Practical information for travellers in Belgium

Living Conditions

Fire/Ambulance Service	100
Police Service	101

Time zone

Type of Climate: The climate is temperate, with mild winters and cool summers. It is often rainy, humid and/or cloudy.
For Further Information: Weather Forecast: Belgium

Climate

Food Specialties: Belgian food is varied, with numerous regional specialities reflecting the diversity of the country and its neighbours. Some examples include: Tomate-crevette/ tomaat-garnaal (a snack of grey shrimp and mayonnaise stuffed into a tomato), moules-frites/ mosselen-friet (mussels cooked in white wine and served with fries) and chicons au gratin/ gegratineerde witloof (a gratin of Belgian endives in béchamel sauce with cheese). For a sweet treat, Belgian chocolates and Belgian waffles are world renown.

Fries or frites are the Belgian national dish and, according to legend, were invented in Belgium, not France. They are said to be better in Belgium than in any other place in world.
Drinks: Belgium offers an incredible diversity of beers. The most well known are Stella Artois, Duvel (literally: the Devil, beware of the 8.5% abv), Leffe, Jupiler (plain standard beer) and Hoegaarden (white beer). Kriek (a sweet or sour cherry beer) and, for the Christmas season, Stille Nacht (Silent night) are two recommendations.
Dietary Restrictions: There are no particular food restrictions in Belgium.

Domestic Currency: Euro
ISO Code: EUR
To Obtain Domestic Currency: Euros can be withdrawn at an ATM or bank counter, both of which are readily available in towns.
Possible Means of Payment: Cash, Cheque, Proton, Maestro, VISA, Amex, etc.

Official Language: Dutch, French and German. In Belgium, 5.6 million people speak Dutch, 3.5 million speak French and about 50,000 people speak German.
Other Languages Spoken: Indigenous languages, recognised since 1990, such as Walloon, and immigrant languages, such as Arabic, Spanish and Turkish.
Business Language: International negotiations are often in English, with some occurring in French.
Business is typically conducted in Flemish, French, German or even English (depending on the region).
Getting Some Knowledge: In Flemish; in French.
Free Translation Tools: Google Translate : Translation of words and web pages
Babel Fish : Free translator of texts and web pages from and to French and German
Leo : German-English-German Dictionary
Freedict.com : Dutch-English-Dutch Dictionary
IATE : The European Union Dictionary (12 languages avalaible)
Babylon : Free English-German-English translator of texts and web pages
Leo : German-English-German dictionary with over 300,000 entries
Freedict.com : Dutch-English-Dutch dictionary

To Find an Accommodation
To Find an Apartment: Sublet
Holiday Accommodation

Immoweb: Property for sale or rent
To Find a Job: Stepstone
Xpatjobs

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