Weekend Getaway to Belgium

Some of the students in the program have made really great use of their time in Europe with weekends off.  I’ve spoken with classmates who have already gone to Bath, Oxford, Dublin and Paris, and Rome (among other cities).  I recently found out that it was both affordable and relatively easy to get to Belgium.  It’s a bit ambitious, given its distance from London and the time constraints of a weekend.  All that said, I’ve now done it and it was well worth it.  Take a bus.  Perhaps you’re wondering how one takes a bus across the English Channel–let me tell you.  I booked a ticket through National Express for £54 round trip (as compared to the £250 Eurostar train ticket).  The bus leaves central London, drives you to Dover (hi, Shakespeare nerds) where your bus actually drives onto a train.  YES.  The train goes under the sea in the English Channel Tunnel and emerges in France, where your bus drives off of the train and straight for Belgium.  The whole trip takes 9 hours (to Brussels), but you also lose an hour by crossing into a new time zone.  If you are going to make a weekend trip out of it, leave as early as you can Friday and return as late as you can Sunday.  Remember that you gain an hour back on the return.  The bus will take you to the spectacular city Gent, or Brussels (and beyond).  I chose Brussels, which was... not quite what I had expected.  However, I had heard so many great things about Brugge.  I must admit that out all the cities I have ever been, this might be my new favorite.  I ended up spending the entire weekend there.  English is spoken very widely in Belgium, so getting around is not too complicated.  Also, they’re on the Euro, so your money goes much further here than in London.  I almost booked a hostel in Brussels for 30 Euros, but found that a hotel was only $87.  As a quick note, take euros out of an ATM in London without fees, as many ATMs offer both pounds & euros.