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Radhadesh
About 4km west of Durbuy, the attractive hamlet of Petite Somme sports the particularly photogenic Château de Petite Somme behind an open floral lawn. The 13th-century structure has appealing neo-Gothic additions, while the interior mixes beautifully restored gilt mouldings with vi
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Fort Breendonk
Built in 1906 as an outlying defence post for Antwerp, Breendonk became a Nazi concentration camp in WWII. Visits take you through torture rooms, cells and dark, dank corridors accompanied by a two-hour audioguide relating harrowing personal accounts. Dress appropriately, as much o
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Kasteel van Gaasbeek
One of the finest rural castles within striking distance of Brussels, the Kasteel van Gaasbeek is set in an extensive 17th-century park. Originally built to guard the medieval Brabant–Flanders border, this was the castle that angry Brussels folk burnt down in response to the 1388 m
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Montagne de Bueren
Several tiny medieval passageways burrow beneath the house fronts of Rue Hors Chateau, most disappearing into picturesque hidden yards, but well worth exploring. However, the Montagne de Bueren continues steeply up all the way to the top of the former citadel hill in 373 steps. At
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Bruparck
The theme park, Bruparck , incorporates a water fun park, Océade , the giant Kinepolis cinema with a multiplex and an IMAX, and the highlight, Mini-Europe . In the latter, over 350 miniature scale models (all 1:25) depict some of Europe’s best-known architectural highlights, such a
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Musées d’Extrême
A pair of East Asian pagodas form the key attractions here. Both are Léopold II leftovers, built in 1905 after the king had seen similar towers at the 1890 Paris World’s Fair. An underpass leads from the ticket desk to the vermilion Tour Japonaise , fronted by a fabulous Japanese p
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Lakenhalle
Dominating the Grote Markt, the enormous reconstructed Lakenhalle is one of Belgium’s most impressive buildings. Its 70m-high belfry has the vague appearance of a medieval Big Ben. The original version was completed in 1304 beside the Ieperslee, a river that, now covered over, once
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Abbaye de Villers
Nestled in a pretty wooded dell are these extensive, ivy-clad ruins. Once one of Belgium’s biggest monastic complexes, Villers was never rebuilt after the destructive onslaught of 1794, when, in the post–French Revolution fervour, virtually every such institution was sacked. To add
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Château de Modave
Few of Belgium’s numerous castles have an interior to beat the memorable Château de Modave. The most arresting of the well-preserved 1673 stucco ceilings is the heraldic relief that covers the entrance hall. But doing the whole audio-guide visit (50 minutes) shows you another 20 ma
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Espace Chimay
Chimay’s world-famous Trappist beers have been brewed since the 1860s at austere Abbaye de Scourmont , 9km south of Chimay. There are no brewery visits, but 1km before the abbey, this visitor centre has a small interactive exhibition explaining the abbeys brewing, cheesemaking and
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Heilig
The stadhuis’s western end morphs into the strangely invisible Heilig-Bloedbasiliek. The basilica takes its name from a phial supposedly containing a few drops of Christ’s blood that was brought here after the 12th Century Crusades. The right-hand door leads upstairs to a colourful
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Atomium
The space-age Atomium looms 102m over north Brussels’ suburbia, resembling a steel alien from a 60s Hollywood movie. It consists of nine house-sized metallic balls linked by steel tube-columns containing escalators and lifts. The balls are arranged like a school chemistry set to re
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Musée Horta
The typically austere exterior doesn’t give much away, but Victor Horta’s former home (designed and built 1898–1901) is an art-nouveau jewel. The stairwell is the structural triumph of the house: follow the playful knots and curlicues of the banister, which become more exuberant as
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Abbaye de Stavelot
The once gigantic church of the Stavelot-Malmédy prince-bishops was destroyed in the aftermath of the French Revolution. But behind the archaeological fragments that remain is a similarly large abbey building painted a vibrant crab-red. Its museums, videos and audio guide introduce
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Rockoxhuis
Nicolaas Rockoxhuis was a 17th-century Antwerp celeb: lawyer and burgomaster (city councillor), dedicated patron of the arts and humanist intellectual. His lovely house has a gem of a courtyard garden and, although most of Rockox Rubens commissions are now in the hands of big-ticke
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Markt
Bruges nerve centre is the historic Markt, a large open square flanked by medieval-style buildings and bustling with horse-drawn carriages, open-air restaurants and camera-clicking tourists. Standing tall at its centre is a monument to Pieter De Coninck and Jan Breydel, the leaders
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Grottes de Han
The Lesse tunnels underground here to form magnificent caves that are the region’s biggest tourist draw. Guided visits (English often available) start after a 10-minute ride in charmingly rickety open-sided tram cars. Then you take a 2km guided stroll through a succession of impres
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Parc du Cinquantenaire
Parc du Cinquantenaire was built during Léopold IIs reign. Its best known for its cluster of museums – art, history, military and motor vehicles – which house an incredible 350,000 artefacts from all continents. We love the fine jewellery and cult-of-the-dead funerary gifts from th
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Halles St
In 1881 this superb neo-Renaissance brick-and-wrought-iron meat market was built around a curious pyramidal monument-fountain (itself built to replace a medieval Gothic church demolished in 1799 by the anti-religious French regime). The monument marks ‘kilometre zero’ – the point f
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Nationale Plantentuin Van België
Belgium’s National Botanic Garden is a 93-hectare park located in the village of Meise, 12km north of Brussels. It’s based around two lakes and includes the Kasteel van Boechout, a moated castle that Léopold II gave to his sister, Princess Charlotte, after her own at Tervuren burnt
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