Hasselt (Belgium)

Hasselt is a Meuse/Maas River cruise port and the capital city of Belgium's Limburg Province (West Flanders Region) with population around 80,000. The Albert Canal/Albertkanaal runs through the city. Albertkanaal connects Antwerpen with Liege, and also interconnects the rivers Maas and Scheldt. Albertkanaal is also linked to the Dessel-Turnhout-Schoten Canal (length 63 km / 39 mi) running across the Antwerp Province and linking Dessel with Schoten (where it flows into the Albertkanaal).

The 1939-opened Albert Canal has length 130 km (81 mi), standard water depth 3,4 m (11 ft) and bridge clearance 6,7 m (22 ft). To allow cargo shipping traffic, the canal's bridges were recently heightened to min clearance 9,1 m (30 ft). Albert Canal has a total of 6 sets of locks (each fitted with a boat lift) to overcome the elevation difference of 56 m (184 ft) between Antwerpen and Liege. The canal locks are in Genk, Diepenbeek, Hasselt, Kwaadmechelen, Olen, and Wijnegem.

In 2002, Albertkanaal carried over 50% of Belgium's inland waterway-shipped cargo (43 million tons). The waterway is also popular for leisure boating and riverside cycling, having paved roads and picturesque scenery on both sides.

As cruise port, Hasselt is included in the schedule of one of the world's largest river cruise companies - Uniworld.

Next table shows a 7-night/8-day Christmas Market itinerary (themed "Belgian Holiday Markets") operated by Uniworld's ship River Empress.

The cruisetour's prices in 2023 started from ~EUR 2650 (~USD 2900) per person with double occupancy.

Most of Hasselt's downtown is car-free and lined with historical (11th to 18th centuries) buildings, restaurants, patisseries, taverns, cafes and bars. The city's main shopping streets are Demerstraat and Koning Albertstraat, housing some of Europe's most expensive boutiques selling top-brand merchandise.

Popular tourist attractions include Herkenrode Abbey (12th-century Catholic monastery of Cistercian nuns), Saint-Quentin Cathedral (13th-century), Basilique Notre-Dame Virga-Jesse (18th-century Basilica), Jenevermuseum (themed on the Belgian jenever/strong malt wine), Het Stadsmus Museum (exhibits objects from Herkenrode Abbey, ceramics from the Hasselt ceramics factory/1895-1954, also pieces related to the town's history and arts), Modemuseum Hasselt (themed on fashion), Jardin Japonais (1985-opened Japanese gardens/Europe's largest, total area ​​2,5 hectares, extension of Kapermolen Park), Hasselt Beguinage (a complex of 13th-century houses where lived beguines/single or widowed women living under monastic rules but without making perpetual vows), Versuz Club (Belgium's biggest), Limburg Lavendel (lavender field/farm), Chateau Holland (18th-century castle with a park, farm, 11+ hectares of land), BOON Chocoladehuis (chocolatier/chocolate shop).

Plopsa Indoor Hasselt is an indoor amusement park (Belgium's first) open the whole year round. The park is owned by Studio 100 (1996-founded film production company). It covers a total area of 13800 m2 (148,540 ft2) including 5000 m2 (53,820 ft2) outdoors and is visited annually by ~300,000 people. Plopsa Indoor Hasselt's main attractions are the Wickie Coaster (metal roller coaster), Bootjes (bumper boats), Vuurtoren (drop tower), Woeste Zee (Rockin' Tug by Zamperla), Zweefmolen (flying chairs), two carousels.