Home Belgium Welcome Personalized solutions for expatriates Pensions, life insurance, economic disability, medical expenses, .. Free quote request (moving, relocate, insurance, health, Visa, Aparthotel, Hotel, Housing; concierge, home management, sitting services, ..) Relocation and Removals : Free quote request Your contributions to Expats Expat1 Geographical situation Economy & statistics Agriculture Industry Expat2 Other sectors Population Languages Religion Weights, measures and voltages Money Main towns Climate Insects Expat3 Working Formalities Entry formalities: Health & medicine Expat4 Connections with France Time differences Telecommunications Airports Car rental Hotels & restaurants Your suitcase Information Your car Banks Schools & schooling Guides Observations Cost of Living : Accomodation

Go to Belgium Time differences There is no time differences with France. 20 - Telecommunications Telephone : To phone Belgium from France dial : 00 32 + town code + number code for Bruxelles : 2, Antwerp : 3, Gent : 9 To phone France from Belgium dial : 00 33 + Emergencies : 101 Postal services : The post is distributed once or twice a day depending on the municipalities, except on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. Post offices are open from Mondays to Fridays from 8.30 am to 5 pm. Telegrams can be sent by phone, fax or from a telegraph office. Radio/Television : Radio Télévision Belge (RTB), 52 bd Auguste Reyers, B-1040 Brussels French community 2 737-3111 fax 2 737-2885. Flemish community 2 737-3111 fax 2 734-3662. Radio TV Luxembourg (RTL), 67 av. Franklin Roosevelt, 1050 Bruxelles, 2 640-5150. 21 - Airports The international airport of Brussels-Zaventem is 14 kms out of town. It is open 24h/24h tel. 2 722 31 11 As Zaventem is reaching saturation point the Charleroi airport, called Brussels South Charleroi Airport (BSCA) is becoming an alternative arrival point. For the moment regular flights from Dublin (Ryanair) and charter flights to Palma, Monastir, Malaga, Catane, Herklion and Algeria are using this airport. There are also courrier, maintenance and freight services. The Liege-Bierset Airport is also developing rapidly. It handles more than 160,000 passengers a year and flights go from there to 10 different destinations. 22 - Car rental Avis has an office in all the main towns in Belgium. Central reservation office : 32 2 7269488 A few towns : Antwerp : 32 3 8291000, airport 32 3 2309000 Bruges : 32 50 394451 Brussels : 32 2 5136969, 32 2 7240635, Hotel Hilton 32 2 5131051, airport 32 2 7200944, Gare du Midi 32 2 5271705 Charleroi : 32 71 323535 Ghent : 32 9 2220053 Liege : 32 4 2525500, airport 32 4 23423300 Namur : 32 81 735780 Ostend : 059 323498 All Avis cars are completely equipped, have done less than 15,000 kms and have an average age of 3 months. The vehicles are carefully prepared and checked between each rental using a procedure containing 7 obligatory control points. The cars are rented with a full tank. Renting from Avis automatically means that the car passengers, renter and/or driver are covered by a third party insurance as well as an insurance covering repatriation and the immobilization of the vehicule in case of an accident. You can reserve a car : - from your travel agent - from the international reservation centre at 0 820 05 05 05 - or from any Avis agency Avis has an interactive network worldwide, a client can reserve a car instantly from anywhere in the world. We recommend that you pay your rental using your accredited Avis card or with another credit card accepted by Avis : American Express, Visa, Mastercard, Diners. Through a simple free membership system, Avis gives identity and/or payment cards, which are a real help for a rapid and efficient service. REASSURING : No on-line payment, you can pay Avis directly at the agency when you return the car RAPID : Avis has the quickest car rental reservation service on the web ECONOMICAL : The cheapest rates on the market are available on the Avis microsite COMPLETE : You can rent a car anywhere in the world. The Avis network : 5000 agencies in 172 countries, is now on-line! EFFICIENT : Find your town (you don't have to fill in the country), enter the date and click on estimate PRACTICAL : You only have to fill in 4 boxes and you will receive an e-mail confirming the reservation. You can even rent a vehicle at the last minute just round the corner or ... on the other side of the world. 24 - Your suitcase From June to September take summer or spring clothing. In winter you will need warm clothing and all the year round you will unfortunately need a raincoat or an umbrella. The weather is nearly identical to that in northern France or Britain. 25 - Information Your car : If your car is more than six months old you will receive an exemption from customs on arrival. You then need to get a conformity certificate. To complete the formalities you have to have your registration card, a 705 sticker and a resident's certificate delivered by your municipality. To change your number plates you have to be able to show the conformity certificate. If your car is more than 4 years old, it will have to pass a technical control. Voting : Elections are always held in Belgium on a Sunday. It is obligatory to vote, and is a right given to citizens who are 18 years old and over. Leisure activities :  Belgium is the cradle of the comic book : Tintin, Sas, Lagaffe, Lucky Luke,... Public holidays : New Year's Day -1st January Easter Monday Labour Day - 1st May Ascension Day Whitsuntide Flemish community Day -11th July National Day - 21st July Assumption -15th August French community Day -27th September All Saints Day -1st November Armistice Day -11th November German community Day -15th November Christmas Day -25th December 26 - Banks To open a bank account in Belgium you have to have an identity card and a proof of residence. Some French banks have branches in Belgium, you can find the : - BNP, - Crédit Lyonnais, - CCF, - Indosuez, - Sogénal (Société Générale), - Paribas, - SofiBanque. The leading Belgian banks are : - the BBL, - the Générale de Banque, - the CGER, - the Crédit Communal. Banks are open : From Monday to Friday from 8h30 to 12h30 and from 13h30 to 16h00. 28 - Guides The English speaking community publishes a monthly magazine called 'The Bulletin' which contains ads on places to rent, furniture etc for sale, articles on living in Brussels and events in Belgium. 29 - Observations Cost of Living in Brussels : Accomodation : While you are waiting to find the right accomodation, you can stay in a 'Flat Hotel' which is a furnished bedsit and slightly less expensive than a hotel. A 2 room unfurnished flat costs from 2,000 FF a month, a furnished bedsit costs about 3,000 FF a month. Students often rent rooms in family houses, this costs about 1,000 FF a month. A hotel double room ***: + 1,000 FF A meal in a good restauant for 2 : + 400 FF (without wine) Car rental : about 500 FF Prices are much more reasonable in other towns in Belgium, eg in Antwerp a good hotel costs from 500-600 FF. Brussels removal, Buxelles furniture depository, research apartment furnished Brussels, Hiring apartment furnished Brussels, To work in Belgium, Careers international in Belgium, To live, study and work in Belgium, Your trip business in Belgium. To make a success of your Paris removal towards Brussels, international Removal London Brussels, Removal Brussels/Antwerp, Removal Brussels/Liege, international School of Brussels,Brussels removal towards Shanghai, the small free advertisements Expat, Aparthotel Reservation and residence hotel. Estimate removal, hiring of pieces of furniture and furniture of apartment, ...

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