Holiday in Belgium- durbuy

[ritz]

Hello Everybody, my Family and me are driving to Durbuy the 20july to 27 july. we have not been in Belgium before, we are satying in an Apartment for
8 person -110kvm . Durbuy is our base, and from this small town we are going
by car or train to seee some of Belgium, but what? Wim at this Forum told me to write here for getting input and links. I know it is not the best place to stay (Durbuy) because it is not in the middle of Belgium, but this it the place we have to stay in. We are going to visit Brussel of cause, but by car or train? A freind told me to go to Central Station and look for an Imbiss Hotel, downunder this there should be a parkinghouse in 7 floor. It is not the best time to spend several hour on a highway because heavy traffic, so maybe the train is best but on your feet I think it is not much you will see of Brussel,
we have GPS in the car. We are going to see attraction every day but do not want to drive to long max 200km each day. Allso want some photo´s.
Best Regards
ritz
Links are welcome at ritz@mail.dk
www.ritz-prolight.com www.pbase.com/ritzlau

[nete]

Re: Holiday in Belgium- durbuy

To visit in Belgium besides Brussel:

Brugge, Gent, Antwerpen, Lier, Liège, Knokke, Leuven, Mechelen.

The nearest train station is Barvaux, about 10 km from Durbuy.
If you take off after 9.00 you can buy one or more 10 trip cards. These costs 69 euro and give you 10 single trips to every Belgian station. These cards are not personal, so the whole family can use it at the same time.
If you have to pass by Brussel by car: most of the time a lot of traffic jam.

[Franciskine]

Re: Holiday in Belgium- durbuy

Discussion placed in the right forum - discussie verplaatst naar een gepaster forum . . .

[elien_2007]

Re: Holiday in Belgium- durbuy

200 km driving is not much

but in the french part, there are several small towns that are interesting: bouillon, Han, Spa, Trois points, huy...

brussels is ideal by train and foot (especially if you stay 2 days or so). you can search all info about the train on http://www.b-rail.be/main/E/index.php.
you just need to put in jour startpoint and destination, and it searches it for you.

maybe this could also help: http://www.visitflanders.com/

enjoy your stay!!!

[vanslycken]

Re: Holiday in Belgium- durbuy

If you want to have a lot of fun, there's durbuy adventure (google for their exact website), adventurous family fun, see their website. You can finish that day with a walk in the very old streets of Durbuy city. On sunny weekends, Durbuy can be pretty crowdy.

Bouillon is quite a drive from Durbuy, of course the castle of Bouillon is very impressive but you can find castle ruins much closer to Durbuy, in the city Palenge (the ruins of Logne), with a bird show (owls, falcons,...) at certain hours. Although many people say Bouillon is a must-see, I would recommend other cities if you only have 7 days.

21st of july is the national holiday, if you want to see festivities and fireworks you can go to Brussels, which will be very crowded that day, or you can go to Dinant, which is closer and somewhat less crowded (although still far from abandoned on sunny weekends). Some of us will be around Dinant for a Shooting Day. Dinant is worth a trip, and near Dinant there are the little-known Jardins d'Annevoie, the castle of Yvoir and the castle of Vêves. If you want you can see most of this in 1 day.

The only attraction in Belgium with 3 stars in the Michelin guides are the grottes de Han, you can spend an entire day there as well.

Namur and Liège are not that interesting to me, too many ugly city parts, too little things that are really worth the detour. I've never been to Mons, I've been told that's a somewhat nicer village, but don't take my word for it.
Bastogne has played a major role in WW II (in the battle of the bulge), and it has a big war monument for the American soldiers that died there, but to me personally it's not really worth the detour. You can always stop there a moment if you're nearby.
Arlon is another one of those cities which is "reasonably interesting" but really not worth losing your time over if you only have a week to spend.

If you want to do a car route, I suggest the "Route des Sources" which starts in Chaudfontaine (you can get a folder there describing the route, GPS is very handy) and takes you through breath-taking sceneries and past some interesting attractions. Spa is a nice city although I wouldn't recommend spending an entire day there, unless you want to take long walks in the woods - but if you want to see more than trees that's not the way to go.

Something I recommend very much if you have a day to spare: go to Coo, see how small the Coo waterfalls are but enjoy the scenery and the little village for an hour or so, you can also go to Stavelot which has a nice collection of old race cars in the cellars of the former abbey... Then drive to Malmédy, you can visit this old city as well, some tourist attractions there, but then you get in the car and take the road to Eupen. The road Malmédy-Eupen is one of the most breath-taking routes in the country. From Malmédy, you pass one more small village, and then, all the way to Eupen, there are only 2 buildings on that road, the Baraque Michel and the Signal de Botrange, the highest point in Belgium. Don't think it's a mountain peak or something like that, it's a high platform, but you *must* make a walk, best starting from one of those points. The Hautes Fagnes is a desolate, raw, and very beautiful natural reserve.

In Flanders: Antwerp is well worth a visit, IMO even more so than Brussels - I think Antwerp is a lot prettier. Ghent (Gent) is also very nice if you follow the right footpaths. If you're more interested in medieval cities than in nature, visit both Ghent and Antwerp and skip one of my suggestions in Wallonia if you're short of time.

Bruges is of course world-renown. Hard to skip that one. Of course, it's quite a drive. Maybe you can drive to Bruges, find a hotel somewhere there (although in Bruges you're bound to pay a lot of money for a room, maybe look if there's a youth hostel nearby), and drive through to the coast the next day. The pearl of the Belgian coast is Ostend (Oostende), although the paint is cracking here and there... Anyhow, if you're interested in war, visit the domain Raversijde, very close to Oostende (I don't know if you can get there by public transport). It's a large part of the Atlantikwall which has remained intact and has been restored. Very interesting, and you get an audioguide.
Also in Ostend (although a little further from the city centre, near the light house): Fort Napoleon, one of the few fortresses built by Napoleon's soldiers that are still intact. Only if you're really interested in military heritage. If you're in doubt between Fort Napoleon or Raversijde, go to Raversijde.
Also worth a visit is "de Westhoek", around Ypres, where there are still a lot of traces of WW I. Every day at 8PM there's the famous "Last Post" at the Menenpoort in Ypres. In Diksmuide there's the Dodengang, which is a dugout which is still intact. There's also the IJzertoren, a high tower which is a peace monument.
But of course, the Westhoek puts you in the opposite corner of the country from Durbuy, it's a very long drive. Maybe it would be more interesting to visit this area next year?
By the way, if you want something very exclusive to tell the people at home, drive to West-Vleteren (which is also in that area). There is a very good trappist beer being brewn in the abbey, but it is not for sale in the shops. It's made in relatively small quantities, and due to it's popularity you have to make reservations by telephone in order to get 2 cases (which is the maximum you can buy at a time). It's also forbidden to resell it, so normally it's not to be found anywhere in a shop (although I found some Bruges souvenir shops that sometimes have some for sale). You won't be able to buy any in the abbey without reservations, but: you can drink it in the tavern right across the abbey, which is called "De Vrede". Beware: if you try all 3 sorts, better let your wife drive home.
With a little luck you can buy a gift box in "De Vrede", last time I checked it was 15€ for a box with a glass and four bottles of beer. One box per customer
The adress, if you have a GPS, is Donkerstraat, West-Vleteren.

Well, come to think of it, maybe Brussels is inevitable. Maybe you can see if there are guided tours, if you're a photographer those city tours in a bus are not interesting. If you're near the Grand Place go and have a drink in "Le Cerceuil" (look for the adress), a bar decorated with coffins etc. Be careful though, it's rather (if not very) expensive.
You can go see the Atomium which is renovated. And there is a flea market every day (A.M.) at the Place de Jeu de Balle (or Vossenplein in Dutch). Of course there are also the Royal Palace (not too much movement there, no "changing of the guards") and the St Michel & St Gudule Cathedral, and so on.

South of Brussels, there's Waterloo, you have a great panorama from the mountain of the lion which was placed there to remember that the prince of Holland got wounded in the battle which meant the end of Napoleon's reign. Not too far from Waterloo is one of the most amazing and beautiful ruins in the entire country: the abbey of Villers-La-Ville. According to me, a must-see if you're in the region.

Of course, there's a lot more to be seen. St-Hubert is a nice city, it has a very beautiful basilica (and the little church within walking distance is also nice), but I don't think you should spend more than half a day there. It has a small wildlife park, a rose garden, and somewhat further there are the museums of Fourneau St-Michel, but I haven't visited those myself. Come to think of it, the small town Lier (in Flanders, not too far from Antwerp) is also worth half a day, there's a beguinage and an astronomical clock.

If you have some time to spare for a nature walk and you're around Namur or Dinant, go to Marche-Les-Dames, a very small town near Namur. Go to the station (park the car there or go by train). On the other side of the road is the start of a beautiful walk of about 6km which is indicated with blue rectangles. Try it, you won't be dissapointed. It will take you about 2-3 hrs if you're accustomed to walking. It's a nice ending for a day if you still have some hours to spare.

If you want something different, there are some 19th-20th century fortresses around Liège (and also around Antwerp), but you have to look up which ones you can visit when. Most of them are only open one sunday a month or so.
Something else near Liège worth visiting is the Blégny mine, an old coal mine. Old miners take you 30m under the ground to show you what it was like.
Both the mine and the fortresses are nice and cool if you can't stand the heat anymore. When we visited them, outside temperature was around 30°C, inside temperature was around 15°... (we even needed a sweater).