Rond de Noordzee

Arnout Hauben travels through the Netherlands and Belgium with Philippe Niclaes and Ruben Callens. In his own unique way, he speaks to people he meets along the way and looks for stories that have given color to our regions.

Straight through Belgium is a 4-part adventurous television show, created by television-creator Arnout Hauben. Together with Philippe Niclaes (camera) and Ruben Callens (drone and sound) Hauben follows the GR129, the longest signposted hiking-trail in Belgium. The trail is 500 kilometers long and goes all the way through Belgium from Bruges to Aarlen. Arnout, Philippe and Ruben go "back to basics" for this show and travel with backpack and tents. They complete the trail in 23 days, travelling about 20 km per day. Along the way, Arnout Hauben stops at several special locations with each its own story. He tells stories about Belgian history, but also about lesser-known "petites histoires".

During his travels along the Mediterranean and ‘Across the Low Countries’, Arnout Hauben often brought up stories from the past, but now the walking travel guide of VRT 1 is going one step further. In ‘Interview with history: the Belgian royal family’, he talks to the Belgian kings, played by top Flemish actors. These conversations form the thread running through the episode and are interspersed with reports and archive material.

Arnout Hauben travels in the wake of forgotten Belgians who once made a miraculous journey.