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Opening hours and holidays
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In Belgium, the weekend fades painlessly into the week with some shops staying closed till late on Monday morning, even in major cities. Nonetheless, normal
shopping hours
are Monday through Saturday 9/10am to 6pm or 7pm, with most supermarkets staying open on Fridays till 8pm or 9pm and many smaller places shutting down a little earlier on Saturday. In the big cities, a smattering of convenience stores (
magasins de nuit
/
avondwinkels
) stay open either all night or until around 1 or 2am every day including Sundays, and some souvenir shops open late or on Sunday. At the other extreme, some shops close for the half-day on Wednesday or Thursday afternoon, though this tradition has died out in all but the smaller towns and villages. Most museums are open Tues-Sat 10am-4/5pm, and often on Sunday. Outside the April-Sept period, many sightseeing places close unless they're of prime touristic importance.
Shops, banks and many museums are closed on the following
public holidays
: Jan 1; Easter Monday; May 1; Ascension (around mid-May); Whit Monday; Assumption (mid-Aug); Nov 1; Nov 11; Dec 25. In addition, the Belgium national day is July 21. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Belgium |