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THE WALLOON TOUR
5 days / 4 nights
This is a tour that we're really proud to be offering - Belgium's southern, French-speaking provinces are a real undiscovered gem. Within an amazingly short distance (Belgium is not much more than 200 kilometres from border to border), we can visit scenic attractions that vary from gentle undulating farmland to river valley and forests; we can see chateux as sumptuous as those you'd see on the Loire; there are gardens to rival any in the world; there are castles and forts, mediaeval towns and the quaintest villages; there are major war sites from the Napoleonic, First and Second World Wars, there are museums and art galleries, there's fine shopping. To cap it all, the food and wine is as you'd expect in a region with strong Gaullic influences - the French tradition abounds - but with the distinctly Belgium additions of beer and chocolate. To put it succinctly, you're going to have to look very hard to find a comparable five-day touring and at the end of it be planning a speedy return!
Available at any date for private groups of 2 – 15 people. Price available upon application. Rates are based upon vehicle and guide hire per day; groups of 7 - 15 would have a per person rate same/similar to one of our scheduled tours of the same length.
If you do not have a group of traveling companions and are still interested in this custom tour itinerary, you are welcomed to join a waitlist…
We record who is looking for travel companions to make up a tour with them. We need between 6 and 8 persons minimum to operate a tour without it being uneconomic for us or too expensive for you. We will be happy to run the occasional special departure IF there is sufficient interest.
If you would like to check on or join a waitlist for this itinerary, please email us for full information: specialgrouptours@yahoo.com
TENTATIVE ITINERARY
DAY ONE
Your tour begins at London's Eurostar terminal (Waterloo) at 07.00, when you board your train for Lille (it is possible to join in Lille if you are already there).
A short drive from Lille brings us to our first stop, Beloeil Castle. This stately, fortified chateau, home to the Princes of Ligne for hundreds of years, boasts a sumptuous interior (with over twenty-thousand volumes!) and the largest garden in the country. We'll lunch here before carrying on to Mons this afternoon. Mons is mostly remembered as the point at which the British Army first encountered the Germans in 1914, and as the first Belgium town liberated by US forces in the Second World War. There are several interesting monuments and museums to be see. What the city is not instantly associates with is the particularly fine contemporary arts museum, Grand-Hornu. This remarkable design centre is set in a former 19th century colliery, built as a village by the socialistically inclined Henri De George (following the paternalistic tradition of early entrepreneurs like Wedgewood, Lord Lever and Robert Owen). www.mac-s.be.
DAY TWO
Today we explore the Valley of the River Meuse, beginning with the pretty town of Dinant, with its citadel dominating the hilltop, lovely church and traditional shopping street. One of our taste treats of the day will be the Dinant biscuits. We guarantee you'll have had nothing like these before! www.citadellededinant.be. Also on today's itinerary will be another taste treat with a tour of one of Belgium's famed small breweries. If you thought you knew beer (or even that you don't like beer), prepare to think again! www.bocq.be
Our day also includes a boat cruise on the Meuse, a descent into one of the many cave complexes that the region is famed for and, depending on time and group interests, the gardens of Les Jardins d'Annevoie.
DAY THREE
The Ardennes and province of Luxembourg provide today's focus. This wild, rugged landscape of river valleys and deep, wooded canyons is sublimely beautiful. In addition to wonderfully scenic touring we also have three major towns of interest. Firstly, there's Bastogne, remembered as the site of the Battle of the Bulge (and we'll visit the memorial and museum), La Roche en Ardennes, one of the most attractive towns of the region (also with its Battle of the Ardennes museum), and St Hubert with its Italianate basillica. www.bastogne-tourism.be.
DAY FOUR
More time in the Ardennes, but today the northern region with stops ate the impossibly pretty Durbuy - claimed to be the world's smallest town - Namur and Huy. The ladies will love this day as we're going to take a tour of the Guy Delforge Parfumery, the only perfume house outside of France, while in Nmaur. Our visit will include seeing how they are made and a sampling. During our day, we're also going to be seeing an unusual topiary and, if time permits, visit Modave Chateau. Our taste treats for the day will be the lovely wild game sausages and regional cheese.
DAY FIVE
Our drive northward brings us to the ruins of the Villers Abbey. This incredible ruined Cistercian abbey nestles in a lovely wooded dell. It will remind all who have been to Wales' Tintern Abbey of that, yet it's much larger and quite breathtakingly beautiful in its setting. www.villers.be. Next to refight the Battle of Waterloo! It was here on June 18th 1915 that the ambitions of Napoleon Bonaparte finally came to an end. This is an impressive site with the Butte de Lion monuments, an effective interpretation centre and the nearby HQ of Wellington. www.waterloo-tourisme.be.
Our final highlight of our Walloon and Southern Belgium tour is the mediaeval city of Tournai. You could say we'd kept the best till last but that would be doing a tremendous injustice to the fabulous and varies range of attractions and sites we've visited. What we can say, however, is that this fine, and under-explored city, certainly provided a fitting climax. www.tournai.be.
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