Northeast Belgium
This working collection of four 1930s mechanical wonders is charmingly old-fashioned if far too slow-paced for most modern attention spans. The highlight of a 45-minute visit is the hourly striking of the main clock by a little Grim Reaper. Do stay on to watch the departure soon after of an Antwep-bound ocean-liner model pulling out of New York harbour into a stormy Atlantic.
You'll need the code from a TrudoPas to get in, available from the nearby Begijnhofkerk.
28.99 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…
27.49 MILES
The inventive and touchingly nostalgic Hergé Museum celebrates the multitalented creator of comic-strip hero Tintin with an engaging, inventive and…
21.68 MILES
Built above and around the shrine of St Servaas (Servatius), the first bishop of Maastricht, the basilica presents an architectural pastiche whose…
25.02 MILES
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…
21.89 MILES
Far and away Leuven’s most iconic sight, the incredible 15th-century stadhuis is a late-Gothic architectural wedding cake flamboyantly overloaded with…
20.94 MILES
Splendid Grand Curtius unites four disparate museum collections in the former mansion-warehouse of a 16th-century Liège arms dealer. The building's red…
13.73 MILES
One of Europe’s largest open-air museums, Bokrijk Openluchtmuseum offers a nostalgic look at Flanders’ past, with over 100 old buildings originally…
21.98 MILES
This idyllic, village-like corner of Leuven would make an ideal film set for a medieval drama. The lantern-lit cobbled streets are lined with step-gabled…
0.03 MILES
The 1258 Begijnhofkerk is fascinating for its wooden barrel-vaulted ceiling and the contrast between sparse elements of contemporary art and the 38…
0.46 MILES
This unrefined seven-storey tower is the most significant remnant of the former St-Trudo abbey church, dating partly from the 11th century but left as a…
0.51 MILES
From the 7th century, the relics of the local saint named St-Trudo made Sint-Truiden a major medieval pilgrimage centre. These relics are now housed in…
4 MILES
Opposite St-Leonarduskerk, the old town hall building is a 19th-century faux-medieval delight with majestic pre-Raphaelite murals in the ground-floor hall…
4.04 MILES
Partly dating to the 13th century, St-Leonarduskerk is topped with a fanciful tower reminiscent of a galleon’s crow’s nest. Miraculously, given Zoutleeuw…
10.02 MILES
Hasselt has been at the centre of the jenever (gin) industry since the 17th century, and this beautifully restored 19th-century distillery houses a…
10.36 MILES
Push open the door of this 13th-century former church and you'll see not pews but the flower-decked graves of 145 brave Belgians who died in August 1914…
10.39 MILES
The most unique evocation of Tienen's rich Roman heritage is this trio of grave mounds commemorating Marcus Probius Burrus. Left overgrown for a century…