Western Europe

 

France, Belgium and the Netherlands comprise the western seaboard of continental Europe, their coastal cities facing the English Channel and North Sea. France’s Normandy ports of Cherbourg and Le Havre provide access to Paris and to the D-Day landing beaches of World War II. Zeebrugge is the Belgian port providing access to Brugge, Ghent, Antwerp, Brussels and Ypres. The major cruise ports in the Netherlands are Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

These nations were part of Charlemagne’s great medieval empire before it was divided into three smaller kingdoms. For centuries the resultant West Frankish kingdom (France) fought the East Frankish kingdom (Germany) for control of the Netherlands and Belgium, which were called the Low Countries in reference to their low-lying river deltas. Today this flat, windmill-dotted countryside is laced with canal-side bicycle paths and the region’s historic merchant cities are noted for their medieval squares and gabled guild houses.