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The Graslei and Korenlei are departure points for canal trips. The two quays are lined with the step-gabled guildhouses of merchants and tradesmen that date back to the 12th century. Sint Michielsbrug, the bridge at the southern end, offers the best views of the city.

Not only is this one of the great north European collections, with star roles played by the late medieval masters of Flemish painting, such as Jan van Eyck and Hans Memling; it is also refreshingly small (see Two Museums of Bruges).

If it is hard to picture quite how life was led during Bruges’ past, this museum will do much to fill in the gaps. It presents a rich collection of everyday artifacts from the homes of the merchant classes, from kitchen-ware to musical instruments, furniture, textiles and weapons. The 15th-century building was once the palace of the Lords of Gruuthuse, who became wealthy through a tax on beer flavourings (gruut ); as a mark of their status, the house has a gallery overlooking the choir of the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk next door. The house was restored in the 19th century to exhibit the pieces that founded this collection.

Heavily restored medieval castle, complete with dungeon.

Just north of the centre of Ghent is a quaint and folksy quarter called the Patershol, a warren of little medieval streets and alleys. This is the backdrop for one of the best folk museums in Belgium (it was formerly called the Museum voor Volkskunde). A huge and fascinating collection of artifacts – toys, games, shoes and crockery, as well as complete shops and craftsmen’s workshops – are laid out within almshouses set around a grassy courtyard. These almshouses were founded in 1363 as a children’s hospital – not as an act of pure philanthropy but as penance for the murder of two members of the Alijn family.

Magical folk museum (see Het Huis van Alijn).

This should appeal to children of all ages. A vintage tram strains and squeaks its way along the wooded path from the Musée du Tram Bruxellois to the Musée Royale de l’Afrique Centrale (see Koninklijk Museum voor Midden-Africa (KMMA)) and back.

Ieper (French: Ypres) was one of the great medieval trading cities of Flanders. Its historic past was all but erased when it became the focal point of bitter trench warfare in World War I. Today it is the centre for visits to the trenches and the many cemeteries, and site of the Menin Gate, the memorial arch marking the road along which so many soldiers marched, never to return. But the real draw is “In Flanders Fields”, a superb museum depicting the background and course of the war, its experiences, textures and horrors – a richly informative and deeply moving experience.

There are three béguinages (see Bruges) in Ghent, but this is by far the prettiest. With step-gabled, whitewashed houses set around a little park and Baroque church, it is a classic of its kind – a fact recognized by its status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was founded as a community of single women in about 1235, and has been continuously occupied, although the residents are no longer béguines . Most of the present houses date from the 17th century.

The Royal Museum of Central Africa represents a grandiose enterprise: the huge and elegant Neo-Classical palace built in the early 1900s to promote the wonders of Belgium’s greatest colonial possession, the vast tract of Central Africa called the Congo. The original purpose – education and glorification – has been sorely compromised by the uncomfortable re-evaluation of Belgium’s colonial history in recent years. There are numerous anthropological exhibits, including a vast canoe hewn from a single tree trunk, plus mementos from the history of exploration, such as Henry Stanley’s cap.