One of Europe’s biggest and most impressive photography museums, it has an engrossing collection of historic, contemporary and artistic prints. Don’t miss the area upstairs dealing with airbrushing, tricks of the trade and optical illusions. Particularly intriguing is a little curtained room in which you effectively stand within a giant pinhole camera. Although most labels are in French, the ideas are generally self-explanatory. It occupies a 19th-century convent at the centre of dreary Mont-sur-Marchienne, 4km south of Charleroi by regular bus 70.
Musée de la Photographie
Top choice in Wallonia
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
26.71 MILES
Set on the grounds of a former Cistercian Abbey, this 65-hectare park is home to more than 5000 animals (including pandas, koalas, gorillas and lemurs)…
20.73 MILES
Dominating the town, Namur's mighty fortress covers a whole hilltop with ramparts, tunnels and grey walls. What you see now is more 19th and 20th century…
21.58 MILES
The inventive and touchingly nostalgic Hergé Museum celebrates the multitalented creator of comic-strip hero Tintin with an engaging, inventive and…
20.13 MILES
Inaugurated for the 2015 bicentenary, this showpiece underground museum and visitor centre at the battlefield gives some detail on the background to…
14.9 MILES
This 11th-century church was part of one of Europe’s foremost abbeys, founded in 648. It's 102m long with a soaring multilevel western facade topped with…
20.24 MILES
This superb museum mostly covers Mons' experience of the two world wars, though the constant sieges of this town's turbulent history are also mentioned…
14.44 MILES
The world’s tallest ship lift (completed in 2002), raising or lowering gigantic ‘baths’ 73 vertical metres, is on a pharaonic scale, as was the €150…
19.52 MILES
This classic fortified farm is around 20 minutes’ walk southwest of the Butte du Lion. Had Napoleon broken through here early in the battle, everything…
Nearby Wallonia attractions
1.8 MILES
This sizeable complex occupies a mine site where a horrific accident killed 262 miners in 1956. A gripping multilingual video commemorates that; admission…
2.68 MILES
Rising some 75m above the city centre, the aptly named 'Blue Tower' is Charleroi's most eye-catching new building. Designed by celebrated French architect…
3.56 MILES
With origins in the 7th century, but destroyed post–French Revolution in 1794, this atmospheric monastery is a mixture of picturesque ruins, surviving…
6.24 MILES
Looming high above the village is Thuin's 1639 stone bell tower topped with five slate spires and numerous gilded baubles. Apart from the (loud!) bells…
7.64 MILES
Around 6km south of Thuin, the Distillerie de Biercée is a great opportunity to see inside one of Wallonia's classic fortified-farm complexes. This one is…
6. Musée International du Carnaval et du Masque
10.67 MILES
For the low-down on the extraordinary Binche carnival, visit this museum just above the Grand Place. Aside from its Binche collections, this…
7. Musée de la Bataille de Ligny
11.6 MILES
At Ligny, against Blücher's Prussians, Napoleon won his last victory. Battle fans can visit the memorabilia-filled Musée de la Bataille, with two floors…
12.97 MILES
The village of Sombreffe's castle has a particularly fine quiver of variously shaped towers. If the gate's open, you can wander in to have a peek at the…