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How to Flea Market for your Wedding, p.5: The Best Markets of Belgium, Holland + Germany

Last week, I shared my favorite French flea markets with you. Today, I'm excited to share a few of my faves from Belgium, Holland and Germany!

The two most well-known markets in our region were Homburg, Germany, and Tongeren, Belgium. For years, these have been the go-to markets in this region for locals and visitors from abroad. My Mom schooled me well on the amazingness of these markets as she used to frequent both when we lived in Germany while I was in high school {...and too busy with my friends to embrace the joys of early Saturday morning marketing! (;}. As soon as J&I found out we'd be moving back to Europe, my Mom started waxing poetic about these two markets and I couldn't wait to visit them. During our three years in Germany, I visited each dozens of times and found some of the most amazing European treasures that I will probably cherish for a lifetime. I once scored this French settee set in blue velvet at Tongeren:


Both markets are large but Tongeren definitely has a larger amount of furniture while Homburg tends to be a bit more about the smaller items. And you'll hear about as much English being spoken at these two markets as you will German, French and Dutch - they are truly the definition of international markets.

And the town of Tongeren is stunning! Take a look:


It's also filled with the cutest bistros and bars. We would always look forward to ending our marketing in Tongeren with a stop at a pub for a delicious ham sandwich {it's the thing to order in Belgium and Holland - trust me, they're not your average sandwich ... they're crazy delicious!} and a large glass of Chimay!

Sadly, I never thought to take any photos at Homburg's flea. It seems to be a more modern city than Tongeren so it's not quite as picturesque but if you're a hard-core marketer, it's certainly worth a stop {just don't confuse it with Hamburg!}. The big plus about Homburg is that there are always food trucks serving pretzels, bratwursts and adult beverages {the husbands always greatly enjoyed this! Ok, so did I!}

Ready to go? Tongeren's market is every Sunday morning in the center of town while Homburg's is the first Saturday of every month. Just follow the crowds!

Want more? You can read this post and this post I previously wrote about Tongeren to see few more photos of the goods that are often at the market. ;)

While Tongeren and Homburg are great introductory flea markets for vacationers and expats alike, they start to feel a little bit stale after several repeat visits. We would often see the same vendors with the same wares which made us hungry for new markets. So I started researching smaller markets in Belgium and France to give us a better variety.

From my research, I discovered the markets of Spa, Liege, Ciney and Waterloo in Belgium. All four were amazing and we always looked forward to them. From a sightseeing perspective, I would highly recommend visiting Waterloo as you could visit the market and then the battlefield of Waterloo and museum afterwards. Waterloo's market was in the parking lot of an Auchan grocery store. Just check online for dates + times as they frequently change.

Check out these gorge antique brooches I scored at the Ciney market.

The market of Spa, Belgium
At the Waterloo market // It was hard not to fall in love with the darling wooden crates that were always attached to bikes
in Belgium and Holland - cute decoration for the perfect getaway transportation for a bride and groom!
J&I also happened upon the weekend flea market in Brugge while we were there visiting. It was small and overpriced {in my opinion} but the location is beyond charming as it's along the water:


You can read more about the flea market in Brugge as well as what to see in this post I wrote about our visit.

We didn't make it to Holland as much for marketing as it was 3+ hours away but we did make it to the Maastricht market and the Cuijk market. Maastricht is a beautiful town near the Belgian border. The market was small but cute and we enjoyed an afternoon of shopping in the town and lunching along the river. Cuijk is in a gorgeous area of Holland - we lost count of how many windmills and baby lambs we saw! We stayed in nearby Molenhoek but greatly enjoyed exploring the gorgeous historic town of Nijmegen. I wrote a detailed post of our trip in this post. The actual market in Cuijk is located in a large warehouse which was a bit tricky to find. We weren't super impressed with this market but it was large and had a good amount of antiques. If you're in the area, it's worth a stop.

Hope you found this post interesting! As always, if you have any thoughts, tips or comments, I'd love to hear!


Did you miss my previous antiquing posts? Catch up here:
The European Edition | Tips on how to navigate the markets

COMING UP | Next week, I'll share a few common goodies you can find at almost any flea market or antique mall that would be beautiful to include in your wedding!

All images by moi.

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