Hot-spiced beer and wine, and shopping at some of Belgium's most magical winter markets in Bruges, Gent and Lier (aka Little Bruges)...what’s in your stocking? There’s something for everyone on this tour. The week builds to the Essen Christmas Beer Festival which is a very, very special and merry festival featuring many delightful seasonal Belgian brews, which are only available in Essen and in limited quantities. The official name of this event is the Kerstbierfestival and is held in Essen, Belgium, near Antwerp. It is organized by O.B.E.R. (Objective Beer Tasters of Essen) and has been going for more than 25 years. This is a pay-as-you festival, where you get five ounce pours for 1.8 Euros. The Christmas Beer Festival is one that needs to be experienced at least once by all true beer enthusiasts.  This unique tour begins in Bruges and culminates at the famous “Kerstbierfestival” in  Essen. This is paradise for Belgian beer lovers. Also front and center will be the charming Christmas markets of Bruges, Gent and Lier along with overnights in these cities. Ornately decorated, ice skating and Christmas music in the background, I can taste the hot-spiced beer and wine now! 

Also on this tour we’ll visit Brewery Halve Maan in Bruges, Brasserie Dubuisson the new Dada Chapel Distillery in Gent (owned by Duvel Moortgat) and Cafe Trappisten, the taproom for Trappist Westmalle.

• Six nights accommodations in nice, friendly, centrally-located hotels in Bruges, Gent and Lier.

• All breakfasts, two lunches and two dinners with gratuities.

• Beer during brewery tours, taproom visits, and company meals as listed on the itinerary.

• Ground transportation via rail. Leave the driving to the engineer!

• Professional and courteous BBM! guide services.

• All tours and admissions.

• Admission to the Kerstbierfestival, one glass and some starter tokens for beer. Extra beer is on your own.

• An instant group of interesting and fun, beer-loving friends you haven’t met yet.

• Guaranteed tour price the moment submit your deposit.

• Plenty of unstructured free time to relax, shop and explore on your own.

• Custom BBM! name badges.

• Souvenir BBM! luggage tags

• One souvenir BBM! soft-sided cooler.

• Flexibility in the event you need to transfer or cancel your tour.

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• Airfare

• Airport transfers.

• Some meals and beer on your own. Free-time sightseeing.Our guides are available to provide suggestions.

• Beer at the Kerstbierfestival beyond the tokens provided in your starter kit as part of the admission.

• Fine Print: You are responsible for the costs of your free-time sightseeing. Be sure to read our Terms & Conditions Agreement for important details.

• Gratuities, at your discretion, for brewery tour guides and coach drivers.

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Deadline to sign up is one month before departure. 

2024 Price: $2795/per person + Air, $525 single supplement*
* Prices based on double room occupancy.  If you are a solo traveler and would like to have a private room all to yourself there is a single supplement fee of $525 in addition to the base price of $2795 per person. 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! Unless, of course, like Rick Steves says, you prefer to “snore alone.”

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.

2025 Price: $2995/per person + Air, $525 single supplement*

Please share  BBM! tours with fellow Belgian beer enthusiasts, your friends in general, and encourage them to join the fun!

Tues. • Bruges  We meet at 1 p.m. at our centrally-located hotel in Bruges. We’ll get checked in, have a short walking tour of the city to get a feel for this illustrious city, point out some special beer cafes, walk through the Winter Markets, then enjoy a bottle share. This evening, we have our welcome dinner at one of my favorite restaurants. Evening is on your own to explore the many inviting beer cafes of Bruges and the Winter Markets. I suggest buying a copy of Around Bruges in 80 Beers, which outlines the best beer places in town and suggests a beer in which to drink there!  (Dinner)

Wed. • Bruges  Morning is free, and then we meet for a tour and lunch at Brewery de Halve Maan and museum, home of Zot beer. This afternoon you have some more free time to take in the Winter Markets, the many sites of Bruges, visit Brewery Bourgogne des Flandres taproom, rent a bike, take a carriage ride, visit museums, or just people watch, while savoring a Belgian beer in on a heated café terrace. You are on your own for dinner. Later this evening we meet for an informal tour of some of the most interesting beer cafés in the city.  (Breakfast & Lunch)

Thur. • Gent  After breakfast the morning is free for you to enjoy Bruges before we board our coach to visit 9th-generation Belgian Family Brewer Brasserie Dubuisson, the oldest brewery in Wallonia. They are also famous for Bush Noël their Christmas Ale, one of the best in the world! The tour will be followed by lunch in their beautiful taproom, Trolls & Bush, before we continue to Gent to spend two nights and visit their famous Winter Market. Shopping, ice skating, eating and drinking will be front and center.  This afternoon, there is an informal walking tour of the Winter Market and some famous cafés of Gent, including the world-famous Trollekelder, Goudon Mandeken, de Planck and others. This evening, we’ll have dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in Gent and then visit the Winter Market again, this time at night with all the Christmas lights on and glistening, and festive music to round out this eventful day. So much beer, such little time…  (Breakfast & dinner)

Fri. • Gent  This morning, we meet at 10 a.m. to prepare to visit the new Dada Chapel Distillery, owned by Duvel Moortgat and afterward we’ll have a company lunch. The rest of the day is free to indulge in one of the coziest Winter Markets in Belgium right here in Gent! (Breakfast & Lunch)

Sat. • Lier This morning we transfer to to Lier, our home for the next two nights. On our way there, we’ll visit Trappist Westmalle to visit the famous taproom of the abbey, Café Trappisten. We’ll have a leisurely lunch; sample the beers, including their Extra, Dubbel and Triple, which is the benchmark for the style. Westmalle Extra (3%), was originally reserved for consumption only by the monks. Afterwards, we will see the beautiful exterior of the Abbey and its spectacular tree-lined driveway. Then it’s on to Lier, where you’ll get to visit the cozy winter market without the massive crowds of Antwerp. The citizens of Lier are known as “schapenkoppen” (sheep’s heads) because in the middle ages they chose to have an animal market instead of a university. You’ll love this undiscovered gem of Belgium. This replaces Antwerp, where this tour stayed in previous years. Dinner is on your own. (Breakfast & lunch)

Sun. • Lier  Morning is free to soak in more historic Lier, then we take the train directly to the Christmas Beer Festival in Essen, where you will have your socks blown off (so wear two pairs) by the delectable Christmas beers available here.   This is what the whole tour has been building toward and a decadent indulgence few beer drinkers will ever experience.  You will become members of a very small and elite club of beer enthusiasts.  This cannot be overstated.  We’ll spend the evening at the Festival, have dinner on your own there, and then catch one of the last trains back to Lier for a nice, peaceful sleep, where visions of Christmas beers dance in our heads! (Breakfast)

Mon. • Lier  Our grand Christmas Beer Festival Tour officially ends with breakfast.  You may catch the train from Lier about 75 minutes to the BRU airport and just about anywhere in Europe.  Thanks for participating in the Christmas Beer Festival Tour of Belgium! (Breakfast)

* Itinerary subject to change.

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Our special guest on the 2023 departure of this cheeky, wild and wonderful tour was Jeff Bradford, from the YouTube channel Drink Destinations: Beer Wine & Spirits. We had some fun and learning with this drinks expert! Be sure to check out Jeff’s informative videos and social media posts from this tour. Instagram and Facebook.