Wallonia

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Overview

Wallonia (La Wallonie), Belgium's mostly French-speaking southern half, includes many a pretty rustic village in rolling green countryside, interspersed by a handful of postindustrial cities. The heavily wooded Ardennes is a major area for outdoors activities, a plateau land cut by rivers for kayaking, honeycombed with fabulous cave systems and offering just the tiniest hope of skiing in midwinter. Centuries of history are evident in the attractive cities of Mons and Tournai, in the unforgettable carnivals of Binche, Stavelot and Malmédy, and in a plentiful scattering of medieval castle ruins and grand châteaux. Sniffing out Liège's deep historical pedigree takes a little more delving beneath its rather disfigured surface. And then there's Waterloo, where Napoleon met his ABBA song. In many ways Wallonia feels like a different country from Flanders. Finding English speakers can't be so easily taken for granted and to reach the more rural highlights you’ll appreciate having your own wheels.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

Château de Bouillon

The Ardennes

Slouching like a great grey dragon high on Bouillon's central rocky ridge, Belgium’s finest feudal castle-ruin harks back to AD 988, but it's especially…

Collégiale Ste-Gertrude

Wallonia

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…

Pairi Daiza

Wallonia

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)…

Bastogne War Museum

The Ardennes

This highly recommended modern museum takes you into the heart of WWII, with an audio guide featuring four imagined voices of civilian and military…

Mons Memorial Museum

Wallonia

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…

Citadelle de Namur

Namur

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…

Blégny Mine

The Ardennes

For one of the best industrial-experience tours you'll find anywhere, don a hard hat, jump in the cage lift and descend through a pitch-black moment into…

Abbaye Notre Dame d'Orval

The Ardennes

A Cistercian monastery since 1132, Orval's abbey complex was wrecked in 1793 by anti-religious French Revolutionary soldiers. Rebuilding only started in…

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