CASTLES OF THE MEUSE AND SAMBRE
NEW
aboard MS Johannes Brahms
!!!+ – see pages 144-149 for details
7 nights ALL INCLUSIVE from £1499
No fly option
Includes insurance and cancellation cover§ Price reduction available if not required.
GERMAN WATERWAYS
Sail the Belgian waterways through Flanders, stopping to explore Ghent and Tournai.
Ghent Castle
Day 1: UK to Brussels. Travel by coach from Folkestone to Brussels via Eurotunnel or ferry and embark your ship Johannes Brahams. Enjoy a welcome dinner on board as your ship moors here overnight. Day 2: Brussels to Merelbeke. Spend a relaxing morning on board your ship before disembarking for an included excursion to Ghent, where you’ll enjoy a tour of the medieval Castle of the Counts. Set in the heart of the city, the moated castle has a gatehouse, ramparts, a keep, count’s residence and stables, all of which are open to visitors. You’ll rejoin your ship at Merelbeke for an overnight mooring.
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Day 3: Merelbeke to Tournai. Continue sailing through Flanders this morning, stopping for an included coach tour, during which your guide will talk about the history of Flanders and you will stop to visit the Flanders Field American Cemetery and Memorial. Continue sailing into Wallonia where your ship will moor at Tournai, a city divided by the River Scheldt. Day 4: Tournai to Strépy-Thieu. This morning enjoy an included tour of the city, where highlights include the vast Cathedral of Notre-Dame with its five towers and rose window, the medieval Red Fort tower and the 12th-century Belfry of Tournai, which dominates the main square of Grand Place.
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This afternoon your ship will navigate several locks before arriving at the funicular lift of Strépy-Thieu. This feat of modern Belgian engineering allows inland waterway vessels to cross a 73.15 meter difference in height, making it the largest boat lift in Europe. Your ship moors here overnight. Day 5: Strépy-Thieu. Sail through the morning, passing through more locks before disembarking for an optional afternoon visit to Le Bois du Cazier where you can learn more about the work of a miner during the 19th century. This UNESCO-listed site is the location of a major mining disaster that occurred on August 8, 1956. Overnight mooring.
