Brussels

The European Parliament is the largest multi-national parliament in the world. It represents the 370 million citizens of the Union and its primary objectives are to pass European laws and control the executive power.

Volvo Group is one of the world's leading suppliers of commercial transport vehicles. An informative guided tour includes a video, presentation & factory visit to chart the past, present & future of one of Europe's major coach manufacturers. Students must be over 18 years old. Maximum group size 25 for safety reasons.

The Audi vehicle plant in Brussels specialises in the assembly of the Golf and the Lupo for European and Japanese markets. The visit takes in a short film on the production of the cars and a visit to the showroom and the factory. The group will additionally see how robots now assemble the coachwork, as well as, the mechanics process and how the upholstery is made.

This excellent tour provides an explanation of the origin of chocolate and the chocolate making process. The group will then be able to see the production in action. To finish the tour all students will be able to sample the finished product and buy the products in the shop. New for 2010 will be the possibility of adding a workshop to the end of the tour where students can participate in making their own chocolate products. Please contact us for more details and prices.

This guided tour begins with a presentation on the history of the company and products, staff, environment, marketing, sponsorship and publicity. The visit will then continue in the plant, where the group will see the procedure for making the plastic bottles, filling the bottles, packaging and stocking of the products.

Visits can be arranged to Interbrew breweries, home of the famous Stella Artois brand in Leuven. Interbrew has a portfolio of more than 200 brands, including, Stella Artois, Brahma and Beck's, its three global flagship brands. A major economic entity, Interbrew employs over 75,000 people and runs operations in 32 countries across the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. The visit consists of a guided tour to the brewing hall, the filtration and filling plant and an opportunity to taste Stella Artois (though this is not compulsory)

This visit concerns itself with a tour around the distillery, which will show the students the entire distillation process from start to finish. At the end of the tour, the group will be given the chance to sample the product and then purchase in the shop.

Traditional diamond factory located in the diamond District of Antwerp near central station. Visitors can see how rough diamonds are sawed, bruted and polished and observe one of the oldest working diamond factories in Europe.

Cantillon is the last surviving producer of 'Gueuze', the most mysterious & natural of Belgium's myriad of beers. A visit gives a fascinating insight into an award-winning, traditional family-run brewery. Includes a visit of the museum, discussion and undoubted highlight - a tasting at the end of the visit.

This high quality chocolate factory was first established in 1886 by Antoine Jacques. The students will have the opportunity to see the entire production process. There is also a chocolate museum there which traces the cocoa culture, its chocolate making and its history through the past centuries. Probably the most tasteful study tour out there!

This distillery is one of the oldest and most famous distilleries in Belgium. A guided tour of the distillery will explain the impressive history of the company. At the end of the tour the group will have the opportunity to sample the Elixer d?Anvers and Elixir de Spa and (if still standing) ask any questions.

This auction is the largest fruit and vegetable cooperative in Europe, and handles up to 3,000 tons of vegetables per sale day. The guide will talk about the history of auctions, and specifically about the auction of Mechelen. Students learn about the system of auctions and will follow the distribution process of the produce from the market gardener to your local supermarket shelf. Additionally, the visitor gets to witness the sales activity with the auction clock.

The century old brewing traditions are shown in this brewery and museum. Groups are shown the brewing process of this tasty beer with a high fermentation of malt, hops and yeast. A tasting is possible at the end of the tour.

Parc du Cinquantenaire (French for "Park of the Fiftieth Jubilee)"is a large public park in the easternmost part of the European Quarter in Brussels, Belgium. Most buildings of the U-shaped complex which dominate the park, were commissioned by King Leopold II and built for the 1880 National Exhibition commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of Belgian independence. The centerpiece triumphal arch was erected in 1905. The structures were built in iron, glass and stone, symbolising the economic and industrial performance of Belgium. The Cinquantenaire Museum is an art museum that occupies most of the southern part of the complex. It is part of the Royal Museums for Art and History, which are a Belgian federal institute of the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office. The museum consists of several parts, which include a national collection of artifacts from prehistory to the Merovingian period (751 AD), a collection artifacts from the antiquity of the Near East, Egypt, Greece and Rome. Artifacts from non-European civilisations such as China, Japan, Korea, pre-Columbian America and the Islamic world are on display. There is also a collection of European decorative arts from the Middle Ages to the 20th century, showing sculptures, furniture, tapestries, textiles, costumes, old vehicles etc.

The Council of the European Union, (otherwise known as The Council of Ministers) has no equivalent anywhere in the world. Here, the Member States legislate for the Union, set its political objectives, coordinate their national policies and resolve differences between themselves and other institutions. Visits must be booked directly, please contact us for contact details

The European Commission is made up of twenty members and is at the heart of the European Union's policy making process. The European Commission carries out the following functions: initiating proposals for legislation, guardian of the Treaties and the manager and executor of Union policies and of international trade relationships. Visits to the European Commission must be booked directly, please contact Outgoing for details.

The European Parliament is the largest multi-national parliament in the world. It represents the 370 million citizens of the Union and its primary objectives are to pass European laws and control the executive power. Visits must be booked directly through your local MEP

The In Flanders Field Museum is a compelling interactive museum which takes students through the events of the First World War and occupies the second floor of the Cloth Hall, Ypres in Belgium. The building was virtually destroyed by artillery fire during the Battles of Ypres and has been reconstructed. The curator, Piet Chielens, is a World War I historian. The museum is named for the famous poem by Canadian John McCrae. Visitors to the museum will find no glorification of war; rather the museum suggests the futility of war, especially as seen in Flanders in World War I. Educational groups are very well catered for.

The governor of the National Bank is a member of the Governing Council, the main decision-making body of the Eurosystem, particularly as regards monetary policy; the National Bank of Belgium participates in the preparation and execution of its decisions. Apart from monetary policy, the National Bank of Belgium takes on other tasks including the printing of euro banknotes and the placing in circulation of euro coins and notes and the collection, circulation and analysis of economic and financial information and general stability of the Belgian financial sector and state. The visit consists of a tour of the premises and the banking museum, supplemented with a video on the bank's activities.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) French (also called "the (North) Atlantic Alliance"), is an inter-governmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on April 4, 1949. The NATO headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium,[3] and the organization constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party. The Public Diplomacy Division of NATO HQ runs an information (visits) programme aimed at groups of visitors such as university students (AGED 18 YEARS AND OVER), academics, journalists, etc. A typical visit lasts half a day (4 hours) and consists of a series of briefings/discussions by NATO staff in one of the conference rooms on current NATO political issues.

Visit the Headquarters of Allied Command Operations (ACO), one of NATO's two strategic military commands. It performs the operational duties previously undertaken by Allied Command Europe and Allied Command Atlantic. Visits last a full day and include briefings on NATO's objectives and basic security tasks; Organisational structure of HQ SHAPE; NATO's military missions and operations. Visits must be booked directly

Visit the site where Napoleon lost the battle against the allied troops commanded by Wellington and the Prussian Marshal Blucher in 1815. The visitors centre gives information about the battle. An audiovisual spectacle with slides can be seen here. It indicates the strategic points of the battle and the movements of the different armies. Also, one can see here a movie about the battle. A 20 minute movie tells the story of present-day children who are playing at the battlefield and who suddenly find themselves in the middle of the battle. Four kilometres away from the Lion Mound, the Wellington Museum, located at the heart of the town of Waterloo, is home to a large collection of memorabilia dating from the time of the battle. This former inn was in 1815 by the English officers to house the Duke of Wellington?s general quarters.