Beer Tours of Belgium

“Every serious beer connoisseur owes it to themselves to visit Belgium--unfreakin’ believable!”
--BBM! Founder Stu Stuart

Tour Calendar

Prices based on double occupancy, per person, U.S. dollars, land only. Single room supplements apply (SS). Gratuities to professional local guides, drivers not included. We can also work with you to pair you with other single travelers to avoid the single supplement. Better yet, recruit a friend to come, too!

We require a minimum number of guests for each tour to be guaranteed to go, so it’s important to sign-up ASAP, as opposed to waiting until the deadline. Also, tours can fill rapidly and suddenly, so signing up early ensures that you will go and not be disappointed. Please spread the word about BBM! tours to fellow Belgian beer enthusiasts, your friends in general, and encourage them to join the fun!

Upcoming Tours

• The Ardennes Mountain Spring Beer Tour of Belgium--May 28-June 5, 2008-- Nine days, eight nights. Arguably one of the most beautiful regions in Belgium, the Ardennes Mountains are rich with beer culture, scenery, gourmet cuisine (Ham, Trout, etc.), enchanting towns and history. On this tour we plan to visit the breweries of Achouffe, Caracole, Fantome, Rochefort, Chimay, Orval, Du Bocq, Des Fagnes, Bouillion, Trois Forquets and La Ferme Au Chene. More information....
  
  $2495 land only, $495 single supplement. Deadline to sign up, April 28, 2008. $100 discount if you sign up before Feb. 28, 2008.
  
  
• The Lonely Monks’ Trappist Beer Tour of Belgium--Oct. 18-27, 2008. Ten days, nine nights. Beer is one of the few indulgences monks are permitted and thus one of the reasons they know how to brew special beers so incredibly well. On this very special tour we will visit the seven Trappist Abbeys that brew beer (six in Belgium and one just across the border in the Netherlands) and sample their beers. More information...
  
  $2595 land only, $575 single supplement. Deadline to sign-up Sept. 18, 2008 . $100 discount if you sign up before June 18, 2008.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The Essen Christmas Beer Festival Tour of Belgium--Dec. 6-15, 2008. Ten days, nine nights. Tis the season to be jolly! This is a very, very special and merry festival featuring many delightful seasonal Belgian brews, which are only available in Essen and in limited quantities. “...a Belgian fest is something that needs to be experienced at least once by all true beer enthusiasts,” says renowned beer writer Stephen Beaumont. This unique tour begins in Brussels and culminates at the famous “Kerstbierfestival” in Essen, near Antwerp. This tour (as all of BBM! tours) makes a perfect Christmas present for the gourmand in your life! More information...
  
  $2595 land only, $575 single supplement. Deadline to sign up. $100 discount if you sign up before July 6, 2008.
  
  
• The Duvels, Kwaks, Draaks and Great Zythos Beer Festival Tour—Feb. 28-March 9, 2009. Deadline to sign up is Jan. 28, 2009. This tour derives its name from some of the beers made by the breweries and places we will visit, and of course the Zythos Beer Festival (ZBF). For this special tour on day six, we join forces with renowned beer author, Belgian beer expert and beer tour guide, Chris Pollard, better known in beer circles as “Podge.” More information and itinerary...

$2595 land only, $495 single supplement.
$100 discount if you sign up before Aug. 28, 2008.

BBM! tours visit breweries, bars (known as cafés and taverns in Belgium), restaurants, beer stores, monasteries, beer museums and other beery places, where of course, in most instances we enjoy beer. You might look at our tours as a rolling beer appreciation class, where there are no tests and the only requirement is to have fun. All tours are personally guided by BBM! founder and Belgian-beer enthusiast Stu Stuart.

While on tour, our guests stay in nice, clean, safe three-star and four-star hotels. Transportation is a combination of private motor coach and public transportation. All breakfasts and some lunches and dinners are provided. Tours typically begin in Brussels, which has direct air service and is an easy train ride from Amsterdam and Paris. Tours do not include airfare, although, we are glad to assist in providing information. Many people choose to use frequent-flyer miles. Do not purchase air tickets until the trip is confirmed by BBM! to go.

While the platform for our tours is beer, Belgium, its food, people, culture, traditions, architecture, history, scenery, etc. prevails. Most of our customers are beer-oriented folks, but others will have just as much fun and maybe even be converted--no pressure, though. THIS IS NOT “JUST A TRIP FOR THE BOYS."

We also provide general tours of each of the cities in which we stay. There is plenty of free time to explore, eat, shop, nap, whatever, as we do not structure every moment of our tours. You are encouraged to arrive in Europe several days early to allow time to adjust to the time zone and to enjoy some time of your own.

More beer tours, to-be-determined, are in the works and will be posted as they develop. We like to conclude our tours, when possible, at some of the more popular Belgian-beer festivals.

From Flanders to Wallonia, our tours will allow you to see where and how some of your favorite Belgian beers are are brewed and will turn you on to some you may have never heard of and in many instances may not be available in the United States. Belgium has more than 500 varieties of beers produced by more than 100 breweries. One of the many nice things about our tours is we have done the footwork, research, etc. and take the guess work out of traveling. Enjoy the advantage of worry-free travel. You will visit some of the finest breweries, beer cafe’s and beer festivals in Belgium, and experience arguably the finest, most interesting beers in the world. You just have to show up, relax, sample beers and have fun!

Previous Tours (Please check back for similar tours in the future.)

• Thanks to all who attended the The Herentalse Bierfeesten (Beer Festival) Tour in October 2007.
  
  Below is an excerpt from an article by Celebrator Beer News writer Chuck Cook, who visited the festivals:

“In 2005, I visited ... the 8th edition of the Herentalse Bierfeesten, which is
run by the local boy and girl scout club, KSJ (Yes, I said a scout club. I imagine American neo-prohibitionists would react to this with abject horror!). The fest venue is usually the town hall of the small city of Herentals; however last year it was held inside a tent on Augustijnenlaan, with some additional outside seating. Temperatures in the mid 70's on October 29 were unexpected, but very welcome!

The beer selection was very, very good: 125 different brews, from over 60 different Belgian breweries. Many of Belgium's great beers were on offer, and Wallonian products were nearly as well represented as those from Flanders. As well, you will find plenty of beers from small artisanal Belgian microbreweries. Take it from me: this fest is an undiscovered gem!

On the same Saturday, I headed over to the Heikantse Bierfeesten (in its 18th year), located in Berlaar-Heikant, which is only about 20 km from Herentals. Both towns are in Antwerp province, to the southeast of the city of Antwerp. Very convenient!

I wondered: why would two beer fests be held the same weekend, in locations so close to each other? Fons Minne, President of the Heikantse Bierliefhebbers (a Zythos-affiliated beer club) which runs this beer fest, enlightened me: "The last weekend of October is the weekend that clocks are turned back one hour in Belgium, early Sunday morning. So, you can drink, or sleep, for an extra hour. Also, it is in the late Autumn, but before the cold winter weather begins. So, it is a good time for a beer fest." The Heikantse fest featured a quality selection of 76 different beers, as well as about ten aged brews. There were some early 90's vintages from Cantillon and Dupont, among others. The whole range of beers were all very reasonably priced, which is true at many Belgian beer fests. The staff was very friendly and service was fast and efficient, and there were enough snack foods offered to keep the beer from absorbing too quickly. There was live music at the event, and the locals seemed
to be having a lot of fun!”

• The Beer Cafés of Bruges Tour, Oct. 19-22, 2007, for a long weekend in Bruges, the most romantic city in Belgium and arguably all of Europe. In Belgium, bars are known as cafés and Bruges has dozens of cozy, cool and historic ones serving an unbelievable assortment of Belgian beers. Named a World Heritage Site in 2000 by UNESCO, Bruges is a charming, medieval city with dozens of beer cafés, narrow cobblestone streets, flower-lined canals, bridges, gabled houses and horse-drawn carriages. This four-day, three-night beer tour will start and end in Bruges. We will stay at one hotel, have some meals together (included in price are two dinners and one lunch) and some on your own. All breakfasts are included.
  
  This is a good introductory trip to BBM! as it is shorter and thus, more affordable. Also, because we are based in Bruges, we don’t waste a lot of time riding around on a bus (We do that on our other tours :-)). Also included will be a scenic canal boat ride. This is an ideal beer tour to tag on to a larger trip you have planned of Europe or if you just want to hop over from Britain, or other neighboring countries, for the weekend. We’ll visit some famous cafés and some you may have never found on your own. Bruges is about an hour train ride from the station at the Brussels airport. Alternately, catch a train from Paris (about 2 1/2 hours) or Amsterdam (about 3 hours). Price: $600, SS $150
  
  
• The Herentalse Bierfeesten (Beer Festival) Tour, Oct. 26-29, 2007, for a long weekend in Herentalse and Antwerp. This four-day, three-night beer tour will start and end in Antwerp (a short, easy train or ground shuttle ride from the Brussels airport). We will stay at one hotel, have some meals together (included in price are two dinners and one lunch) and some on your own. We will also visit the nearby, and also famous, Heikantse Beer Festival. You get two world-class beer festivals in one amazing tour! All breakfasts are included. This is another good introductory trip to BBM! as it is shorter and thus, more affordable.

Read this informative article from REI: Benefits of Organized Tours and What to Expect

Professional Brewers Wanted

Professional Brewers Travel Incentive: BBM! offers reduced rates to qualified professional brewers as an incentive to travel to Belgium, increase their brewing knowledge and produce Belgian-style ales in the United States. Ah, but if only it were that altruistic. BBM! also recognizes and appreciates the benefits of having professional brewers on its tours to add to everyone’s experience. Please email or call us for details!

Travel Agents

We offer competitive commissions for bookings for qualified travel agents. Email or call us for details.

Reward yourself with a beer tour of Belgium. You’ve earned it and you deserve it.

Space is limited, so sign up today at stu@belgianbeerme.com or by calling (231) 215-0173!