Aarschot, Belgium
Member since
2013The member has not specified any exchange dates
Close to Brussels-Antwerp-Leuven: appartment with small private garden in the heart of Europe, up to 4 persons.
Open voor all proposals: days, weekends, weeks.. all year long.
Apartment with small garden for max 4 persons (2 bedrooms) at 100m from the trainstation!
Welcome in Flanders, Belgium! (You can communicate with us in: Nederlands, english, français, deutsch). We are Ilja and Karen, Alexander (11) and Andreas (9). We did exchanges with The Basque Country in France, Paris, Finland, Tenerife, Munich and Iceland. Wir sprechen auch Deutsch, on parle aussi le français...
Why choosing Belgium?
1 Everything very close to you; Western Europe, lake, sea, nature, great gastronomy, museum, culture, shopping, sports,..
2 Car and public transport all around
3 Often great temperatures in summertime
4 Van Eyck, Rubens, Jacques Brel, Magritte, Adolphe Sax, Flemish Primitives, all the medieval monuments,.... So much culture in one spot: Flanders.
Near Brussels and Antwerp, in Flanders: within 2 hours from Germany (Köln, Aachen,..), France (Paris), The Netherlands (Amsterdam, Rotterdam), Great Britain (London). At 1,5h from the sea and the mountains. Very good public transport but also car exchange possible. You can travel around Flanders, The Netherlands and France with trains easily. Belgian Airports Brussels and Brussels South are nearby. Summer temperature in Belgium is often around 25 °C.
My appartment is in the street of a very good train station! So in 30 mins you are in Brussels (capital of Europe) (30'), Ghent (1h), Bruges (Unesco) (1h30'), Antwerp (40'), and Leuven (University) (12'). If you want, you can do everything by train. All shops and supermarkets are within 2km. But the higthway is one street away so with my car you arrive in all these cities in just...one hour!
The nearby river Demer (1 min) is ideal for biking and walking because it's a very long track without cars. You can make a stop alongside this river to visit cities like Mechelen, there are restaurants, pubs, ice-cream bars,... Have a look at the pictures and our map. Community pool: 2km and a bigger one: 10km.
Our apartment lies in Aarschot, a small cosy town near Brussels, Leuven.... Just step 100m to the train station where you have DIRECT LINES to all the cities.
In summertime, we often go to the nearby lake with a beach in only 10 minutes! The water quality is very good and the lake is safe and guarded. Of course you can also enjoy the beach (1h45' driving) where you can swim and go windsurf.
Several playgrounds, new athletics track, parks, tennis, golf (2 beautiful golf courts nearby), squash, wall climbing, surf and sailing (1,5h) thermae sauna and 3 swimming pools (1 open air) are nearby. A zoo lies within cycling distance. Our region is also excellent for its nature so walking and biking in forests and along the river is often seen here. At the end of june/begin of july, you can experience the ambience of the best rockfestival of the world: Rock Werchter (only 5 min. driving).
Finally, Belgium is of course well known for its chocolates and waffles. You won't resist the very good Belgian kitchen in general and more specific the famous french fries with one of Belgiums famous beers (1000 types!) like the Trappists. Maybe you like Jacques Brel (museum Brussels), Adolphe Sax (museum Dinant), Permeke (museum Jabbeke), Damiaan (museum Tremelo), Jan De Kock (contemporary art), Luc Tuymans (painter), René Magritte (museum Brussels)....Beguinage of Aarschot and Leuven...
Our location is an ideal spot to start your citytrip to Brussels, Antwerp, Bruges, Ghent, Paris (3h30'), Amsterdam (2h15'), Rotterdam (1h40'), Cologne (2h) or London (4h30')... But also Trier, Aachen, Düsseldorf,... Brussels is the capital of Europe and Belgium is the center of Western Europe!
10 things you should do here:
1 Visit Leuven, a very beautiful city with great shopping opportunities and of course Brussels
2 Drink a famous belgian Trappist beer like Chimay, Orval, Westmalle,... in the brewery.
3 Visit the nearby moated castle of Horst and walk along the vineyards just 10 min. from us.
4 Plan a daytrip to Bruges, Unesco protected and most beautiful city of Belgium!
5 Eat mussels with french fries at the adresses we give you
6 Go see the Lam Gods painting (Van Eyck) or modern museums like the SMAK (Ghent) or the MAS (Antwerp)
7 Have fun with the Bonobo primates at het Planckendael Zoo or the Antwerp Zoo
8 Relax in the orient styled thermae of Grimbergen with plenty of baths and sauna's
9 Don't miss the Atomium in Brussels
10 Go to the beach at De Haan, a famous village in strictly conserved Normandian style
I work as psychotherapist (46), my wife Karen (41) is a civil servant and my kids Andreas and Alexander are 14 and 16 years old. We don't smoke and have 2 social nice cats. Note that we like clean houses! We will respect your house very well and clean it very good. We expect the same from our intervac friends. We are looking forward to exchange homes with you!
http://www.leuven.be/en/tourism/index.jsp
http://www.planckendael.be/
http://www.visitdehaan.be
http://atomium.be/?lang=nl
http://visitbruges.be/nl/index.php/
http://www.herita.be/erfgoedbeleving/erfgoedsite/kasteel-van-horst-holsbeek
http://www.trappistwestmalle.be/
http://www.tremelo.be//Damiaanmuseum
Thermae Grimbergen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlklywBNOGE
Our Family
- 2 Adults
- 2 Children
- 7 Exchanges made
Occupation
- civil servant federal government
- psychotherapist / relationship therapist / trainer
Our Home
- House Type: Flat
- Environment: In a small town
- Bedrooms: 2
- Bathrooms: 1
- Sleeping Capacity: 4
References
In my house
- Pets - Not allowed
- Small children - Allowed
Exchange Types
- Home exchange
Indoor
- Free internet access
- Computer available
- Central heating
- Toys and games
- Washing machine
- Dishwasher
- Clothes dryer
- Television
- Guitar
Outdoor
- Garden
- Terrace or deck
- Balcony
- Garage / private parking
- Bicycles: 4
Facilities
- Non-smoking house
- Suitable for disabled people
- Use/Exchange of car
Our Destination Wish List
- Open to any destination
- Bulgaria
- Greece
- Albania
- Croatia
- Malta
- Spain
- France
- Portugal
- Ireland
- Scotland, UK
- Italy
- Europe
- Sweden
- Galway, Ireland
- Paris, France
Spoken Languages
- English
- Français
- Deutsch
- Dutch
Occupation
- civil servant federal government
- psychotherapist / relationship therapist / trainer
Children
- Boy - Age: 17
- Boy - Age: 15
Pets
- Cat, named Fleur
- Cat, named Gilson
References
This member has completed 7 home exchanges. Those referenced below may contain feedback/impression from its exchange partners: