EXPAT CLUB TRIPS
Who doesn’t like traveling? Seeing new places, learning about local cultures and tasting authentic regional and national cuisines, and meeting new people. But how nice would it be to experience this with an organisation you trust and people you trust. Expat Club offers all this and you do so with people from your own city Brussels. So when you come back your circle of friends has expanded and you can start planning new adventures, in town or on the go.
What type of trips do we offer?
Who doesn’t like traveling? Seeing new places, learning about local cultures and tasting authentic regional and national cuisines, and meeting new people. But how nice would it be to experience this with an organisation you trust and people you trust. Expat Club offers all this and you do so with people from your own city Brussels. So when you come back your circle of friends has expanded and you can start planning new adventures, in town or on the go.
Where are we going?
With Expat Club you are sure to visit the most amazing destinations in Belgium and surrounding countries. We visit all kinds of places, whether it’s ultimately touristy or serene landscape, smaller villages or larger cities. Over the years we took our groups to hundreds of destinations, so there must be at least a few that you like.
How do we travel?
Depending on our trip destination and length, we either travel by bus, train or airplane and sometimes even by boat,. For Belgian destinations we opt for the bus, such as for our Ypres WWI Battlefields tour, or for the train, such as for our kayaking or sailing trips. For daytrips to surrounding countries and up to about 300km one-way, we always travel by bus. For weekend trips (2-3 days) to surrounding countries we travel normally by bus but sometimes also by train, such as our London trips. For weekend trips that have farther destinations and last 3-4 days, we normally take a convenient flight, such as our Carnival weekend in Venice or the Midsummer Trip to Stockholm.
Traveling by bus
There were times that traveling by bus was anything but convenient and fun. Uncomfortable seats, little leg room, on-board smoking and crappy TV-screens. Fast-forward to nowadays and non of that is true anymore. Hundreds of Expat Club trips with countless returning customers of all ages and backgrounds prove bus travel can be an excellent way of discovering Belgium and surrounding countries.
Traveling by train
One of the most convenient ways of traveling is by train. At Expat Club we don’t travel too often by train, simply because we need to be more flexible than les chemin de fer allow. But for some destinations in Belgium it is just the perfect solution, such as for our kayaking trips to the Ardennes where the train drops us virtually off at the starting point and picks us up at the finish line. Also for our sailing trips from Oostende it is a perfect solution, since are boats are docked right next to the station. Internationally we travel to London by Eurostar, which takes just 2 hours. Another destination is the Province in the South of France. With a direct connection from Brussels, it is just a great experience to see the French landscape flying by and getting off in Avignon. Possibly in the future we also take the Thalys Neige to go skiing in the French Alps.
Traveling by flight
Brussels and Charleroi Airports are well connected with most major European cities and regions, either with Brussels Airlines or a low-costs carrier. We prefer to fly direct from Brussels Airport, but sometimes that is just not the best option because of airfare, departure times or days. In that case we may fly from Charleroi, for instance with Ryan Air. We make sure that a taxi picks you up from Place Schuman, as if we were going by bus. If possible, we arrange your preferred pre-reserved seats, add a piece of luggage if required, and of course a private transfer to the hotel at destination.
With one stop virtually the entire world can be reached rather conveniently. At Expat Club we are always trying to get the most convenient flights. Unless there is absolutely no other way, we are not leaving early morning. Everyone should have the opportunity to reach the airport by public transportation. We plan our trips in such a way that you can optimally use your time. For instance, on a three day trip we may leave on Friday morning, so that we have the entire afternoon and evening to enjoy at our destination, or we leave after office hours and you won’t lose a day at work.
Traveling by boat
For some trips we need to take a boat to arrive at our destination. For instance, we regularly cross the Channel between Calais (FR) and Dover (UK) to discover the beautiful castles and famous White Cliffs of Dover, or to visit the historic city of Canterbury with its majestic Cathedral. And during the same Christmas period we also use the Rotterdam Europoort – Hull ferry service to visit England’s most beautiful city York. Your bed in your personal hut is already made up for you, so you can arrive relaxed on the other side of the pond. For many trips we also arrange touristic boat tours, such as in Cologne and Düsseldorf, on the fabulous Vierwaldstättersee in Switzerland, or a canal cruise in Amsterdam.
Where are we staying?
Now that you know how we get there, the next question is where do we stay? Good question, because accommodation can make or break your weekend getaway or holiday. Expat Club pays much attention to selecting good accommodation. As you probably know by now, we are not about low budget, so you will never be able to book a hostel or bed & breakfast. At the same time, we are not exactly booking another Four Seasons hotel every time we travel. Instead, our accommodation depends on a multitude of variables. Costs play a key role of course, but also location, size of the rooms, hotel services, and last but not least the reviews on major travel sites.
But let’s start with the number of stars. For some trips we indeed do stay in 5* hotels, especially when we are going on a longer holiday to more exotic places where safety and hygiene may be an issue, or when you spend more time in the hotel and having a good restaurant and a nice swimming people would be essential.
We normally search for 4* hotels from the chains such as Novotel, Mercure, Radisson Blu, Holiday Inn, Hilton Garden Inn, Clarion, Best Western or independently operated hotels. For many trips we also use good 3* hotels, such as from chains like Ibis, Best Western, B&B Hotels, Campanile and ACE Hôtel. Whichever hotel we stay at, we always make sure it has good reviews and normally only with scores 8,0 or higher (> 4 out of 5 stars). With Expat Club you rarely find hotels with a score lower than 7,5 (< 3¾ stars), and quite often scores above 8,5 or even 9,0 (> 4¼ to 4½ stars).
Location is also a key issue. Of course staying downtown is always the nicest option, but would you like to pay hundreds of euros more if you only stay there for the night and not really see the city? Or would you be fine staying in a good 3* hotel just outside of the city and possibly more convenient for where we need to be? Indeed, at Expat Club we weight the advantages of location carefully and often also explicitly explain why we are staying there. For instance, for our Voges weekend ski trips we stay about 50 minutes from the slopes for a variety of reasons (no groups accepted last minute, no snow cleaning after 20h00 on local roads in the mountains and bus driving times).
Of course we also carefully look at the hotel itself. The room size, the room types, the look & feel, the restaurant and breakfast, whether there is a pool or spa, whether you can order a BLT sandwich at midnight. All we want to say, the choice for hotel(s) comes after a careful weighing of various factor. Most of the times we visit the hotels beforehand, so we know exactly what to expect.
How about the hotel rooms?
Finally, Expat Club wants to make sure you get the proper room for your stay. During the reservation process you can indicate what room type you would like stay in, namely a single room, double room, twin room or triple/family room. You don’t have to be afraid that we assign you a double room with 1 large bed that you have to share with your room partner. Your choice is always respected. Here is some more information about the various room types.
- Single room – 1 single or double bed for 1 person (surcharge applies)
- Double room – 1 double bed for 2 persons (a couple or parent/child)
- Twin room – 2 single beds for 2 persons (two friends sharing a room)
- Twin room – 2 single beds for 2 solo travellers who share a room
- Triple/family rooms – at request
If you travel with your partner or a younger child, we can arrange a double room with a large double bed (normally queen size, sometimes king size). If you travel with your spouse and child we reserve a triple room, which has one double bed and a single bed (often a highly quality approved rollaway bed). For larger families we do our best to find a family room or two connecting rooms. This is always upon request, but if it doesn’t work our surely the rooms are close to each other (next door or opposite). If you travel with a friend we reserve a twin room, so you each have your own single or sometimes double bed. And finally if you are a solo traveller, we reserve an actual single room (with one single bed, usually a smaller room), although in most cases you will simple get a regular double room that you use only for yourself. It will be clearly indicated what you can expect. Just note that rooms differ a lot per country. For instance, in Germany they are generally much spacier than in the Nordic countries. In Sweden you may even find rooms without a window and therefore without natural daylight. Generally we avoid such rooms, but if we offer them you will be clearly informed before you finish the booking process. With regard to single rooms, these may be considerably smaller and have only one regular single bed, but most often they are the same rooms as for a couple but you use it only for yourself. This will also be clearly told. Please note we do our best to give you most important information to avoid any wrong expectations.
Room sharing for solo travellers
If you travel alone, you can also share a “twin room” with 2 single beds with another lady or another gentleman (no mixing). We introduce you to the other travelers who also want to share a room. This means you don’t have to search for a friend who wants to join you on this trip. We also do not assign you to a room, but you choose who you want to share the room with during our first day of travel, because there are always more like you. You can select this room sharing option during the reservation processs. It is a perfect way to avoid the single surcharge and to meet another friendly expat.
Upon arrival
When we arrive at the hotel you can be sure we’ve done everything we can to shorten the check-in time as much as possible. This means that we always put a bit of pressure on the hotel reception to prepare all keys and order the rooms by name. Even when we travel with larger groups, we often “clear the lobby” within just 5-10 minutes. Depending on the country, it may be necessary to have a copy of your passport made. We always try to prevent this, but in some cases it is not possible to check in otherwise, even in European countries (e.g. hotels in Venice do not respect European privacy laws).
Our guided tours
Did you know that many tour operators only provide transportation and possibly accommodation? They drop you off and tell you when to report back for the return trip. Not with Expat Club! For virtually every trip, including one of our many day trips, we make sure that a professional local tour guide is waiting for us to tell us more about the city, region, local customs and of course history. We do this almost always at the beginning of our trip, so everyone gets the same experience. No need to talk, just learn, observe, enjoy, and share the moment.
Regular city tours last anywhere between 1 to 3 hours. But of course these are not the only tours. Oftentimes we hire a licensed museum guide to show us through the collection, such as the Louvre Lens or the Claude Monet gardens in Giverny. Or we get a nature guide to tell us more about the history, flora and fauna of an exceptionally beautiful area, such as the Hallerbos near Brussels that blooms every year with millions of bluebells. And when we want to explore a region for a longer time, the guide may stay with us for days, such as during our D-Day trips in Normandy. And to be sure you can enjoy everything fully, we have our own digital tour guide system available so you can hear everything while taking a picture at 50 meters from the guide.
Expat Club Events
If you don’t like traveling, which we can hardly imagine, then there are always tons of local events to choose from. And if you like traveling, how nice it would be to meet your new friends from last weekend’s trip again during dinner, a movie night or a coffee morning. And if you would like to expand your horizon and learn something new, join us to a local museum or participate in one of the regular workshops we offer.
