Belgium April 2026 - Villers Abbey, Les Jardins d'Annivoie, and Dinant

We left Brussels and drove into the countryside stopping first at the abbey ruins at Villers-la-Ville.  It was a little confusing trying to find the entrance but we finally realized we had stopped on the back side of the complex instead of the front. Once we found the ticket office, we walked up a path that took us to a bridge over the road and into the ruins. On the path leading to the bridge there are signs that tell you what was happening at different points in history, both at the abbey and in the rest of world. The abbey was founded in 1146 and abandoned in 1796 so the historic timeline was pretty extensive. 

Once at the ruins we took the elevator down to the ground floor to begin exploring. It seems that quite a few of the exterior walls remain, though in various stages of ruin. Some of the building interior walls are mostly intact, and also some of the vaulted ceilings remain along with arches and rose windows. There is a separate building that became the medieval brewery and also a dormitory for the monks. I love looking at the stonework of the vaulted ceilings because I just can't understand how they actually stay in place at an angle like that.  It was a nice, sunny morning and very peaceful there without many other people. We explored for an hour or more before moving on. 

Our next stop was Les Jardins d'Annivoie. There is a private chateau which you can't enter but the attraction here is the gardens. We walked along paths near fountains, ponds, and streams.There were not as many flowers here as the gardens we had already seen, but there were lots of shrubs and statues. One note of disappointment is that nearly all of the statues are just one-sided plaster or plastic molds, there is nothing on the back of the statue but a post to keep it upright. I realize marble statues are expensive, but I think I would rather have the real thing or none at all. It was a pleasant stop but honestly not one I would repeat or bring friends to see. 

Dinant was our next destination. It's a town built on two sides of the Meuse River and I had seen photos of the imposing rock cliff that stands over the town and wanted to explore the town a bit. We had decided to have a bit of lunch when we arrived and as we were walking along the river promenade, we heard a huge boom! It actually sounded a lot like an explosion. There is an old citadel on the hill so we thought perhaps they fire off a canon sometimes? It was rather disconcerting!  We shared a pizza for lunch and then walked along the river on both sides admiring the views and watching the boats on the river. 

Soon it was time to move on to our destination for the night, Marche en Famenne. Our navigation took us to an entrance to the hotel that was barely wide enough for our rental car. It was a tight fit but not as tight as some we have negotiated. Once inside the parking lot, we saw there was another much larger entrance of course. The important thing is we didn't lose any side mirrors or scratch the tire rims. We had a nice dinner at the hotel, walked through town, and saw a community 5k race.  Tomorrow's destination is Bastogne. 

More Photos from Castle Groot Bijgarden

 

Belgium April 2026 Castle Groot-Bijgarden - a day trip from Brussels

I had planned a day trip to this castle in advance of the trip because it has a special garden event in April. It was a very welcome break from busy Brussels and there were 14 hectares of lovely gardens to wander through. It was not crowded at all and I could feel myself relaxing more and more as we went along. My soul really does belong in the countryside.

The castle itself dates from the 12th century and the current castle is 17th century Flemish-Renaissance style.  It is usually only open for events so we managed our timing well. It has quite an interesting history which includes sieges, seizures, political intrigue, and even loss of life for religious reasons. 

We entered the grounds crossing over the moat on a five-arched stone bridge that leads to the drawbridge. Once inside we wandered through many separate gardens and there were so many beautiful flowers! We saw bridges crossing the stream that feeds the moat and garden sculptures too. 

The garden event is called Floralia and there are bee sculptures hiding within the gardens for children to discover. We saw a type of goose we had never seen before and Google identified it as an Egyptian Goose. There was a whole little family of them with about 6 goslings. They were so cute! 

It was a really enjoyable day and we spent more than half a day here. On the way back to Brussels we stopped at Beersel castle on a whim, then headed back to Brussels for our last night there. 

Photos from Brussels - 2

 

                                                                   Square du Petit Sablon

                    Fountain and reflecting pool at the location of the original medieval port of Brussels 

Photos from Brussels - 1

                                         Tomb at Église Notre-Dame des Victoires au Sablon

                                                            Buildings in the Grand Place
 

                                                Grand Place - Maison des Ducs de Brabant 

Belgium April 2026 Brussels

Brussels is a large, busy city. It's the headquarters of NATO and the European Union so there were lots of businesspeople there as well as many people shopping at the high-end stores near our hotel.  We had a panorama room at the hotel so we had a nice180 degree view of the city.

On our first morning we had a walking tour of the city through WithLocals and our guide Eric was great - funny and energetic with knowledge of little corners of the city we would never have found on our own.   

Eric took us to a historic lane where one of the home's lintel stone was inscribed with the date 1596! The lane was a tiny, cute little place with wisteria vines growing from one building across to another. We were also able to visit a private courtyard where you could still see one of the canals that was used to deliver goods to the city. Most of the buildings there are now student housing.  We also saw a fountain and reflecting pool that are now all that remains of the original port of Brussels and we also saw one of the original watch towers from the city's medieval walls. 

The Grand Place was impressive and there were so many different facades of the buildings around the square! There is a 15th century Gothic Town Hall, a building that housed some of the worker's guilds, and the King's House which houses a museum. Most of the buildings have gold details on their facades which shine nicely in the evening when the square is illuminated. It was all very, well...grand! Eric did remind us to mind our belongings here as there can be pickpockets and it's a very busy place with lots of people around. Mike and I had a really good dinner at a restaurant underneath one of the buildings, the restaurant Le Cave du Roy. It's next to the historic guild hall Maison des Ducs de Brabant. We aren't gastronomes or foodies, but we do like a good meal with good service and this place delivered on both counts. 

Les Galeries Royale Saint-Hubert is one of Europe's first covered shopping malls. Opened in 1847 it was a beautiful combination of different types of marble and contained higher-end shops along with some touristy type of shops. Lots of chocolate shops too, they're very proud of the Belgian chocolate. We had a fantastic dinner here at Taverne du Passage. Superb food and good, although somewhat slow, service as they were quite busy. Both of the restaurant recommendations came from Eric so he was helpful in that regard also. 

Another tip from Eric was to visit the Église Notre-Dame des Victories au Sablon which was near our hotel. It was originally founded and built by the Crossbowmen's Guild in the 13th century and is free to enter. The church itself was light and airy but the main reason Eric suggested we go there was to see a family tomb inside that is made of the blackest marble I have ever seen. Normally black marble has quite a few streaks of white in it but this was almost completely black. It was even more striking because the sculptures on the tomb were all done in white marble. Nearby is the Square du Petit Sablon, a small park with a statuary fountain that was a nice place to stop if you wanted to sit for bit. 

One thing about Brussels: If you are driving to the city there are many tunnels you drive though that go under the streets and your car's navigation doesn't always seem to understand that you're in a tunnel so you can't possibly "exit now" as there is an actual tunnel wall in that spot! We took a day trip out of the  city one day and played a game of "where do we get off this never-ending loop of tunnels?" when we came back.  Finally I said to Mike just exit and we'll figure it out ourselves and we did! It also helped that our hotel was one of the tallest in the area so it was fairly easy to spot it. 

Overall we felt we could have done Brussels as a day trip. We aren't shoppers and the city was just too busy and crowded for our tastes. In hindsight, we would rather have visited Brussels as a day trip instead of staying in the city.

Photos from Bruges