Join Pub Culture Beercations and our good friend and award-winning beer-travel author, Tim Skelton, for a 12-night BENELUX Beercation and explore the best beer bars, pubs, and breweries in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, from June 19th through July 1st, 2025!
Starting in Antwerp, Belgium, this tour will also overnight in Breda, Netherlands, Brugges and Ghent, Belgium, before heading to Maastricht, Netherlands - where we will be attending the 24 Uuhr van Maastricht Beer Festival, Luxembourg City, and ending in Brussels, Belgium.
Tim Skelton is the author of several beer-travel books, including two about Dutch beer and a travel guide to Luxembourg, and a personal friend to Pub Culture Beercations. Beyond writing his books, Tim has also contributed to other beer and travel guides and has written features for dozens of magazines and websites, most recently the Good Beer Guide to Belgium. Tim will be joining the entire tour! He has helped us curate pub crawls - some that will be guided and some D.I.Y. - in each city with his beer-travel books. Everyone on this tour will be receiving autographed copies of his book, as well as a 4-pack of a special beer that Tim and Chris brewed with K.E.G.S. Brewery in Amsterdam!
Beyond visiting great breweries such as La Trappe, Kees, Westvleteren, Van Steenberge, Duvel, Twisted Cat, and Orval, this tour will explore some of Belgium's WWI and WWII history. We will stop in Ypres and visit the WWI In Flanders Field Museum, the Mennen Gate, and Tyne Cot Cemetery, trace footsteps of American Soldiers - including EZ company's "Band of Brothers" - during the Battle of the Bulge, and the American Cemetery in Luxembourg where General George Patton has been laid to rest.
After landing at the Brussels International Airport (or another European airport of their choice, like maybe Amsterdam or Paris) beercationers will make their way to Antwerp, Belgium where we will have a welcome toast welcome dinner at the amazing Black Smoke Restaurant.
After dinner, use your PubCulture.Beer digital maps to explore the Antwerp nightlife on a Friday night!
Today we will have a walking to of Antwerp in the morning, where you will discover all about this famous, Belgian port city, that played a major part in WWII, along with its rich medieval history and past and current importance to the world of Belgian beer.
After our walking tour we will have a group lunch, and the remainder of the day is free.
This evening, use your PubCulture.Beer digital maps for a DIY Craft Beer Pub Crawl!
Today our BENELUX Beercation group will depart from Antwerp, Belgium and make our way to the town of Breda in the Netherlands. However, before we arrive in Breda, we will stop in Tilberg, Netherlands for a tour, tasting and lunch at the Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady of Koningshoeven, home of the La Trappe trappist brewery!
As we leave Breda, our tour continues into Zealand, the southern part of the Netherlands, where much of the land you will see was reclaimed from the sea! Here, we will stop at Brouwerij Kees for a brewery tasting and tour before we continue on to Brugge for lunch at the De Halfman Brewery.
After lunch, we will check into our hotel, and the remainder of your day is free to explore this beautiful canal-lined city.
Later tonight, join Tim Skelton for a Pub Crawl of Brugge, or you can use your PubCulture.Beer digital maps if you would like to make the pub crawl on your own.
Today we depart Brugge and head through the part of Belgium known for much of the major WWI Battles, and the "Flanders Fields". We will stop at the Flanders Field Museum in Ypres, visit the Mennen Gate, and pay our respects at Tyne Cot Cemetery. We also will stop at the St. Bernardus Brewery for a tour, tasting and lunch.
Later that afternoon, we will arrive in Ghent, where we will stay for the next three nights and check into our hotel.
The remainder of the night is free for you to explore this impressive city, with a lively nightlife thanks to the vibrant student population. An optional Pub Crawl with Tim Skelton will take place in the evening.
Today, we will discover more about Ghent and it's brewing history with a walking tour of Ghent that will include a stop for a small bite of lunch. After our tour you will have free time before we board our bus to visit Brauwerij Van Steenberge for a tour, tasting and dinner.
With two of the three guides on this tour being Gulden Draak Ambassadors with the brewery - including Chris being the 2013 US Ambassador for the brewery, you will be treated to a special "Gulden Draak Ambassador Experience" including spending time with 6th generation brewer and owner, Jef Versele! This has been a favorite visit on all our past beercations to Belgium!
Following our tour and tasting at the brewery, we will have a group dinner at HopSpot.Ber, Brouwerij Van Steenberge's new microbrewery and beer-inspired restaurant!
After our amazing night at Van Steenberge, you have a free morning to relax and explore Ghent on your own before we board our bus for a short drive and visit the monastery that brews what many consider "the best beer in the world" - Brouwerij de Sint-Sixtusabdij van Westvleteren!
After our lunch stop, we will return to Ghent, and the remainder of your day is free to explore and enjoy this amazing city!
Today, we will make our way from Belgium back to the Netherlands, where we will spend two nights in Maastricht. On our way, we will stop at the Duvel Brewery for a tour, tasting, and lunch. Duvel is not only a world-class brewery but also holds a special place for our "celebeerty" guide, Tim, as Duvel was his "ah-ha" beer that sent him down his path searching out amazing beers many years ago!
After lunch, we will continue on to Maastricht, where we will check into our hotel, and the remainder of your day will be free to explore this Dutch city that is very different from the rest of the Netherlands!
Use your PubCulture.Beer digital map for a DIY Pub Crawl with stops selected by Tim!
This morning we will take a walking tour of Maastricht to learn more about this unique and beautiful city that is rich with history! From the 3 Musketeers to WWII History, there is history all around you!
We will gather after our tour for a group lunch before we all attend one of the Netherlands' best beer festivals - the 24 uur von Maastricht!
The remainder of your evening is free.
Today, we will complete our BENELUX route by making our way to Luxembourg and Luxembourg City, where we will spend the next two nights.
On the way to Luxembourg, we will make a stop in Bastogne, Belgium for a Battle of the Bulge tour where we will follow in the footsteps of the EZ Company (Band of Brothers) and many of the locations from that famous battle where even General Patton walked before heading on to Luxembourg City and checking into our hotel.
Today, we will continue our WWII history by visiting the American WWII Cemetery in Luxembourg, where General Patton was laid to rest after he died in an accident near the end of the war. We will also visit Mad Cat Brewery for a tasting and lunch before returning to Luxembourg City.
Tonight, we will have our final group dinner for the tour.
Today we come to the last full day of our BENELUX Beercation, as this morning we depart Luxembourg and return to Brussels. On the way we will stop at Abbaye Notre-Dame d'Orval, where the very unique Orval beer is brewed, for a tour, tasting and lunch, before arriving at our hotel in Brussels.
The rest of the day is free for you to grab your final souvenirs and pack for tomorrow's departure. Take a short break for our signature Farewell Happy Hour Toast, where you can share some of your favorite memories from the tour and exchange your goodbyes with your fellow beercationers and new friends!
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