Looking for a Belgium itinerary that goes beyond Brussels, Bruges, and Ghent? Then Wallonia – the French-speaking southern region of Belgium – is where you’ll find castles perched on hills, fairytale gardens, and charming small towns like Dinant, Durbuy, and Bouillon.
In this 4-day Wallonia itinerary, I’ll show you how to explore some of Belgium’s best hidden gems. From strolling through Annevoie’s water gardens to discovering medieval fortresses and sipping Trappist beer in Rochefort, this trip is the perfect mix of history, culture, and nature. Planning a long weekend or a short road trip? Wallonia is the perfect destination.
What can you expected from this 4-day itinerary in Wallonia? Here’s the balance:
- charming places – 5
- castles – 5
- gardens – 2
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Where is Wallonia, Belgium & How to Get There
Wallonia (Wallonie in French and Wallonië in Dutch) is one of the 3 regions in Belgium together with Flanders and Brussels. It’s basically the south-eastern part of Belgium. In Wallonia they speak French, whereas in Flanders they speak Flemish, which is actually Dutch.
Living in the Netherlands, we could just drive to our destination, but you can fly to Brussels International or Charleroi airports and rent a car to explore all those beautiful places in Wallonia.
Alternatively, you can use the train or one of the international bus lines, but I would not advise it, unless the travel time is less than 5 hours, otherwise it’s not worth for a short trip of 4 days to “loose” 2 days in transit.
How to Spend 4 Days in Wallonia – The Perfect Itinerary
With only 4 days, we couldn’t cover the whole region, so we chose one charming town as our base and made day trips to explore the highlights. To be the perfect base, a place should be small, atmospheric, and centrally located for easy access to other towns and castles.
We found Rochefort to be the perfect choice for our 4-day adventure in Wallonia.
Here is our 4-day itinerary with the places we visited and the things we did in Wallonia. Each day from the itinerary is marked in its own colour on the map. Click on the arrow in the top left corner for more information.
Day 1: Annevoie Gardens & Dinant – Castles, Water Gardens and River Views
As we arrived the night before in our hotel (you need to use your time wisely if you have only a limited number of days per year), we could head in the morning to the first place on our itinerary: Annevoie Gardens and Castle.
The Annevoie Castle is located in the small village of Annevoie-Rouillon. The best way to get there is by car. The castle was built in the 17th c. and belonged first to the family of Halloy and later to the family of Montpellier. Today, the castle is not open for visits, but its marvelous garden is.
The garden was designed in 1758 by Charles-Alexis de Montpellier and is the only water garden of this kind in Belgium. It is a fusion of the 3 garden styles popular in the 18th c.: the English, the French and the Italian. The whole garden has been constructed around water with numerous fountains, water jets, canals, ponds, cascades and waterfalls, there is even an artificial grotto of Neptune.
What is unique about these water gardens is that there aren’t used any electrical or mechanical pumps and devices. We loved walking around and discovering the various hooks and types of gardens.
Tip: Visit the detached café Bucow with an amazing view of the gardens. They are specialized in local dishes and in their shop you can find local produce: beer, wine, juices, jams, honey, sausages.
The Annevoie Gardens are open from April to November, each day from 9:30 am till 5:30 pm. The entry ticket is 12 EUR for adults and 8 EUR for children aged 3 to 18. However, you should add 3 EUR for parking if you are coming by car.
You can spend 2 – 2, 5 hrs at the Annevoie Gardens.
The next stop on our itinerary is Dinant. This small town is a real hidden gem. It is as picturesque as on all those pictures: with the bright colours of the houses reflecting in the waters of the Meuse River and the dramatic vertical cliffs serving as a background of this colourful splash.
Before visiting the town, I didn’t know that it’s the birthplace of Adolph Sax, the inventor of the saxophone. If you are interested in the history of music instruments you can visit Mr. Sax’s House (La Maison de Mr Sax), or otherwise you can enjoy a walk around in Dinant and admire the 28 gigantic saxophones placed all over the town.
If you are into bird’s-eye views, I will recommend you taking the cable car to the Citadel of Dinant (Citadelle de Dinant). This medieval fortress, situated 100 m above the street level and built in the 16th century, has plenty of stories to tell. The admission (including the cable car) is 14 EUR, children aged 4-12 years pay 12 EUR. Once up there you will be struck – the view over the Meuse River and the town is mesmerizing.
Tip: You can buy a combination ticket for the Citadel, the cable car and a boat trip on the Meuse River.
Another interesting place to visit in Dinant is the Collegiate Church of Our Lady (Collégiale Notre Dame de Dinant) with its pear-shaped bell tower, dating back to the 13th c.
We spent only half a day in Dinant, but the town itself can be a destination for a long weekend as there’s enough to see and do there. You can take a boat trip on the Meuse River, or visit the caves, the Leffe Abbey and Leffe Museum. It is definitely one of the most beautiful places in Wallonia!
Day 2: Durbuy & La Roche-en-Ardenne – Fairytale Towns in the Ardennes
For day 2 of our short trip to Wallonia I have chosen another two tiny but picturesque towns in the heart of the Belgian Ardennes: Durbuy and La Roche-en-Ardenne.
They say that Durbuy is the smallest town in the world. Whether it’s the smallest, I don’t know, but for sure it’s one of the most charming places I have ever seen. The old town is just postcard-perfect! Take your time and walk around in the old town’s cobblestone lanes with quirky shops and lovely cafés. A major point of interest is the Anticline (l’Anticlinal) – a U-shaped rock formation that looks like a vertical wall.
Tip: You can find local produce and specialties in the little shops in the old town, as well as lots of quirky souvenirs.
If you love parks and gardens as much as we do, then you would enjoy a visit to the Topiary Gardens. The park features 250 amazing sculptures of immaculately pruned box trees and shrubs. From the park there’s a lovely view to the privately-owned castle of Durbuy. The park is open from 1 March to 31 October and the entry is 5 EUR for adults and 1 EUR for children aged 6 – 12. The parking costs another 9 EUR.
We’ve stayed only half a day in Durbuy, but one can easily spend there a whole day. It kept raining that day but nonetheless we enjoyed this charming little place in Wallonia.
The second stop on our 2nd day in Wallonia was La Roche-en-Ardenne – another small town up the Ourthe River in the Ardennes. Although La Roche was majorly destroyed during WWII, it is still a charming place to visit.
We enjoyed walking around and sitting in one of the cafés on Place du Bronze. We loved so much this place that we missed the opening hours to the ruins of the medieval Castle.
When we finally reached the top of the hill we were not allowed to the castle anymore. It was 4:45 pm, and in April the castle was open only till 5:00 pm. Too bad, we couldn’t hear the story of the Ghost of Berthe de la Roche, but we had a lovely afternoon enjoying a few glasses of Lupulus from the neighbouring Gouvy.
Day 3: Bouillon – Medieval Castle & Scenic Walks
The first stop on our 3rd day from our Wallonia itinerary is the lovely town of Bouillon. Nope, I am not talking about the broth, but about this small Belgian town located almost at the French border.
Tip: The correct pronunciation of the name Bouillon is [bu.jɔ̃], as it comes from French.
The most famous attraction of Bouillon is the Castle of Bouillon. The castle was first mentioned in the 10th century and it was the stronghold of the Ardennes-Bouillon Dynasty. The most famous representative of this dynasty being Godfrey of Bouillon – one of the leaders of the First Crusade (1096 – 1099) and the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
The Castle of Bouillon is very well preserved and is accessible via draw bridges. It offers amazing views on the town and the Samois River. We witnessed there a birds-of-pray show, which was quite interesting. In the castles there’s also an exhibition about the history of writing from the Middle Ages to the present day. Entry tickets for adults cost 12 EUR and for children 9,50 EUR.
You can spend a whole day in Bouillon as the castle is quite interesting. You can also take a walk in the surroundings which are like a park.
Day 4: Rochefort – Trappist Beer & Caves
The last day of our 4-day trip to Belgium was reserved for our home base – Rochefort. We had only half a day to spend there, as we had to drive back to the Netherlands the same day.
Rochefort is another lovely town on a river in Wallonia – this time the Lesse River. It’s mostly famous about the Trappist beer with the same name and the nearby caves in Han-sur-Lesse. There are also remains of an old castle, but they can be visited only with an appointment. The castle is open for public on certain days in the year, so check their website, before you go.
There’s a nice little park alongside the river and a few good restaurants in the town. There isn’t much to do and see in the town itself, as all attractions are in the neighbourhood, but nonetheless Rochefort is quite pleasant.
Where to Stay in Wallonia
During our 4-day trip to Wallonia we stayed in a charming hotel, just in the centre of Rocherfort – La Male Poste. The hotel had even a swimming pool, a very posh restaurant and a large sunny terrace.
We absolutely adore small European towns. Thank you for exposing me to an area that I didn’t know about yet. I will definitely be adding this to my European must-see list!
I hoping to visit Belgium again this year and I love your ideas for some places to explore off the beaten path. Have done Bruges and the other likely suspects on previous visits, so these look like fantastic ideas to try something new. I’m already excied at the idea of going to track down some Trappist beers in Rochefort 🙂
Oh, Belgium is THE country to be when it comes to beer!
It’s been too long since I’ve been spent days in row exploring Castles and gardens, not since I road tripped throughout Ireland actually. This is a great short list and Bouillon in particular looks like a dream of a town. Have to visit Belgium soon
This Town looks so charming! I was in Belgium a few years ago but only had time for Antwerp and Brussels. I would love to visit smaller towns like this one!
Yep, that’s understandable if you have limited time and if it’s your fist time.
I absolutely fell in love with Belgium while I was there last year. But I only got to see the bigger towns of Brussels, Ghent and Bruges. I am dying to see more of the smaller towns like this!
I am so lucky to live so close to Belgium, can see all of them!
This looks like such a lovely party of Belgium! I’m a sucker for castles too and these look so awesome! Looks like such a charming party of the county, would love to go sometime!