that the Bureau International des Expositions did not recognise.