Is it possible to get clearance to transit these VFR? Much of Belgium seems engulfed in these areas, suggesting a VFR flight across the country could be very difficult if avoidance is mandatory.
They are not very often activated. If you want to do it right, check them in the AIP to see when they are active. Most, perhaps even all, are activated per notam. So you then check the notams. See here .
When checking the link, I saw some are active tomorrow. The one along the coast is only activated till 2500’ AMSL so that shouldn’t be a problem. In the extreme east things are a bit more difficult, I have no idea whether there’s any use in requesting a clearance.
If you carry a transponder, fly above FL045 to be in controlled airspace, controllers will then guide you around the corners.
Short answer is yes.
Longer answer is that EB airspace does look like a dog’s breakfast, at least to a foreigner. Excellent advice received here for a trip from home to Nuremberg last month was to plan and validate a Z route with Autorouter at about FL60, file it V, and let ATC guide you VFR. That worked a treat, though I did get shoved up to FL80 somewhere near the Belgian “alps”. Happily, that level gave the Maule a 40 kt tailwind (which it needs). 
Thanks for the autorouter suggestion. It sort of works. But can I take the risk?
I’m tempted to fly around them, by flying around Belgium, to our destination in Hungary.
I crossed eastern Belgium going UK-Poland-UK last July, low level on grotty VMC days (I have only a UK limited IRR) and I won’t be doing that again, it was very hard work and not really much fun. EBKT Kortrijk is a joy of a GA airfield but if I head east of there again, it will be via either the Dutch coast or northern France. Or it will after the BIR becomes a reality and I get one of those so I can go above it IFR.
Why does Belgium need all that airspace for the military? Doesn’t the Belgian air force consist of about three F16s?
The BIR seems very quiet at the moment…
Why would you avoid Belgium VFR, just ask crossing and there should be no problem, even not for the military airspaces.
Yes; in my VFR days I used to arrive from UK airspace at say FL085 (just below UK CAS, obviously) into Belgium and just asked for a transit, say KOK-LNO or some other common route, FL085. Present ATC with a fait accompli, firmly spoken, using IFR waypoints…
Whereas if one turned up at the border at say 1000ft, and asked for a climb to FL085, one quite likely won’t get it.
Disclaimer: those flights were always VMC, usually VMC on top, so would not have worked with say a 2000ft cloudbase and tops at FL250 Apart from being illegal VFR, one would be collecting ice all the way, even in the summer.
In more than 20 flights over the last 7 years, I’ve never had a refusal from Brussels to transit the general Class C VFR. As Peter says, be ready with an IFR-like route (VOR to VOR works well – or just say you can accept any route between your desired entry and exit points), expect to be rerouted slightly to avoid paradropping, keep accurate altitude and track, and everyone will be happy.
This works just fine within Belgium as well – I’ve done a couple of flights from Ostend to Spa and if you request FL60 on startup you seem to be given it no questions asked.
Ah, I made the usual British mistake of assuming that lines on the chart meant “keep out” rather than “ask and be let in”. Don’t know why really, “ask and you shall receive” usually works for me here. Thanks everyone, perhaps I will try Belgium again after all.
