20 Things to Do in Flemish Brabant

The Expats Bucket List is a fun way to discover 20 things to do in Flemish Brabant

Firstly, just in case you’re wondering …

WHAT AND WHERE IS FLEMISH BRABANT?

Belgium is composed of three regions — Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels. Flanders and Wallonia are each divided into five provinces. Flemish Brabant is one of the provinces of the Flanders region. As you can see from the map below, it encircles Brussels and extends over to the east. You can also see it’s sub-divided into the Groene Gordel (the green area) and Hageland (red).

Being close to Brussels, and with Leuven as its capital, means that there are thousands of international folk living in Flemish Brabant. The tourism department of Flemish Brabant is keen to encourage these expats to discover the many and varied delights of the province. (And it really does have a lot of delights. I know because I have lived in the province for over 30 years). To meet this goal, they have come up with a novel initiative.

THE FLEMISH BRABANT BUCKET LIST

The Flemish Brabant Bucket List includes information on 20 sights to see, places to eat, cultural events and activities that expats can discover in the province. It’s an extremely informative website. There’s a fun element to it too.

“DONE THAT, BEEN THERE, GOT THE T-SHIRT!”

There are 20 “buckets”. If you have already done a particular activity or visited a place, then you give it a tick. As a reward, you get 5 points. Go through all 20 in this way and you will get a total score of “How Local You Are”. You can then share your score on social media and enter a prize competition.

For the places or activities that you haven’t experienced and so can’t tick off the Bucket List, the website gives you some extra info and links. So, for example, I fall short in the category “visit a regional vineyard.” But the website provides links to nine vineyards in the province, so I’ve got no excuse now.

So what are you waiting for? Head over to the Flemish Brabant Bucket List and check out or tick off the 20 activities. They range from a visit to a local village market, cycling all the way around Brussels, visiting a castle, getting acquainted with a local hero, to attending a music festival.

I applaud the aims of Tourism Flemish Brabant to reach out to the international community and encourage greater participation in discovering everything that Flemish Brabant has to offer. It’s a continuing goal of the department. In 2016 I was invited to contribute to their new and excellent English language brochure on the province. They also make a lot of walking and cycling maps of the area. And this year the cycling network in the province is being renewed and expanded, so I look forward to announcing the changes here soon. In the meantime you can make use of their online cycle route planner.

So start filling those buckets or making plans to do so. And let me know what you think of this initiative, and how Local you are, in the comments below.

Here’s a pin to pin on your Pinterest board:

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