We are due to go on a short holiday in Belguim and I am picking up a hire car from the airport.

Is my UK license okay to use there?

Does anyone know if the car pick up at the airport (Avus) is near the terminal?

Do I need to bring anything? Insurance docs? anything else?

I’m assuming the hire car will have the required triangle etc already in it? Am I being stupid?

Anything else I should know?

Thanks

>Is my UK license okay to use there?

yep – bring both parts. The photo and the paper

>Does anyone know if the car pick up at the airport (Avus) is near the terminal?

I assume you mean Avis and that you are going to Zaventem airport. afaik there is an Avis desk inside the terminal and the cars are outside on the lower floor. Might not be exactly right there though
http://www.brusselsairport.be/en/passngr/services/car_rental/#

>I’m assuming the hire car will have the required triangle etc already in it?

I’ve never hired a car in Belgland but I can’t imagine that they can supply one without it.

What you care about, if you haven’t been to Belgium/France before is the ‘Priority to the right’ rule. It means that on many roads traffic coming in from a side road on the right can pull right out in front of you! There are exceptions such as when the side road has ‘sharks teeth’ across the front of it but on most smaller roads, like most in Brussels, the priority to the right applies and people will pull out :(. On the bigger roads this isn’t a worry as all of the side roads will have sharks teeth or stop signs

hope that makes sense.

Your car hire CO will comply with local laws (eg winter tyres, triangles etc).

You’re in the EU. You have an EU licence. Then tear on!

Do you need anything else? YES: a credit card that they will take the full excess from (in EU probably 1500 euro).

Bring a different CC / debit card for your spending. Never rely on one.

And if you have an accident / ding / bender / breakdown : well you wont. But in future a place that insures you against that 1500 excess isnt a bad idea. We use holiday autos. Lots and lots of places do the same thing but slightly more disjointed.

oh, and I forgot. Make sure you know the name of your destination in both Dutch and French as the road signs often change what they show. So if you are going to Leuven then the signs will sometimes show Luik. If you are using a gps just don’t get worried if your town name disappears from the signs for a while…

Phew!

Many thanks guys. Everything looks good. Although getting a 2nd cc sounds like a good idea…

Cheers

oh! and does the nation speak English as I’m rubbish at language! But I’m sure we’ll get by…

[edit] – do I need to bring my own car insurance docs?

Thanks

does the nation speak English

Mmmmmm. Oh god. Honestly – a token jesture of French will get you 100 times futher. But you wont go hungry.

btw – why tf are you going on holidays in the Mayo & chips capital of the world?

Luik

is Liege 😉

Even worse if you go from Belgium into Germany and back again.
Liege is not just Luik, but also Lüttich!

Passport, Licence and Credit Card. I’ve seen people turned away from Europcar/Avis trying to rent a car with cash only.

does the nation speak English

mostly yes.

but depending on where you are in belgium they wil speak either Dutch/Flemish or French. (dutch around Oostend, french near to Francochamps)
as said, the road signs reflect the language spoken. but its fairly easily to get around.

Luik is Liege

Oops :oops:. You’re right of course, I don’t even notice them any more but that is plain stupid.

Honestly – a token jesture of French will get you 100 times futher

Not in Antwerp it won’t! Flemish areas are pretty good with English, French areas less so but are very tolerant of bad French in my experience. In Brussels there isn’t much of a problem even in supermarkets. It’s quite embarrassing really.

tolerant of bad french?

nonante.

say no more.

say no more – is that over lunch or breakfast?

On dual carriageways etc don’t expect quality overtaking. People suddenly pull out to overtake a truck doing 50 and they deem 50.1mph as a good overtaking speed.

do I need to bring my own car insurance docs?

No.

On dual carriageways etc don’t expect quality overtaking

and it’s legal to overtake on the ‘wrong’ side as well

haha! THanks guys. I will of course try my best with the language – I’m just really bad at it. I’m sure I’ll give them a laugh though.

btw – why tf are you going on holidays in the Mayo & chips capital of the world?

We fancied somewhere different to take the kids to. Hopefully the weather will be good, the beach looks ace, there’s loads to go see and do etc…

The car is already booked and paid for, I just need to pick it up. However, I hadn’t realised about the CC needed for it! Massive thanks for pointing that out.
Regarding the CC – do they charge me the full excess before I get the car? How do I get that back?

Sorry, I’ve never hired a car before…

Regarding the CC – do they charge me the full excess before I get the car? How do I get that back?

They basically “reserve” it on your card. When you return the car and it’s OK, the “reserved” amount is released by them.

You can usually pay extra to reduce the excess – it’s easy money for them and peace of mind for you. Ask at the Avis desk.

Have fun. I think Belgium is a great place. It’s small and a bit weird – which is why I like it..!

Really funny- in Germany the only butthole I came across was a bloke in an English-plated car. Everyone else flowed beautifully and gave room etc. Then crossed over into Belgium and it was 😯 compared 😆

Then crossed over into Belgium and it was 😯

This is only on the motorways/dual carriageways. Everywhere else is like driving in the UK. It’s fine.

Having been to Belgium pretty much every year since i was a kid, my advice would be to treat every set of traffic lights is a drag race and feel free to overtake/undertake at your will. 🙂
Oh, and the coppers carry whistles and guns. 😕

Oh, and the coppers carry guns

Thats ok, they don’t have a strong track record of using guns in conflicts.

[edit] – do I need to bring my own car insurance docs?

Your own car insurance is irrelevant when hiring a car in 99.9% of cases.

The standard of driving in Belgium is almost comically terrible -especially in the North/East, in my experience- It’s as if Belgium has drifted northwards from somewhere on the (Southern)Mediterranean.

Extreme tail-gating at high speed and suddenly changing lanes with no indication is the norm.

The standard of driving on motorways in Germany, France and the UK are far better, in that order. I don’t recall the Netherlands being particularly bad, but it was a long time ago.

Brugge is great.

If you’re taking the kids, then Plopsa Land is a must – really. You can get discount vouchers on-line.

The beaches are great, but at the more popular spots such as Nieupoort you’ll have trouble parking near to them. It’s worth the effort to do so though. Beachside cafes are ridiculously expensive in the more popular towns, but kind of worth it. They do mad hire bikes in a lot of the beach towns. Most of the towns close pretty early on the evenings, so don’t expect too much night life post 8pm.

You can also park close to Brugges centre, and that’s worth a trip. We almost moved there once as we stopped so long just visiting; one day turned into three weeks and we only left because we ran out of cash. Brussells is OK for six hours or so.

Driving isn’t an issue really, but do watch for the rabid overtakes; you will encounter the “I’ll just overtake this truck at 50.1mph right now without indicating just as this guy comes up behind me at 95mph.” They don’t have too many speed cameras, but I’d suggest keeping to the posted limits all the same. They LOVE to tailgate whilst flashing their lights. If you play the game of ignoring them, soon you’ll have a long line of ten or so cars following you in a space you’d think small for one or two. They will literally be less than a metre from your bumper at 80mph – I’m sure other forum members will verify this. Best to move over really as it’s quite disconcerting being able to read the number plate of the guy three cars back as they are all so close. Well unless one of them is a van or lorry, then you’ll just have grill filling your rear screen. You have been warned.

You can also get good but cheap meals at restaurants attached to supermarkets. Worth a look if you start to run out of cash – and you will if you shop at Nieupoort. Kensington by the sea that place.

Oh and they love to shoot live things in Belgium. And in places surprisingly close to people – field in the middle of a town? Well why not. It makes for interesting experiences in the woods at night if you’re into night rides….

Don’t believe they all shop in little grocers or butchers. They do have them but they are for rich people. Much better to find on out of town mega market and do your shop in one go. Just don’t be distracted by cheap tv’s or DVD players……

Belgium gets a poor press but it’s good if you accept certain limitations, such as places closing early or not opening at all once they’ve done their 32.5 hours work per week. It’s better than the UK in many ways, especially if you like to be tucked up in bed by 8pm.

You can take out insurance against the huge excesses
eg http://www.carhireexcess.com/

When I was working in Brugge a few years ago we found that the locals tend to go out late 11.30pm or so. We spent a couple of weeks thinking there wasn’t much nightlife but wondering why everyone we worked with looked they’d just rocked in from a hard night out before we discovered this……

Love Brugge 😀

Belgium is ace. The whole place got done up in the 80s and they haven’t had the cash since.

There are some great tacky tourist attractions, if you like that kind of thing. Mini Europe, for example, and Smurfworld. And some brilliant vegetable festivals.

But who cares, just keep topping up on beer. The cycling museum in Ooudenaaaaarde is meant to be good, has always been closed when I have been there, must be for local people.

I quite enjoyed the Grottes de Han, which includes ride on Petite Train de Touristique, always a winner.

Thanks for all the info people! Looks like we will have a pretty busy week. We’re staying just outide Maldegem so quite close to Brugge.

RE: the insurance against high excess – Is that insurance to cover the excess? Does it mean that instead of putting your CC to them you can habd them the insurance policy instead?

Thanks again

RE: the insurance against high excess – Is that insurance to cover the excess? Does it mean that instead of putting your CC to them you can habd them the insurance policy instead?

http://www.carhireexcess.com/faqsUK.asp
The policy operates on a pay and reclaim basis, the hire car company would have already held an amount on your credit card to cover their excess. This amount would be deducted from you in the event of an accident in the vehicle you are hiring from them.
It is this amount that will be reimbursed by carhireexcess.com insurers.

…in that case loads of places in Belgium are a bit of a drive away – you’re near a busy port there, so lots of lorry traffic. Just stick to Brugge or Netherlands – Cadzand-Bad is nice enough for a stroll along the beach collecting shells or digging in the sand. Indeed given the choice between that beach or any in Belgium, it wins in terms of “beachness” for me. Personally if I was in the same position I’d head North into Holland and mooch about there. More fun.

Thanks again,

The thought of 1500 Euro’s sat on a CC is a bit uncomfortable for me.

I hadn’t even thought of crossing the border! I’ll go check that out…

I assume you mean Avis and that you are going to Zaventem airport. afaik there is an Avis desk inside the terminal and the cars are outside on the lower floor. Might not be exactly right there though
http://www.brusselsairport.be/en/passngr/services/car_rental/#

If I remember right, all the car hires are under the airport (you return them to the underground car park).

Be scrupulous with the checks and get back with enough time to have a signed off inspection – Hertz tried it on with mysterious paintwork scrapes last time I hired there to get to work in Antwerp.

They will literally be less than a metre from your bumper at 80mph – I’m sure other forum members will verify this

Yup, though generally my colleague/friend is driving and as a native it doesn’t phase him. I just close my eyes till we stop.

Having driven in India I’m sure the standard of driving will not be nearly as bad…

I love Belgium, but man, do the motorway drivers suck.

Does anyone know if there are discount vouchers for Plopsaland?

It looks ace!

Don’t forget that the only time Belgian police use their guns, it’s to shoot car drivers who have infringed cyclists’ rights on the road. And cyclists have lots of rights on the road. It’s great!

You have to remember that cyclists have priority always (like on zebra crossings, turning, not turning, wherever), hardly any wear helmets and many will be carrying absurd loads. It’s heaven when you’re on your bike and you have to pay proper attention if you’re driving.

Plopsa is like irony land really. We got vouchers with the property we rented. Our kids loved it.

You’ll be fine driving if you’ve been to India. It’s odd, but they drive close without the aggression a UK driver would deploy. You kind of get used to it and soon learn to recognise early symptoms. It just annoys on your first day, and gets better the further away from Brussells you are. It’s never really bothered us that much.