I fondly remember a comment made by Ian in his review of Telc: In a country that has plenty of pretty town squares this one has to take the prize for the prettiest.. Those words rang very true at the time as I stood on the Telc town square and accompanied me along my travels in Czechia.

These words echoed again in my mind as I visited a few more of the Belfries on a short weekend trip to Belgium and Northern France. But... Instead of inscribing a representative subset of Belfries - let alone the single best one - it feels like the Belgian and French authorities went the opposite way: Put each and every Belfry on the list that there is. This includes rather simple examples such as the one in Kortrijk. Or very modern structures - looking at you, Lille - that are more of an architectural quote than an original Belfry. You also find reconstructions such as the one in Arras which was destroyed during World War 1. Finally, multiple places are WHS on their own or closely tied to one (Brugges, Tournai).

Still, I had a very pleasant time seeing yet more Belfries. Flanders is a blessed area of the world rich in culture and history. Drop me off in any Belgian city and I will enjoy myself. But this also holds true for most Czech cities of which not every one boasts a WHS market square. In the end, as much as I enjoyed the scavanger hunt, I feel the Czech approach is the proper one for WHS.

Where to go?

If I had to pick the best site, I would probably say Antwerp. In the end it's not really about the Belfries themselves, but what else the city has to offer. And Antwerp as a city is a clear favorite of mine. It also seems to be the city with the most inscribed locations for Belfries.

If you are looking at combining your Belfry visit with other WHS, you have plenty of options to do so:

• Antwerp: Plantin Moretus, Le Corbusier. You may also venture North to see the Van Nelle Factory or Kinderdijk, the quintessential Dutch wind mill site.
• Tournai: Cathedral
• Amiens: Cathedral
• Arras: Vauban, Nord-Pas de Calais Mining (Lens). It also hosts one of the WWI cementeries.
• Mons: Spiennes, Wallonia Mining Sites, Four Lifts. And yet another WWI site, but a special one seeing it's a German-English site.
• Charleroi: Wallonia Mining Sites
• Brugges: City itself and a Beguinage.
• Kortrijk, Gent, Leuven, Tongeren: Beguinage

Of the sites I have seen, I would single out Lille as being a terrible first visit. My parents went, couldn't find it at first, couldn't believe they had actually found it and then had good laugh. I get their point. It's fairly modern and not part of the old town. It is amusing to see, though, when you have seen some of the more classical ones before.

Personally, I still want to visit Gent. And having passed the city quite a few times by train, each time thinking how great the Belfry looks, I also want to see Mechelen.

Getting There and Around

Belgium and Northern France are blessed with splendid public transport options, most of these listed in google maps. The distances aren't that great either, so happy hunting.