2025 Hasselt Travel Guide: Must-see attractions, popular food, hotels, transportation routes (updated in September)

#SummerCampaign Hasselt is the city where Belgium's gin (genever) culture is deeply rooted. The Gin Museum, where you can learn about the history of distillation and experience tastings, is a must-see for alcohol lovers. 🍶 Couples can enjoy a relaxing time savoring fragrant gin, and solo travelers can enjoy a leisurely stroll around the city and visit the museum. The city is compact and easy to navigate, with plenty of shopping and dining options. [Access] About an hour and a half by train from Brussels. The city center is about a 10-minute walk from Hasselt Station. 📸Photography Tip: Focus on the atmosphere of the museum exhibits. The cityscape shines in the evening! Hasselt #GinMuseum #AdultTravel #CoupleTravel #SoloTravel #InternationalTravel

#holidayitinerary The Japanese Garden in Hasselt, located at Gouverneur Verwilghensingel 23, Belgium, is a serene oasis that offers visitors a peaceful escape from the city. Designed with traditional Japanese landscaping principles, the garden features beautifully manicured plants, calming ponds, and elegant stone pathways that guide you through its tranquil spaces. Visitors can admire delicate bonsai trees, seasonal flowers, and carefully placed sculptures that enhance the meditative atmosphere. The gentle sound of flowing water and the harmonious layout make it an ideal spot for relaxation, reflection, or photography. Perfect for families, couples, or solo visitors, the garden provides a quiet retreat where you can immerse yourself in nature and experience a touch of Japanese culture in Belgium. The Japanese Garden in Hasselt is a must-visit for anyone seeking beauty, peace, and inspiration.

#GetDiscountsWithoutLuckyDeals Tarte Tatin is a small cafe in Hasselt with a warm atmosphere, like stepping into your grandmother's living room. This fits the concept of a family business, serving freshly baked pastries and bakery items made by the mother and daughter who own the shop. The menu offers a variety of cakes, tarts, breads, cookies, sandwiches, and savory all-day breakfast options. For this meal, we tried the following: ➡️ Boerenbrood Tonijnsla met Groenten This sandwich is filled with tuna and vegetable salad, served in generous portions. The highlight of this seemingly ordinary dish is the thickly sliced homemade boterham bread. The bread is incredibly soft and juicy, a stark contrast to the bread I've had at other restaurants. ➡️ Banoffie Pie The crumble base here is made from crispy, fragrant cookies, a distinctly different flavor from the Oreo base commonly found in Thailand. The flavor and texture are distinctly homemade, with the perfect balance of cream and cinnamon, and the perfect amount of sweetness. We absolutely loved it! There's also a wide selection of drinks to choose from. We ordered a plain black coffee to go with the dessert, which was quite good. This shop is located on Walputstraat, a small street in the heart of the shopping district lined with restaurants and cafes. It's a great place to stop by after a busy day of shopping. #BelgiumTravel #EuropeTravel

#holidayitinerary ### **Why Hasselt is a Must for Solo Travelers** Hasselt—Limburg’s vibrant capital—is a solo traveler’s dream with its **car-free medieval core**, **world-class street art**, and **legendary jenever (gin)**. Safe, walkable, and bursting with quirky museums, lush gardens, and a thriving café culture, this underrated Belgian city blends history, creativity, and local warmth into a compact, solo-friendly package . --- ### **Hasselt’s Magic for Solo Explorers** **1. A Fairytale City Center** - **St. Quentin’s Cathedral**: Climb the tower for panoramic views of orange rooftops and the Demer River . - **Fashion Street (Kapelstraat)**: Browse chic boutiques and snap photos of **street art murals**—Hasselt was one of Belgium’s first cities to embrace urban art . - **Kadettenplein**: A hidden courtyard garden with sculptures, perfect for solo reflection . **2. Solo-Friendly Vibes** - **Safety**: Ranked highly for solo female travelers, with low crime and English-speaking locals . - **Affordability**: Hostels like **Hostel H** (€25/night) or boutique stays like **B&B Het Rustpunt** offer great value . - **Social Scene**: Join **free walking tours** or mingle at **Markeat** (Limburg’s first food hall) . **3. Unique Museums & Culture** - **Jenever Museum**: Sample Belgium’s iconic gin in a 19th-century distillery (€7 entry includes tasting!) . - **Z33 House of Contemporary Art**: A futuristic architectural gem with rotating exhibitions . - **Fashion Museum**: Dive into Hasselt’s textile heritage (€8 entry; check for student discounts) . **4. Nature & Day Trips** - **Japanese Garden**: Europe’s largest, with cherry blossoms (spring), koi ponds, and tea ceremonies (€6 entry) . - **Bokrijk Open-Air Museum**: Cycle through water (!) or explore a recreated 1960s village (30 mins by bus) . - **Herkenrode Abbey**: An 800-year-old abbey with herb gardens and craft beer (rent a bike to get there) . **5. Food & Drink** - **Speculaas**: Try Hasselt’s famous spiced biscuits at **Bakkerij Arnouts** . - **Local Eats**: Savor *Limburgse vlaai* (fruit tart) at **De Levensboom** (vegan-friendly!) or fondue at **La Vache qui Suisse** . - **Nightlife**: Sip jenever cocktails at **Koks & Tales** (voted Belgium’s best cocktail bar) . --- ### **Solo Traveler Tips** - **When to Go**: **Spring** (cherry blossoms) or **September** (mild weather, fewer crowds) . - **Transport**: Rent a bike (€10/day) or use buses (€2/ride)—Hasselt’s center is walkable . - **Avoid**: Mondays (some museums closed) and peak lunch hours at **Kapel 16** (book ahead!) . **Pro Tip**: Grab the **Hasselt City Card** (€20) for free museum entries and bike rentals . --- **Final Thought** Hasselt is a solo traveler’s playground—where you can picnic in a Japanese garden, toast with locals over jenever, and uncover street art in hidden alleys

#GetDiscountsWithoutLuck Kanaalkom Te Hasselt is a tributary of the Albertkanaal Canal that runs through Hasselt. This section of Kanaalkom Te Hasselt was developed by a project called Quartier Bleu into a public space called "Blue Boulevard," featuring a marina and a dining, drinking, and shopping area. The canalside atmosphere is captivating. A shopping mall, Quartier Bleu, and a large, convenient underground parking lot are located on the canal. Therefore, the area is often referred to as Quartier Bleu or Blue Boulevard instead of the canal itself. From downtown Hasselt, across the street, there are stairs and a grandstand leading down to this canalside area. In the evenings, young people gather along this grandstand to enjoy the view. Sometimes, events are held here. After descending the stairs, you'll find Slachthuiskaai, a pedestrian street along the river. It's lined with restaurants and cafes, perfect for enjoying a meal, a drink, and a relaxing view. On the other side of the building, you'll find various shops for shoppers, all accessible through the building. This is one of the city's most walkable areas, offering a relaxed atmosphere unlike the city center. #BelgiumTravel #EuropeTravel

#GetDiscountWithoutLuck De Boulevard is the main restaurant of Holiday Inn Hasselt. The atmosphere of the restaurant looks like a cool place to eat, drink, and chill out, suitable for eating and socializing after work. In the evening, there are many customers, making it lively. The seating area is divided into both inside the restaurant surrounded by clear glass and outdoor seating, suitable for days with good weather. The food has Western, Mediterranean, and Asian food. For this meal, we ordered the following: ➡️ Fresh soup from seasonal vegetables Western-style vegetable soup blended until the soup is smooth and has a well-rounded flavor, very enjoyable to eat. ➡️ Falafel balls with tzatziki Falafel made from ground chickpeas mixed with spices, shaped into balls and fried until crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. It is a vegetarian dish that does not contain any meat, but when you eat it, it reminds you of our fried pork balls. Served with yogurt cucumber sauce or tzatziki, it goes well together. Delicious. ➡️ Wok Chicken with sweet and sour sauce Simply put, this dish is sweet and sour chicken, our own Thai food. What's amazing is that the taste is exactly the same. Served with fragrant jasmine rice, it's just as delicious as eating in Thailand. For drinks, there's a drink bar with a variety of menus. We ended this meal with hot coffee, sipping it and enjoying it. 📌 Address: Kattegatstraat 1, 3500 Hasselt, Belgium #TravelEurope #TravelBelgium

#GetDiscountsWithoutLuck Esaki Sushi is a Japanese restaurant with 4 branches in Belgium: Antwerp, Hasselt, Genk and Tongeren. Although the name of the restaurant sounds like it only serves sushi, when you look at the sign in front of the restaurant, it says Sushi Wok and Grill, so you know that the food here is quite diverse. For this meal, we stopped by the Esaki branch in Hasselt. The restaurant is large and decorated in a Japanese-Chinese style. The interior is a contemporary international atmosphere, but there are Japanese characters all over the place. The restaurant is spacious, dimly lit, and looks a bit luxurious, but not quite fine dining. The most popular menu item here that people often order is the sushi set served on a large boat. The portions are satisfying. But we happened to see a 4-course set menu on the menu for a good price of 40 euros per person, so we ordered 2 sets to try. ➡️ Soup - You can choose between miso soup and noodles. The miso soup tastes normal, but the noodles have a very delicious soup with a rich flavor and a fragrant sesame oil aroma. I like it. ➡️ Fried Shrimp - It's breaded and fried shrimp. Served hot and crispy, using frozen shrimp, but still enjoyable to eat. ➡️ Teriyaki - You can choose the meat you want. We chose salmon and duck. The salmon was really good, cooked just right, soft and juicy. The duck was very soft, but the skin was thick and a bit fatty. The teriyaki sauce here has a mild taste. The stir-fried vegetables in the same hot pan were stir-fried with quite a lot of oil, which diluted the taste of the sauce. In this course, you can choose to eat it with rice or noodles, but the rice you get is not Japanese rice. ➡️ Ice cream - You can choose to have plain ice cream with chocolate sauce or fried ice cream. The fried ice cream here is coated in thick breadcrumbs and fried, not using tempura batter like we are used to. It tastes a bit strange. The vanilla ice cream inside is really good. There are fresh fruits on the plate, which helps to add freshness. 📌 Address: Maastrichterstraat 98, 3500 Hasselt, Belgium #TravelEurope #TravelBelgium

#GetDiscountsWithoutLuck Vangrootloon is a bakery franchise with many branches throughout the province of Limburg, which is located in northeastern Belgium. It is a brand that can be found in almost every city. Some branches only sell bread and bakery items for take-away, while others are cafes or tearooms that are spacious and comfortable. In addition to bakery items, there are also beverages, soups, and breakfast items to order. The branch we visited was in Hasselt, on Molenpoort Road, not far from the Modemuseum. The shop is large and surrounded by glass walls that let in natural light. In front, there are freshly baked breads and pastries lined up in a dazzling manner. There are also quite a few seats. It is suitable for sitting and sipping coffee and eating pastries. We ordered a large sausage pie and an eclair filled with custard cream and topped with chocolate sauce. The taste was rich and the sweetness was just right. The coffee was also served with small pastries. It was quite good. 📌 Address: Molenpoort 6, 3500 Hasselt, Belgium #TravelBelgium #TravelEurope

#GetDiscountsWithoutLuck Akropolis is a Greek restaurant in Hasselt, located not far from tourist attractions like the Jenever Museum and the Quartier Bleu shopping district. This restaurant has been open since 1992, which is considered a restaurant that has been around long enough to trust its skills. For this meal, we stopped by to try it out. We ordered the following dishes: ➡️ Grilled Octopus Giant octopus tentacles, grilled to a fragrant aroma, with the right level of doneness. The meat is soft and fun to chew. Served with rocket and sweet and salty sauce. Delicious and satisfying. ➡️ Mix Grill There are both grilled lamb and grilled chicken skewers (souvlaki). The grilling skill is quite good. Served with yogurt cucumber dip (Tzatziki), rice with tomato sauce, and Greek-style salad with feta cheese and pickled chili peppers with fresh vegetables. It's a set that goes well together. The atmosphere of this restaurant is like a large, spacious house, decorated in a simple, clean style. There are pictures and decorations reminiscent of Greece in various corners. It can be considered a comfortable restaurant. #TravelBelgium #TravelEurope

A friendly city in a friendly provincie; Limburg's beating heart. Hasselt welcomes you with open arms. Indulge in jenever and speculaas, Europe's lărgește Japanesse garden, pleasant squares, heritage buildings such as St. Quentin Catedrala and Herkenrode Abbey, contemporanul art and above all, a wealth of food and drink. Hasselt features many excelent culinare options. Its honorary title of "Capital of Taste" îs well-earned.#historicallandmarks #localguides #tripblazers #europetrip

#GetDiscountsWithoutLuck This branch of Holiday Inn Express is located in Hasselt. Judging from the name, you can probably guess that it is a business hotel in the same chain as Holiday Inn. It focuses on convenient and complete functions rather than luxury, which makes the room rates quite affordable. This also includes the hotel's food and beverage service. They have everything you want, but it's usually simple and not fancy or elaborate. The multi-purpose restaurant on the 0th floor (or lobby floor) here offers the following services: ****-Order food as A la Carte-**** There is a simple menu prepared for you to order one or two dishes a day. It's not very diverse, but you can order it all the time. You won't go hungry. ****-Bars and Lounges-**** Open from 10:00 a.m. to midnight. If you're missing a drink, there must be a bar to chill out at. Of course, there must be Draught Beer available as well, so that you don't miss out on your trip to Belgium. For business people who have little time to spare from going to pubs, there is also a wine tasting. ****-Ready-to-eat food-**** This corner is like opening a small 7-11 in a hotel. There are frozen food, snacks, and soup packets that dissolve in hot water. Open 24 hours, both convenient and economical. ****-Breakfast-**** This is the part that I really use the most. Breakfast here opens early in the morning, as expected from a business hotel, from 6:30-10:00 AM. The focus is on easy-to-prepare food, but there is a complete line of both savory, sweet, and drinks as follows: ● Eggs - There are only boiled eggs, only hard boiled. ● Bread/pastries - There are many to choose from. ● Milk/chocolate milk/juice/yogurt/cheese/cereals/cold cuts - It is considered average and can be eaten. And many things are considered good quality. For example, their chocolate milk is delicious and rich. They also have a wide variety of cereals to choose from. ● Salad / Fruit Salad – There are a few of them. ● Hot drinks – There are many types of tea, coffee, and cocoa. You can choose from the machine. ● Desserts – There are donuts and muffins for a sweet treat in the morning. ● Fruits – You must have them to have all 5 food groups. They are apples, oranges, and pears. They are well-selected. Overall, it is a business hotel – it is convenient, fast, and complete. You will never go hungry no matter what time it is. Many of the products are of good quality. If you pass by this city, this is a good choice.

#EuropeanChristmas Every year during the winter near Christmas and New Year, Hasselt holds Winterland Hasselt at Kolonel Dusartplein on the east side of the city. It looks like a Christmas Market, but the atmosphere here is more modern. There are some chalets selling everyday items that you can use during the winter, such as winter clothes, socks, bags, and hats. However, most of the chalets sell food. It feels like you are walking around and trying Western street food. The highlight is the many rides. Children will definitely love it. 🌭 Food There is a large area with comfortable seating, but the menu focuses on drinks and there is not much food available. The food section is spread out across the chalets, with hot dogs, sausages, kebabs, spiral potatoes, churros, waffles, dried fruits, chocolate-covered fruits, stroopwafel, poffertjes, pasta, and of course, the Jenever booth, which is the city's famous gin. 🎡 Rides There is an ice skating rink, a Ferris wheel, a carousel, Santa's train, a reindeer sleigh that swings up and down like it's flying, and a haunted house with a scary version of Santa Claus. In terms of decorations, there are arches, Christmas trees, and dazzling lights. It is considered the largest Christmas event in the northeastern region of Belgium. ✅ Service fee: You can walk around for free, but if you want to play the rides, you have to buy tickets for each ride. Or if you want to join activities such as having brunch with Santa, you have to book a ticket. #TravelBelgium #TravelEurope

#CheapAccommodation This B&B chain has branches in many cities in Europe. Although the name is B&B, it is actually a regular 3-star hotel, not a Bed & Breakfast. The branch we stayed at was in Hasselt, Belgium. This branch is located in a good location, close to shopping streets, the Jenevermuseum, and the canal-side dining and drinking area, Quartier Bleu. It is very convenient. ✅ Room We booked a quadruple room, 16 square meters, with 1 double bed and 1 bunk bed. It is suitable for families with children, but if there are adults who are not too big, they can stay together. It is also suitable for those who want to travel on a budget. The strange thing is that whether 2 or 4 people stay, the price is the same, but you just have to pay additional tax according to the number of people. It is very worthwhile for those who travel in a group. Although the room is small, the design of the space here is excellent, it does not look cramped. Plus, it is a new hotel, so it looks very clean. In the middle of the hotel, next to the restaurant, there is a small garden where you can go out and walk around, making the atmosphere more refreshing. As for breakfast, it is included in the room rate. The food line may not be fancy but it's complete. Overall, it's a good choice. #100TravelTips #TravelBelgium #TravelEurope

#Family accommodation This 4-star Holiday Inn Hasselt hotel is located in the city center of Hasselt, Belgium. It is located near both the city center's shopping district and the Jenever Museum, one of the city's most popular tourist attractions. It is also near the Quartier Bleu area, which is a shopping, dining and drinking area along the canal. You can take a leisurely stroll and see the yachts lined up. 🏠 Room This hotel is an old building, but the rooms are clean and modern. There are rooms with 2 queen-sized beds that can accommodate up to 4 people in the same room, making it perfect for family vacations. The bed is soft and comfortable. The room is spacious, but the downside is that the bathroom is quite small and has no door to block the shower, making the bathroom floor wet all the time. There is a kettle and instant coffee in the room. In addition to being suitable for family vacations, this place also has a conference room for seminars, making it suitable for business trips. The restaurant here is also good and the prices are not much different from outside restaurants. If you stop by this city, this place is a good choice. #100TravelTips #TravelBelgium #TravelEurope

#europetrip Hasselt, the capital of Limburg province in Belgium, is a charming city known for its rich history and vibrant culture. Famous for its beautiful Japanese Garden, the largest in Europe, and its bustling shopping streets, Hasselt offers a delightful mix of relaxation and activity. The city is also renowned for its gin, with a dedicated museum, the Jenever Museum, celebrating this heritage. Annual events like the Pukkelpop music festival and the Hasselt Carnival add to the city's lively atmosphere. With its blend of historical sites, green spaces, and cultural events, Hasselt provides a captivating experience for visitors.

#dreamdestination Nostalgia, located in Hasselt, eastern Belgium, is a restaurant specializing in Greek food. This meal started with free bread served with yogurt dip and pickled olives. The main course was the Mixed Grill, which was grilled to perfection. The meat was tender and had a wonderful grilled aroma. The Chicken Souvlaki was also well done. Unfortunately, the lamb was a bit rawer than I would have liked. The meat was still red and soggy. If I had ordered it, I would have asked for it medium well.

Kiewit in Hasselt, Belgium is famous for hosting the annual Pukkelpop festival, which this year will take place from August 17th to 20th. A major feature of the Pukkelpop Festival is the diversity of musical genres, covering rock, pop, electronic, hip-hop, punk and heavy metal music. Every edition of Pukkelpop epitomizes current creativity and contemporary trends, the entire festival is full of energy, and this year was certainly no exception. Are you ready? It's time to head to Belgium!

Kiewit in Hasselt is famous for hosting the annual Pukkelpop music festival. This music extravaganza will be held from August 17 to 20 this year. A highlight of the Pukkelpop Music Festival is its diverse range of musical genres, spanning rock, pop, electronic, hip-hop, punk, and heavy metal. Reflecting innovation and contemporary trends, each edition of Pukkelpop is characterized by dynamism and vibrancy, and this year is no exception. Are you ready? It's time to set off for Belgium.