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Best thing about the European Christmas markets is the street food. This is “Tartiflette”, a French dish from the Haute Savoie region of France. It is made with just a few ingredients - potatoes, reblochon cheese, lardons and onions, and you can have a serving or more at the Bruges Christmas market. You cannot pass by it without getting some. In this cold weather it’s just what the doctor ordered. Six euro will get you a portion big enough to share with another person. Really yummy.

While tour buses descend upon Bruges, in-the-know travelers in Belgium are discovering the Flemish city of Ghent. This lively university town has picturesque canals, stunning architecture, quirky shops, delicious dining options, and even its own castle. Here are the best things to do while on a trip to Ghent, Belgium.

Crupet is a member of the organization Les Plus Beaux Villages de Wallonie (The Most Beautiful Villages in Wallonia). It is a very small village with gorgeous stone houses decorated with many different types of flowers. Most of the houses date from the 17th, 18th and 19th century. The highlights of the village are the Crupet Chateau—a medieval farm-chateau situated below the village center, dating from the 13th century, and the Grotto of St Anthony of Padua. The grotto was designed by the local curate and inaugurated on the 12th July 1903. It features 22 religious-themed statues. Many of them depict scenes from the life of St. Anthony of Padua. The Ardennes region is an undiscovered Belgian treasure. There are many more charming little villages like this one. They look like time did not pass over them. When you enter a bakery people treat you like one of their own. Go and discover this wonderful part of Belgium. For full size photos see www.facebook.com/adisphotopage and www.lifeinasuitcase.com

One of the church’s most celebrated treasures has also been the most poorly guarded: Not once but twice, a diminutive marble sculpture of the Virgin and Child by Michelangelo has disappeared—first carried off by French revolutionaries and then by the Nazis—and both times been recovered. The Italian Renaissance sculptor-painter probably created the piece for Siena Cathedral, but prosperous Bruges merchants are said to have brought it north, installing it in what is still to this day one of the city’s most beautiful sanctuaries.

Beer is more than a thirst quencher in Belgium, it’s part of the national culture. This family-run brewery has produced local ales for centuries, by six generations of the current owners, the Maes family. They invite you to indulge in nostalgia, with exhibits of old beer-making techniques and cooper tools, and to sample their latest offering—Brugse Zots (the name means “Bruges Jester”), a pale ale introduced in 2005—in one of five dining rooms.

Who knows why the French get the credit—because Belgium’s fried potatoes are the best in the world. Served in a paper cone, liberally dusted with salt and almost too hot to hold, fritjes are, in a word, addictive. Try with mayonnaise for a bit of adventure, or stick with ketchup, if you must.

For centuries Sint-Janshospitaal was a refuge for the poor and sick, although today it shelters precious inmates of another sort. Housed in the canalside jumble of medieval buildings is a stellar modern art collection, plus six works by the Early Netherlandish master Hans Memling, a German artist who moved to Bruges in the 15th century. His small-scale paintings, with their minute attention to detail, are considered by many experts to be among the finest in the Northern European tradition.

In this week’s episode of Unpacked by AFAR, the three members of AFAR’s mighty destination team tackle all things winter travel.