1 . appear in the center of the square Charles II of Charleroi in full bewilderment caused by the perfect octagonal geometry of its plan. Check from the top of its bell tower that shape behind the stalls and terraces.
two. Take advantage of this rise to look in the distance other of the ' Beffroi ’ that are part of the group protected by UNESCO as World Heritage such as the Gembloux or the one of binch.
3. Turn the cliché that Charleroi is an inconspicuous city due to its industrial and mining heritage by discovering his little route of buildings Art nouveau. Sublimate the outskirts in spaces such as the old mining Bois du Cazier or the harmonious museum of photography , located in an old neo-gothic cloister brilliantly restored, enlarged and desecrated.
Tournai Cathedral.
Four. Do the American way of recreating a battle in the mythical Waterloo . The ABBA song in the background is not required.
5. Check in situ the beauty that it gives off Tournai and its fame of being the oldest city in all of Belgium.
6 . Count again and again, in the face of logical incredulity, the number of towers that It has the bell tower of Notre Dame Cathedral to then go through its door and let yourself be fooled by this monument that is at times Gothic and at times Romanesque.
7. Finish off this curious trip to the past on the banks of the river Scheldt , where its medieval bastion-bridge attests to the geostrategic importance of Tournai.
Beloei Castle.
8 . Roll up your sleeves and rub elbows with the nobility at the photogenic beloeil castle , current private house of the Casa Ligne whose gardens and rooms can be visited without touching the raid by intrepid tourism.
9. Reviving the utopian socialist-mining life that was practiced in Le Grand Hornu. Combine this history lesson with a walk between any of the art, design and photography exhibitions that populate the old buildings of this complex.
10. To caress the worn and shining little head of the ape of the Mons Grand Place . Remove your hand and look up to enjoy one of those urban esplanades that could compete with the Flemish exuberance.
Grand Place of Mons.
eleven. Conquer the entire city from the ruins of the old castle , with the baroque bell tower as a figurehead and the roofs as dark as the waves of a rippling sea. Leave heights and metaphors behind to continue enjoying your heritage in places like the Basilica of Sainte Waudru or in the exhibits of his old slaughterhouse.
12 . Hallucinate with the technological and avant-garde future of this city strolling through its particular 'Silicon Valley' (the DIV) and looking at buildings such as the theater of le Manège, the MICX of the architect Libeskind or the works of its new train station projected by, of course, Santiago Calatrava.
13. Shoot up the methadone of the past in the face of so much futurism by visiting the nearby flint mines, a renewed tourist experience where the first mining activities of the region are explored.
14. Looking for Van Gogh in the middle of the first 'catacroker' , when he worked as a preacher in the extraction galleries and lived in a charming house in Cuesmes.
fifteen. Observe attentively, like an idle pensioner, the great engineering works behind the Canal du Center, from the historic locks from the beginning of the century to the ultra-modern boat lift that is currently the largest in the world, since it makes it possible to overcome a difference in level of more than 70 metres.
Canal du Center.
16. Tune in the car (or on the smartphone) a good sax solo before entering Dinant . Accompany this beautiful lament with the cheerful sculptures of this instrument that adorn the bridge over the Meuse River. Discover the reason for this 'invasion' in the house of Adolphe Sax, its inventor.
17 . Connect with the very short cable car the amazing stained glass windows under the “onion” dome of the church of Notre Dame with the gunpowder remains of its heroic citadel.
18. Regain faith in light, sun and colors observing how the sun little by little says goodbye to the day before the cheerful houses on its shore.
19. Spend an afternoon, a night and a morning (with a hangover, of course), in the Maison Leffe , where the museum of this brand, its restaurant and its coquettish and ex-monastic hotel complete an essential complex.
twenty. Delve into the bowels of the Ardennes well in the cave Le Marvelous or in Hotton's.
twenty-one. Experience in first person and with the clutch of the car screeching the hardness and the ramps of the famous 'walls' of its roads.
22. Pilgrimage like a good contemporary Walloon to the Maredsous Abbey , a modern, neo-Gothic construction, with some British flair and to which the pagans they go there religiously for its wonderful beer and cheese.
Maredsous Abbey.
23. Take the (photographic) weapons to fight the slope and penetrate into the indestructible castle Bouillon. Enjoy a history lesson in its rooms (beware of its importance during the Crusades) and even a falconry show set in medieval imagery.
24. Leaving the cufflinks like a good foreigner the Semois river on the tremendously 'kitch' pedal boats in the shape of a duck that populate its channel.
25. Salivate with the promise of one of the most charismatic Trappist beers and find in Orval a beautiful impenetrable Art-Decó monastery as well as the ruins of its old church and Gothic cloister.
26. honor her Trappist brewing fame visiting the fountain where the legend of the trout and the ring began (label image of her) and browsing in its museum dedicated to this concoction.
27. Get ahead of Christmas on the roadside ditches of southern Wallonia, where spruce plantations the carols predict.
28. join the cycling fetishists and recent war history on the streets of Bastogne.
29 . Startled by the pharaonic and amazing presence of the Basilica of Saint Hubert in its homonymous town, where an impressive facade of fine lines surpasses the small roofs of the sweet houses.
30. Take advantage of any curve to put the brakes on, leave the car, breathe and enjoy the pre-mountainous hills and the idyllic wooded landscapes of the Ardennes , one of those places marked by history that should have a place in the tourist imagination also for its valleys and streams.
31. Caress as if it were a wounded Triceratops the american tanks that in the streets of La Roche-en-Ardenne, they remember the tumultuous past of this municipality.
La Roche-en-Ardenne.
32. Lick the wounds of his war strolling through its idyllic streets, crowning his castle and resting on the benches of his sculpture park , a pleasant and sympathetic rarity.
33. Search for the gnomes , with a glass of beer in hand, who hide in the d'Achouffe brewery among small lakes, trees and wooden cabins.
3. 4. Surviving the tourist embarrassment of Durbuythe smallest city in the world (and also the most syrupy and presumptuous).
Durbuy, the smallest city in the world.
35. See how the Meuse challenges the Loire and its castles with palaces and ensembles such as the one in jehay.
36. Mentally reconstruct the glorious and proud past of Liege taking as inspiration some surviving buildings such as the Church of Saint-Jaques, the Saint-Paul cathedral, the Saint-Barthélémy collegiate church or the Palace of the Prince-Bishops of Liège.
37. Sweeten the walk through the city with a waffle typical in hand.
38 . Applaud the attempts to modernize and reposition the city as a new avant-garde mecca with constructions such as its train station - a hurray, without precedent, to Calatrava - or its MAMAC contemporary art museum.
39 . Allow yourself to be embraced by the charismatic waters and the old and luxurious atmosphere of the Spa resorts . Yes, that's where the name comes from.
40. Complete the aquatic experience with the adrenaline of your racing circuit , one of the tracks most revered by motorcycling fans.
41. Dress up as a prince/princess in the sovereign's rooms modave castle.
42. Eradicate any onomatopoeic joke about oops discovering absolutely essential corners such as the collegiate church of Notre Dame, the Citadel , the terracera and sunny Grand Place and the bridge over the mighty Meuse river.
43. To grieve (or fall in love in a gothic plan) under the hypnotic ruins of the Abbey of Villers-la-Ville.
Dinant.
44. Declare unconditional love to Tintin (one of the first travel journalists) through the modern corridors of the Musée Hergé in Louvain-la-Neuve.
Four. Five. Deviate in any indication that points to a microbrewery or that mixes two of the most wonderful concepts of these lands: beer and abbey. When in doubt, say goodbye in style Floreffe.
46. Honor Namur , that timid and unknown capital that, however, has stately and portentous features.
47. Avoid the adjective easy and rural by finding in its heritage urban and unusual monuments in the region such as the baroque cathedral of San Albino or its Royal theatre.