Liège

Liège is like a lliving architectural onion with layer upon layer of history lying just beneath the surface. The proudly free-spirited citizens are disarmingly friendly and no Belgian city bubbles with more joie de vivre. The beer is cheap, the eating scene is authentically local and if you can cope with the grubby, downbeat facade you're likely to find Liège a quirkily compulsive discovery.

Explore Liège

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Top attractions

These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Liège.

  • Museum

    Grand Curtius

    Splendid Grand Curtius unites four disparate museum collections in the former mansion-warehouse of a 16th-century Liège arms dealer. The building's red…

  • Church

    Église St-Jacques

    Arguably Liège's most fascinating church, this architectural hotchpotch was founded in 1015 and retains a heavily patched-up 1170 west end whose…

  • Architecture

    Liège-Guillemins Train Station

    Liège's main train station, around 2km south of the centre, is an incredible 2009 icon designed by Santiago Calatrava. Great for semi-abstract landscape…

  • Gallery

    La Boverie

    South of Liège's centre, this excellent gallery hosts many high-profile temporary exhibitions but always shows elements of its own fabulous art collection…

  • Architecture

    Institut Zoologique

    Built in 1888, this palatial building has a deep-eyed bust of Darwin on its central pediment, best spotted from the river-ferry as it approaches the Pôle…

  • Museum

    Archéoforum

    Once one of the greatest churches in northern Europe, St-Lambert’s Cathedral was demolished from 1793 in the aftermath of the Révolution Liégeoise, very…

  • Viewpoint

    Montagne de Bueren

    Several tiny medieval passageways burrow beneath the house fronts of Rue Hors Château. Most disappear into picturesque hidden yards, but Montagne de…

  • Museum

    Trésor

    Off the closed-in cloister of Cathédrale St-Paul, the slickly presented three-level Trésor guards many artworks, vestments and chalices rescued from St…

  • Cathedral

    Cathédrale St-Paul

    Cathédrale St-Paul's highlights include a big 19th-century painting depicting the legend of St-Lambert's assassination, and the saint's ornate silver…

  • Museum

    Musée de la Vie Wallonne

    In an adapted convent-cloister building, this curious museum takes visitors on an amble through the region’s past, exploring everything from 12th-century…

  • Church

    Église Collégiale St-Barthélemy

    This large Rhenish-style church has twin Saxon-style towers and a cream-and-cerise exterior. It houses a famous 1118 baptismal font that’s one of the…

  • Architecture

    Tour Paradis

    At 118m, Tour Paradis is one of Belgium's tallest skyscrapers, a sleekly gleaming sail of blue glass. However, it's full of accountant-bureaucrats who…

  • Area

    Outremeuse

    Across the River Meuse from the city centre is the gritty urban island of Outremeuse, whose working-class residents consider it a ‘Free Republic’. Their…

  • Notable Building

    Hôtel de Ville

    At night the 1719 city hall glows lugubriously in its blood-red spotlights. By day it commands Liège’s charming, if modestly sized, original main square,…

  • Architecture

    Former Palace of the Prince-Bishops

    Behind an Italian Renaissance facade, this former palace is reputedly one of the largest secular Gothic buildings anywhere in the world. Prior to 1789 it…

  • Historic Building

    Musée d’Ansembourg

    Less a museum than a magnificently furnished 1755 Regency mansion with original stucco ceilings and some gilded leather ‘wallpaper’. Its highlights…

  • Sculpture

    Tchantchès Pilot Sculpture

    Beside the St-Lambert bus stops is this cartoonesque figure piloting a little metal aeroplane: Liège’s mascot and oldest ‘citizen’, the big-nosed wooden…

Top experiences

Whether it’s a guided tour of a historic landmark, private tasting of local delicacies, or an off-road adventure — explore the best experiences in Liège.

  • Activities