The Brussels Winter Wonders market transforms the city centre into a festive village. The Grand Place - Brussels' stunning medieval square with its golden guild houses - is decorated with lights and music, and the whole area smells of warm spices, mulled apple juice, and fresh waffles. A giant Christmas tree at the centre is decorated with thousands of lights.
The market stalls offer an enormous variety of things to buy and eat. Artisans sell wooden toys, hand-blown glass ornaments, knitted scarves, and pottery. Food stalls serve hot chocolate, churros, speculoos biscuits (a Belgian spiced shortcrust biscuit), and steaming pots of stoofvlees - a rich Belgian beef stew.
Ghent and Bruges also host beautiful Christmas markets. Bruges is particularly magical because the medieval buildings, lit up with warm golden lights reflected in the still canal water, look exactly like an illustration from a Christmas story book. Horse-drawn carriages clatter over the cobblestones carrying families through the decorated streets.
Belgian children often visit Christmas markets on school trips. Many markets have special children's areas with carousel rides, craft workshops where you can make your own Christmas decorations, and visits from Sinterklaas (the Dutch and Belgian equivalent of Father Christmas, who arrives in early December).