An Ideal Vacation in Europe: Dinant, Belgium

Collegiate Church of Notre Dame de Dinant, Wallonia, Belgium.
Collegiate Church of Notre Dame de Dinant, Wallonia, Belgium.

We collect cities. Small cities. Small cities of Europe. It started several years ago when my wife and I were in a position to travel a little bit more than we could before. Simultaneously, this travel blog was born.

Meuse River, Dinant, Belgium.
Meuse River, Dinant, Belgium.

Some time ago, we went from Germany to France with a short two-day stop in Bruges, Belgium. When we came out to the old city of Bruges for the first time, I felt something special, something like déjà vu. I had already been here. Maybe it was in my previous life, but, to be sure, it was. I think Bruges didn’t change a lot during the last few hundred years, therefore if you lived there in medieval times (in your previous life), most likely you’d find your house even today.

I asked my wife, “Would you like to live here?”
“Yes. And you?”
“I think, yes.”

From that moment, we played this game every time when we stayed in the next small European city. “Would you like to live here?” I am stressing the meaning: “to live,” but not just “to stay for a while.” Sometimes, an answer was negative, for example:

  • in Tivoli and Pompeii, Italy;
  • in Dubrovnik and Split, Croatia;
  • in Cordoba and Figueres, Spain;
  • in Gordes and Annecy, France.

For us, those places were good just for visiting, but not for living. However, sometimes an answer was affirmative, and our collection of cities for perfect living started to grow. Now, besides Bruges, it includes:

  • Zell am See, Austria;
  • Budva, Montenegro;
  • Füssen, Bavaria, Germany;
  • Orvieto and Bergamo, Italy;
  • and some others.

Recently, the collection was supplemented with one more item: the city of Dinant, Belgium. This historical artefact is the most unusual in our exposition. Why? Because it has no outstanding attractions. It has no medieval streets. It has no sea. What it has is a modest, but brutal church, a citadel, and an abbey where monks have brewed the famous Leffe already 800 years. And yes, Antoine-Joseph Sax, the inventor of the saxophone, was born there. That’s all. However, we found one more thing there: déjà vu.

City Government Office, Dinant, Wallonia, Belgium.
City Government Office, Dinant, Wallonia, Belgium.
The promenade of Dinant, Belgium.
A promenade of Dinant, Belgium.

Dinant has chosen such an unlucky location that, for its whole life, it has been forced to pay a high price for that choice. It seated itself between the two most aggressive countries of Europe: France and Germany. Their armies were so “polite” that they regularly paid visits to each other and constantly moved forth and back through Dinant. Moreover, other armies as well, hadn’t turned down the chance to visit Dinant. Even Spaniards, Russian, and Americans have been here. Probably, the Citadel of Dinant could be entered into the Guinness Book as the most often besieged fortress of Europe. Unfortunately, we can only see its walls; the castle was demolished. Today this citadel is a museum.

Nevertheless, the tiny town survived and is trying to be a resort town with its own river promenade. For most tourists this is a one-day-visit place. They come, visit a church, the citadel, and the home of Sax, take pictures of the Meuse River and numerous saxophones on the Charles de Gaulle Bridge, and leave. But some (including prisoners of the local jail) come here to live in the peaceful atmosphere and breathe fresh air for a while. We have found at least one hotel, but preferred to book an apartment. As it turns out, this apartment was located in front of a prison (which looks rather like a small castle), and I have a strong feeling that it was the calmest place in the city, even in the evenings.

The prison of Dinant, Belgium.
The prison of Dinant, Belgium.
City Government Square, Dinant, Wallonia, Belgium.
City Government Square, Dinant, Wallonia, Belgium.
You may think this is a church. No. This is the Palace of Justice of Dinant, Belgium.
You may think this is a church. No. This is the Palace of Justice of Dinant.

There was one more reason why Irina chose Dinant as our residence for a 10-day stay in Belgium. No, it wasn’t because of the biggest nuclear power station of Belgium, Tihange, which is located 30 km away. Dinant sits in the center of the virtual circle of places we intended to visit with our rented car:

Château de Vêves. A picturesque well-preserved medieval castle of the family of Beaufort is one of the most remarkable examples of 15th century military architecture. During the castle’s restoration work, between 1969 and 1979, great attention was paid to the castle’s interior decoration. You are able to cross time barriers and imagine what it would have been like during the different periods from the Middle Ages to the present time.

Chateau de Veves, Belgium.
Chateau de Veves

Abbaye d’Orval. Founded in 1132, the Notre-Dame of Orval is one of the most remarkable Cistercian abbeys in Belgium. This historical location is home to stunning art collections and a Trappist beer, famous in the Ardennes region. Have you ever tasted Orval beer?

Abbaye d'Orval, Belgium.
Abbaye d’Orval

Château de Bouillon. The owner of the castle, Godfrey of Bouillon, was one of the leaders of the First Crusade. When crusaders took Jerusalem in 1099, Godfrey became the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, but refused to be a king, saying that he couldn’t wear the gold crown of a king “where Jesus Christ had worn a crown of thorns.”

Chateau de Bouillon, Belgium.
Chateau de Bouillon

Villers-la-Ville, the ruins of a Cistercian abbey, will show you more than 800 years of history.

Villers-la-Ville, Belgium.
Villers-la-Ville

Gaasbeek Castle. It began its history from a medieval fortress of 1240. A beautiful castle in neo-romantic style was built on the ruins of the destroyed fortress at the beginning of the 16th century, and was gifted to the Belgium State in 1921 by its last owner, Marchioness Arconati Visconti. Today, this is a museum, and its interior is as stunning as the exterior. You won’t be disappointed.

Gaasbeek Castle, Belgium.
Gaasbeek Castle

Château de Walzin. During its 900-year history, it was a fortress, a castle, just a two-storey country house, then a castle again. It was plundered and burned down by the French army, the Austrian army, and the French army once more, and restored, each time becoming increasingly better.

Chateau de Walzin, Belgium.
Chateau de Walzin

Hallerbos. A picturesque forest with blue and white flowers.

Every morning, we had breakfast, went to the prison’s parking lot, wished all the prisoners to be free again as soon as possible, and headed to our next goal. All the above-mentioned attractions were stunning, and deserve separate blog posts, but every time during the way back (especially after the nuclear station) I found myself thinking about the forthcoming evening.

We park our car, go to a small local supermarket, buy amazing French cheese, amazing beef carpaccio, amazing French wine, some fruits and vegetables, and have dinner discussing the impressions of the day and viewing the photographs. After that … and this is the culmination … we go out for a promenade along the river Meuse. All visitors have already left our Dinant. Now, it’s only for us. Déjà vu again.

The promenade of Dinant, Belgium.

Meuse River, Dinant, Belgium.

More about Belgium:

Lost Miracle or Farewell Miranda Castle
November, Belgium, Antwerp. Rubens, Churches, and Diamonds
How We Rented Accommodation in Bruges, Belgium
Brugge: Capital of Chocoholics and the Best City in the World

48 thoughts on “An Ideal Vacation in Europe: Dinant, Belgium”

  5. I’m planning my first backpacking trip through Europe with my best friend. We’re constantly looking for these small towns to see the culture and get out of the touristy areas (even though they are beautiful as well). Dinant is definitely on the list now! Thank you for sharing!

    Like

  11. I’m exhausted from this trip. Thank you. I love the saxophone fountain, and I’m sending a link to all my musical siblings, including my sister, who started out as a sax player before becoming a pianist. I laughed out loud about the “most besieged fortress” category. I’m most impressed by the photograph of Gaasbeek Castle. In a long-ago era, the English term for that format was “motte-and-bailey,” or “moat and keep,” in more modern vocabulary, although Gaasbeek is an extraordinary example. And we play that “would you live here?” game, too. Sometimes we surprise one another with the answers. Wonderful writing and photography.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Thank you, Brad.

      Dinant (and Belgium) is one more place where you would feel yourself like a fox in a henhouse – castles, fortresses, or historical places are on every step.

      It would be interesting to have a look at your list of perfect places for living.

      Liked by 1 person

  20. When I was younger, I often heard the phrase “it is a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there.” I like the idea of turning it on its head and evaluating places on whether I would like to live there.

    Liked by 3 people

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