Antwerp the City of Diamonds & The Tall Ships 2016

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1 Antwerp the City of Diamonds & The Tall Ships 2016 A Wonderful 4 Day, 3 Night Break to Antwerp for the 60th Anniversary Tall Ships Race Antwerp is possibly Belgium's best-kept secret and as Belgium s second city and biggest port, Antwerp is the country s capital of cool, a powerful magnet for mode moguls, club queens, art lovers and diamond dealers. In the mid-16th century it had been one of Europe s most important cities and home to baroque superstar artist Pieter Paul Rubens, as you ll be so constantly reminded. Despite many historical disasters thereafter and severe WWII bombings, the city retains an intriguing medieval heart with café-filled cobbled lanes, a riverside fortress and a truly impressive cathedral. Today Antwerp s top draw cards are its vibrant fashion, entertainment scene and startling architectural and cultural contrasts. The Tall Ships Races are planned four years in advance with the route carefully selected to enable visits to different ports around Europe, from the Baltic to the Mediterranean. In 2016 the 'Tall Ships Race' is looking forward to celebrating its diamond anniversary event and will return to the Belgian port city of Antwerp, who will be hosting the event for the 6th time. Antwerp will be the starting point for the diamond anniversary race, which involve some of the world s most spectacular vessels. The last time the race called at Antwerp was in 2010 and over 750,000 people visited both from Belgium and abroad Dates & Prices Leonardo Hotel, Antwerp 7th - 10th July Per Person - Penta Hotel, Leuven 8th - 11th July Per Person Price Includes: Return P&O Ferry Crossing from Dover to Calais 3 Nights hotel accommodation Buffet Breakfast each morning Our critically acclaimed road book with great drives, detailed maps, directions and attractions Commemorative tour rally plate Parking available at the hotel (payable locally approx. 15 per day) *Above prices are per person and based on 2 person occupying a car and room. Single room occupancy supplement ALTERNATIVE FERRY ROUTES & SUPPLEMENTS Euro Tunnel Supplement per car return Stena - Harwich / Hook of Holland - 90 per car return plus cabin supplement from 49 & 75 each way. North Sea - Hull / Zeebrugge From per car return plus cabin supplement from 89 each way.

2 Suggested Tour Itinerary Hotel Leonarde, Antwerp DAY 1 - Morning P&O Ferry Crossing from Dover to Calais (alternative crossings available including Eurotunnel, P&O North Sea Ferries and Stena Line from Harwich to the Hook of Holland) Followed by the drive through Northern France & Belgium to Antwerp / Leuven and the Leonardo / Penta Hotel, your base for the next 3 nights. After check-in the evening is at leisure. DAY 2 - Day at leisure in Antwerp to enjoy the city and the magnificent Tall ships DAY 3 - Day at leisure in Antwerp to enjoy the city and the magnificent Tall ships DAY 4 - Departing Antwerp/Leuven after breakfast your route takes you back via Northern France to Calais for a late afternoon/early evening sailing back to the UK. Why not stop off en route at Autoworld in Brussels or enjoy a few house strolling around the medieval town of Bruges. Located in a historical building in the Diamond district, close to Antwerp Central Railway Station. All of the hotels guest-rooms are equipped with Flat-screen cable TV, a work desk and a minibar. Daily breakfast buffet includes scrambled eggs, freshly baked pastries and breads. Guests can enjoy breakfast on the sunny terrace in the summer months. A range of eating facilities can be found within an easy walking distance from the hotel. Penta Hotel, Leuven Centrum Located right in Leuven's historical centre, Pentahotel Leuven features a fitness centre and an on-site bar & free WiFi in public areas. Rooms are air conditioned and feature a flat-screen TV, drink making facilities & private bathroom fitted with a shower and a hairdryer. A buffet breakfast is served daily in the hotel's common breakfast room and guests can enjoy Belgian beers in the on-site bar. There is a wide variety of cafés and restaurants serving regional cuisine as well as international close by. Leuven's Central Market Square featuring the 15th-century gothic Town Hall and the St. Peter's Church is 400 metres from Pentahotel Leuven. The city's Old Market Square with its many bars and restaurants is 5 minutes' walk away.

3 See & Do... The Tall Ships Race 2016 It will be exactly sixty years since the very first Tall Ships Race visited Lisbon, Portugal in and the international fleet is returning for the eighth time. The first Tall Ships' Race in 1956 was a race of 20 of the world's remaining large sailing ships. The race was from Torbay, UK to Lisbon and was meant to be a last farewell to the era of the great sailing ships. However, public interest was so intense the Sail Training International Race Committee formed a founding organisation and has since organised Tall Ships' Races and Regattas annually around the world, attracting hundreds of ships and millions of spectators. Antwerp Antwerp will be hosting the event for the 4th time & loves The Tall Ships Races. Located in the heart of Europe it s a pocket-sized metropolis and Europe s second largest port. The city was voted one of the top ten most attractive and enjoyable cities in the world by Lonely Planet. Antwerp and it's many great landmarks, including historic zoo's and legendary artists entombed within beautiful religious buildings, are open to all. This is a city that has acted as a hub of art, power and affluence in centuries past and the grandiose personality has not worn off over time. Antwerp has endured several historical disasters & WWII, but that hasn't stopped it from evolving in to a vibrant hub of fashion, entertainment and architecture. Leuven Capital city of beer, chocolate Champagne & all round good taste; the city of Leuven provides this as well as shopping enjoyment, whilst also being the guardian of cultural heritage and centre of expertise and innovation. How to sum Leuven up in a single word? Frankly, it's impossible. Regardless of whether you are a seasoned city -tripper, a cultural values hunter or a fervent shopper, you will always find your needs more than adequately met in Leuven. Enjoy everything that the city has to offer...and then return again and again to repeat the experience. The city will surprise you anew with every return visit. If you stay with our group in the Penta Hotel Leuven you will enjoy amazing décor as well as a phenomenal breakfast each morning that may even feature a glass of Champagne. Bruges If you set out to design a fairy-tale medieval town, it would be hard to improve on central Bruges. Picturesque cobbled lanes and dreamy canals link quaint market squares lined with soaring towers, churches and old whitewashed almshouses. And there s plenty of it. It is only fair to say that the places that stir all your senses and that creep under your skin are extremely rare. These are the places that pluck your heartstrings, yet whose secrets you can t unlock completely. Bruges happens to be such a unique place. Cultural and artistic, cosmopolitan, unashamedly Burgundian, mysteriously medieval, and a Unesco World Heritage site to boot. Strolling along alleys, picturesque canals and verdant ramparts you cannot but fall hopelessly in love with her elegant mysteriousness.

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