It’s festival season all over Europe and this weekend Belgium will host its annual Cactus Festival. Rosie Khdir discovers this eclectic event that has been running for over 20 years.

The Cactus Festival is an award winning intimate outdoor event where stars perform on a single stage at Minnewater, also know as Lake of Love Park in Bruges, Belgium.

This year’s line-up includes artists such as David Gray, Jamie Lidell and Macy Gray as the headliners as well as Regina Spektor, Elvis Costell & The Sugarcanes and Tori Amos.

The festival runs from the 9th to 11th July and features all types of music, from rock, to dance to reggae and there is endless fun to be had with DJs, entertainers and children’s performers.

You will have your pick of food and drink too with stalls selling delicious food form all over the globe including classic sandwiches, fries, Italian ice cream, Moroccan, Vietnamese, African and Turkish dishes.

For the adults who want to party until the dawn there are after parties, one being held by Red Bull featuring feat. Tom Barman Lieven Verstraete and DJ Fallujah.

More information on camping arrangements, the full line-up and directions to Minnewater visit the official website: cactusfestival.be.

If you fancy making your way to this festival the P&O Ferries can get you there. A Dover to Calais crossing starts from just £30 for a car and up to nine people and from there it is just a short drive to Bruges.

It’s that time again, so get on your bike and cycle to Rotterdam in the Netherlands, where the Tour de France 2010 will commence. Rosie Khdir finds out what is in store for the brave participants.

One of the world’s most prestigious “Grand Tours” will begin this Saturday 3rd July in Rotterdam. Hundreds of cyclists who have gone through gruelling training to battle through 3,600 kilometres of French terrain will be making there way to the Netherlands to begin the first stage of the tour.

This first stage will take the riders to Brussels to celebrate the 65th birthday of professional cyclist and legend, Eddy Merckx. From here, the troupe in Lycra will battle the rolling valleys of the Walloon region and arrive in the Belgian town of Spa.

This race will see them circle the whole of France, stopping in town and cities such as Reims, Chambéry, Revel and Bordeaux before finishing in Paris.

Cyclists will have to endure nine flat stages, six mountain stages and three summit finishes, four medium mountain stages, and one individual time-trial stage of 52 km.

This world renowned race began back in July 1903 when six pioneers set out on their bicycles to complete a 2,500km race across the country. The reception of their six stage journey was one of amazement.

This race had highlighted many towns, cities and mountains that had been previously overlooked and so it became an annual event. It survived the wars and economic downturn and has since evolved, encouraging other nations to participate and even to host the prologue stage.

For more details about the Tour de France 2010 stages visit letour.fr.

If you want to cheer on these courageous cyclists, then there are a number of different P&O Ferries services that will get you to any one of the stages. You can take the Hull to Rotterdam service, from £149 each way for the first stage, or the Hull to Zeebrugge service to Belgium. There is the Dover to Calais service from as little as £30 for a car and up to nine people.

Image credit: myahya

Think Belgium is flat fields and historic towns, think again; Tomas Mowlam heads into the wild in one Europe’s oldest forests, the Ardennes.

The Ardennes is an area of forests, hills and mountains that runs through Belgium, Luxembourg and stretches into France. A strategic battleground for centuries, including during WWI and WWII, the Ardennes is now home to less warlike pursuits.

The two largest cities in the Ardennes are Verviers in Belgium and Charleville-Mezieres in France, but consider basing yourself in a smaller village to really explore the area.

There are great camping opportunities through the Ardennes, including the small but beautiful camp ground at La Muree, just a few kilometres from the Meuse valley (above).

The rivers of the Ardennes, including the Meuse and its tributaries, provide some of the best fun to be had. You can fish on the lakes and rivers or canoe and kayak your way down them.

You can paddle the Lesse River, and Anseremme near Dinant makes a good starting point. To travel down the Ourthe River, the town of La Roche en Ardenne makes a great base to explore the countryside and its easy flowing rivers.

Cycling is just as popular here as in the rest of the Low Countries, but two wheeled activities are more likely to be mountain biking.

If climbing mountains, rather than hurtling down them, is more your thing, then the limestone cliffs of the Ardennes, especially around Freyr near Dinant, will keep you occupied.

There are opportunities to hunt wild game such as boar and deer, or just shoot photos if you’re after a less blood-thirsty time.

Let P&O Ferries get you there with the Hull to Zeebrugge or the Portsmouth to Calais service, both of which are just a short drive to the Ardennes region.

Image Credit: Jean-Pol GRANDMONT, Wiki Commons

Brussels and a music festival might seem an unlikely combination, but Couleur Café is a brilliantly exotic gathering right in the heart of Europe, writes Tomas Mowlam.

Between 25th and 27th June Brussels echoes to the sounds of what must be one of the most eclectic festival line-ups.

From “R&B, hip hop, world, afro, reggae, ragga, dub, dancehall, Latin, salsa, son, raï and rock” according to the organisers, Couleur Café has it. This year is no different with Rodrigo y Gabriela (above) on the Friday, hip-hop legend Snoop Dogg on Saturday and Nas & Damian Marley and George Clinton on the Sunday.

Tickets for the full weekend are sold out, but day tickets are still available for €34, so you can go for just a day, catch your favourite acts and then soak up the atmosphere of Brussels.

Music starts around 4pm and goes on until late with firework displays each night before the headline act. There’s also great food, art projects and workshops where you can join in with percussion and brass.

The festival has been going since 1990, when it first packed 5,300 festival goers into the old covered market – Halles de Schaerbeek. It rapidly expanded and moved location and this year over 80,000 people are expected to pack out the festival site.

Let P&O Ferries get you there with the Hull to Zeebrugge or the Portsmouth to Calais service, both of which are just a short drive to Brussels.

Image Credit: Kmeron

The name Waterloo strikes up different images in people’s minds, maybe ABBA at the Eurovision song contest or a busy London tube station, but Rosie Khdir rediscovers the Waterloo that was scene of an epic European battle 195 years ago.

This year mark the 195th anniversary of Napoleon’s Defeat by the combined armies of the Seventh Coalition, and this weekend will see Belgium come alive with celebrations of this victory.

The Battle of Waterloo in 1815 was the last stand that saw Napoleon toppled from his position as ruler of the French empire.

The armies of the United Kingdom, Prussia, the United Provinces, Hanover, Nassau and Brunswick fought in the fields at Waterloo, in modern-day Belgium, and in three days defeated his army of 72,000 men.

The celebrations start with an hour-long Battle of Waterloo-inspired firework and light spectacle at 10 p.m. Then on Saturday visitors are able to travel to the Napoleonic bivouacs, to discover the everyday life of a typical soldier in the imperial army.

Also taking place during the weekend will be a full scale reenactment of the battle with over 3,000 soldiers and Napoleon himself – who is often played by an American actor. Access to these events is free.

Visitors can also learn more about the battle and its participants via the Wellington Museum, which used to be the Bodenghien Inn and former headquarters of the Duke of Wellington during the Battle of Waterloo.

For more information visit the official tourism site for the Waterloo region.

P&O Ferries does a great value service from Hull – Zeebrugge, or you can take the Dover – Calais route from where it is just a short drive along the E40 to the Belgian border. Prices start at just £30 for a car and up to nine people.

Painting by Robert Alexander Hillingford

With cities like Brussels, Bruges and Antwerp surrounding it, it is not hard to see why Ghent may have been overlooked by visitors to Belgium. Rosie Khdir reveals the delights of this medieval canal city.

Ghent is a historic city, filled with the weird and wonderful. It is apparently the “veggie capital of Europe” and in 2009 the city even launched ‘Donderdag Veggiedag’ (Thursday Veggie Day) to encourage its residents to give up meat and fish on Thursdays!

The most prominent part of the city as you walk around seems to be its history, visible from the gothic and medieval architecture. The scenic old Graslei harbour is elegant and striking, and medieval cathedrals and the Gravensteen castle sits grandly around the central public squares – the largest car-free area in Belgium.

Ghent is divided into two sectors, the historic centre and the artistic quarter both of which are easy to navigate by foot, with signposts at 114 locations.

As for sightseeing you can go and see The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, a unique altar piece situated in St. Bavo’s Cathedral. It was painted by the Van Eyck brothers in 1432 and is considered to be a milestone in art history.

You can also visit St. Michael’s Bridge, the Old Belfry, which is an official UNESCO site, and the many old houses that decorate the historic water front.

Ghent is also filled with interesting museums such as the Design museum, which displays furnishings of all ages, from Renaissance to Art Deco, Art Nouveau and retro. There is also the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Peter’s Abbey Arts Centre, the School of Yesteryear and the World of Kina: the Garden, where you can see more than 1000 plant species and live tarantulas.

Now if that doesn’t tempt you, maybe these facts about Ghent will. It has 475 restaurants, 250 different sorts of beer, 74 parks, 56 large and small market squares, 30 hectares of pedestrian space in the city centre (this is the largest in Belgium), 19 museums, 5 abbeys, 2 medieval castles, the largest street festival in Europe (The Ghent Festivities). To top it off, no other city in Belgium has as many classified buildings as Ghent.

Convinced that it is worth a visit yet? Well I should hope so!

P&O Ferries can help you on your way with its Hull – Zeebrugge route. Alternatively you can take the Dover – Calais route from where it is just a short drive along the E40 to the Belgian border. Prices start at just £30 for a car and up to nine people.

Image credit: RussBowling

In this day and age, where life is a constant run around, a nice relaxing holiday is always what the doctor orders to de-stress. Rosie Khdir unwinds in the Belgian town of Spa.

Spa is famously known as the Ville d’Eaux, meaning “the town of waters” due to its site at the hot healing springs. The spring were popular worldwide but it was during the 16th Century that a sort of tourism grew, and brought with it the likes of Christine of Sweden, Charles II of England, Peter the Great, Joseph II, Giacomo Meyerbeer and Victor Hugo.

This town may be small but it is steeped in history from back to when the Romans ruled Europe right up to the First World War, when it was occupied by the German Army. The town today shows its history through its architecture and quirky museums, such as the Museum of and Folklore and Musée de la Lain, which is concerned with the history of wool processing.

In Spa you will find bustling street markets, churches, the beautiful 19th Century Leopold II Gallery and of course “Les Thermes de Spa” (see image).

The spa was renovated recently and now has around 8600 square feet of hot swimming pools, with water temperatures of 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Visitors can spend a few hours or a full day relaxing in the bells of water, geysers, bubbles seats and cannons that help you unwind and tone up. The water that comes from the “Clementine” spring is filled with natural minerals that are great for your skin and are thought to have powerful healing properties.

If you fancy putting a more racy spin on your holiday you can try your hand at the Casino of Spa, which is the oldest in the world, dating back to 1763. Spa is also home to Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, which hosts the Belgian Formula One Grand Prix every year.

To top it all off Spa will also host the finish of Stage 2 of the 2010 Tour de France on July 5th.

If you want to experience both the thrilling and relaxing attraction of Spa, you can get the Belgium easily with P&O Ferries. There is a Hull – Zeebrugge route, or alternatively via Dover to Calais from where it is just a short drive along the E40 to the Belgian border. Prices start at just £30 for a car and up to nine people.

Image credit: Belgapixel

Take a P&O ferry to Rotterdam and head north, says John Hillman, and you’ll soon reach Germany’s wild and dramatic North Sea Frisian islands. There you’ll discover a land of mudflats, crashing waves, fine sandy beaches and abundant wildlife that was also the setting of the world’s first ever modern literary thriller.

The Frisian Islands consist of four large islands and ten smaller ones, or inlets. Situated high on Germany’s coast near the Danish border in the Wattenmeer National Park, they are known as the Jewels of the North Sea.

The combined beauty of marshlands, vast sand dunes and unspoilt countryside creates a tangible atmosphere of the remote and the romantic; nature at play beneath endless acres of open sky.

It was along these shores that Erskine Childers took the inspiration to write his famous 1903 thriller The Riddle of the Sands, navigating the rugged coastline with his brother Henry, on their thirty foot cutter Vixen he hatched the plot involving a pair of friends who accidentally discover a secret German plan to invade Britain.

The book was a roaring success. Not only has it never been out of print, and was made into a 1979 film starring Michael York and Simon MacCorkindale, Winston Churchill credits it with being an important motivator of public opinion, which allowed the British Government to establish naval bases in various North Sea coastal regions of Britain.

Today the Frisian Islands are still a favourite holiday destination for sailing enthusiasts, cyclists and birdwatchers, as well as being a source of inspiration to the many photographers and artists who flock each summer to capture the area’s extraordinarily magical light.

With strong tides and unpredictable weather sailing holidays, although incredible rewarding, are only recommended to experienced mariners. For the rest of us the islands remain an area of outstanding natural beauty worth visiting for the picturesque thatched villages and wild coastlines alone.

Northern Germany and the Frisian Islands are easily reached by car from P&O Ferries ports of Rotterdam, Zeebrugge or Calais as part of an adventurous driving holiday. Go on, explore your continent!