This summer, my daughter and I  headed off on a one week, three country adventure, which proved to be not only one of the most varied, but also one of the best holidays we have ever had. Every day was completely different, which made it feel far longer than the 8 days that we were away – although waffles did remain a fairly constant feature throughout!

We caught the early morning Eurostar to Brussels, and then made use of our ‘all Belgian stations’ ticket by travelling to Dinant in the Ardennes. This was in fact my very favourite of all the towns that we visited. As we rounded the corner from the train station and saw the bridge lined with decorated saxophones (Dinant is the birthplace of Adolphe Sax, the inventor of said instrument), the river, the mighty cliffs with the citadel perched high on top, the onion domed church, the boats cruising up and down, and pavement cafes lining the riverfront, it all looked so stunning and so much better in real life than the pictures on the internet, that I actually became quite tearful. 

Unfortunately, we were only there for one full day, and although we did manage to spend time sitting in riverside cafes, eating waffles, drinking peach iced tea and Aperol spritz, and watching the world go by, we wanted to do some exploring as well, and we managed to fit a surprising amount in.

We walked along the river to the neighbouring Medieval village of Bouvignes and followed a footpath up to the ruins of Crevecoeur Castle, dodging lots of caterpillars dangling from silken threads as we went! (There were loads and we really needed to keep our wits about us so as not to walk into them!) According to legend, the castle got its name (Broken heart) during a siege by the French in 1554, when three noblewomen continued to defend the castle long after all the soldiers had been killed. Eventually, when all the walls were so beaten down that they could no longer continue, they climbed to the top of the tower, broken-hearted and believing that all was lost, and threw themselves into the River Meuse below. Although there was little left of the castle, the views were wonderful.

There are lots of cave systems in this region of Belgium, and we paid a visit to the Gotto La Merveilleuse, a short walk from the centre of Dinant, which proved to be quite an experience. After buying our tickets we assembled outside, and when enough people had gathered, a guide gave some general information in French and English about the Grotto, quickly flashed some little pictures of features to look out for at us, and then showed us to the entrance and left us to it. It was great to be able to experience the cave system at our own pace, which involved going up and down some very wet and slippery slopes and steps, and although once we were inside we couldn’t really remember anything that we had been told beforehand, it was still very impressive to see the magnificent stalagmites and stalactites, underground waterfalls and rivers, and to wonder at the sheer size of the caverns that we were standing in.

We also boarded one of the pleasure cruisers for a boat ride along the River Meuse which was fun, although my daughter would have preferred to have hired one of the little electric private boats that were very popular. They did look fun as they sailed up and down with their navy blue awnings, but unfortunately, not only would I have been too anxious to steer one myself – or for her to have been in charge (sorry A!!) – but we couldn’t really justify the 60 euro cost for an hour. Maybe next time!

One of the highlights of any holiday is browsing in the local supermarkets, and in Belgium we were treated to the delights of Delhaize, our new European favourite! The one in Dinant was particularly fine, with a fantastic selection of fresh fruit and veg, delicious bread, and fabulous picky/mezze type bits. Over the course of the week, we looked out for a Delhaize wherever we went, and consumed more than was good for us of their trio of dips – olive tapenade, spicy red pepper, and cheese and pesto – and are still talking about it now! (Forget the Christmas markets, we may have to do a December day trip to Bruges just  to stock up!!). And oh my goodness, the sheer variety of pickle flavour crisps!! We had discovered Croky pickle crisps in Calais a few years ago and always made sure to bring extra home with us, but Delhaize took it to a whole new level with so many brands Why isn’t this a thing in England? They are delicious – although it’s probably just as well, as I don’t generally eat crisps and the temptation would be too great!

From Dinant we moved to Luxembourg, where we were based in Luxembourg City. I loved the historic old town, although unfortunately we didn’t get to spend very much time there because we wanted to take advantage of the free public transport – yes, all trams, buses and trains were completely free – to explore the country. (And they were all new and clean and ran regularly and on time.) At least we have a reason to go back!

The highlight for both of us was travelling to Echternach to tackle part of the Mullerthal trail, a long distance walking route in the Little Switzerland region of Luxembourg. We followed the E1 trail, which was 13.5 km and honestly the very best walk I have ever done.

It was truly spectacular, passing through incredible rocky ravines, sandstone rock formations and forests, and along gurgling rivers. The first part of the walk, as we climbed through the spectacular Wollefsschlucht (wolf’s gorge), was pretty busy, with a continuous line of walkers, but thereafter the crowds petered out a little and we were able to enjoy the natural surroundings more easily.

My daughter overheard a German man telling a child that, according to legend, the rock formations were created when goblins were turned to stone, and there was certainly something very other worldly about the landscape.

We also passed through caves, and discovered a natural amphitheatre created from the quarrying of mill stones.

It was classed as a demanding hike, and I was definitely struggling to put one foot in front of the other by the end! The only thing keeping me going was the thought of a nice sit down at one of the cafes in the main square, and the iced coffee and chocolate we enjoyed there were very much needed. I would thoroughly recommend the trail though, and would love to return and try some different sections in the future.

Whilst in Luxembourg, we took the opportunity to visit Trier, the oldest town in Germany, which was just across the border and only a short train ride away. It had an amazing Roman gateway (the Porta Nigra), as well as Roman baths, amphitheatre and bridge. St Peter’s Cathedral was well worth a visit and was in stark contrast to the much plainer Konstantin Basilica which was originally built as the throne room to a Roman Palace, became the administrative offices for the Bishops of Trier in the Middle Ages, had a pink Rococo Palace built on to one side of it, and is now a Protestant church.

I had read online about a pleasant stroll that you could take along the Moselle river to the picturesque former fishing village of Zulaubener, but the riverside path was closed, and after following a very busy road for a while, hoping that we might gain access further on, we gave up. We did come across this cute hedgehog house though!

We returned to the main square (Hauptmarkt) for a drink and a spot of people watching instead, which was probably better for me after the previous day’s long walk! They have a wine stall there where each week, a different grower from the region sells glasses of wine from their vineyard. I would have liked to have sampled some but you had to drink it standing up and by that point I was only fit for sitting down, but maybe next time!

On our last morning in Luxembourg, we caught the bus to Remich – a small wine producing town, also on the banks of the Moselle – with Germany on the other side of the bridge!

This time we were able to have our pleasant stroll along the riverside promenade, which was busy with swans, geese and picnickers. One goose caused a great furore by getting its head stuck inside the handles of a carrier bag containing food for one of the picnics, and mayhem ensued as it ran honking along the grass, pursued by the angry picnickers the bag belonged to. (It was eventually cornered and freed and the bag returned by braver bystanders than us, who were happy to face the goose fury!) During our amble, we also encountered this fountain with a rather fine, revolving statue of Bacchus sitting on a wine barrel

We followed the cultural trail through some of the picturesque streets and alleys, climbing up to the church which commanded fine views over the town and river.

An elderly man was cleaning the church and, delighted to discover that my daughter spoke German, proceeded to give her a very comprehensive tour which she then translated to me as I stood there looking on awkwardly. (I was the French speaker of the holiday, although my proficiency in this language is not great!) Of particular interest was the fact that in Belgium and Luxembourg, it is common to dress statues of Mary and Joseph in ornate outfits. (We had noticed this in some of the other churches we had visited, but weren’t sure why.) He explained that they had eighteen different costumes which they changed according to the liturgical calendar, and that Mary and Jesus would soon be dressed in gold ready for the Feast of the Assumption.

From the church, we followed a trail that took us through the middle of vast swathes of vineyards growing up and down the slopes on either side of us. It was part of a much longer walking route that we would have loved to have tackled, but unfortunately Brussels was waiting for us, so we perched on a rickety wooden bench to eat our picnic lunch before reluctantly turning back – although we did have a date with a delicious hot chocolate at the Chocolate House in Luxembourg City to look forward to before leaving the country altogether. Praline nougat with cream and the most amazing chocolate marshmallows I have ever tasted, sitting at a table outside the Grand Ducal Palace, definitely helped to ease the pain of parting!

Brussels was very beautiful, but I found it extremely hard to be in the hurly burly of a very busy capital city after spending time in smaller and less touristy towns, and the sensory overload I experienced on our very first evening when we ventured out into the packed Grand Place and surrounding streets, filled with hordes of tourists (it was a Saturday night which probably made things even worse as there was some serious drinking going on as well), created a bad first impression and rather put me off. It was no doubt a silly thing to have done because we hadn’t arrived until late and I was exhausted, but I am also quite pig headed, and because I had decided in advance that I wanted to go straight out for a waffle, I was determined to do so. (It was a good waffle though – my first Liege one, which I think I prefer to a Belgian one. I hadn’t even known there was a difference prior to this holiday!)

Luckily things looked better in the morning as we headed to the flea market at Jeu de Balle Square where there was an interesting mix of trash and treasure, and as we wandered around the Marolles and Sablon districts, I felt that maybe Brussels wasn’t so bad after all.

From there we went to the Musees des Beaux Arts. We chose to visit the Old Masters gallery and spent a pleasant couple of hours looking at the paintings from the 15th to the 18th century, although the highlight for both of us was the Bruegel collection – so much fascinating detail to study and observe.

Every time we go on holiday I try to bring home some kind of decoration that can be hung on our Christmas tree – I go for the random memento approach rather than a colour coordinated! tree – and although these tend not to be traditional Christmas decorations (we have a fish, a turtle, a puffin, a toadstool, and a witch to name but a few), I was delighted to see that the Gallery shop was selling baubles featuring the wintery artwork of Bruegel’s Census of Bethlehem on them, so that was this year’s decoration sorted!

I was definitely flagging by this stage of our trip, and with an evening Eurostar booked for our final day, I was forced to take it slowly, so there was a lot more slow pottering about and sitting on steps, in parks, and in church pews and cafes than there had been previously.

One of my favourite things was discovering a diorama in St Nicholas Church – the oldest church in Brussels. It showed the nativity scene, with Mary, Joseph and Jesus, in a stable in the centre, but transported to Brussels in the middle ages, and all around were characters going about their normal way of life. It was very Bruegel-esque and absolutely fascinating. (Hmm, a bit of a theme going on here!)

It was very late when we finally made it back to Kent – if only the Eurostar would stop at Ashford again! It brought me to my knees but I had such a brilliant time and I would thoroughly recommend Belgium and Luxembourg to anyone thinking of visiting. I would definitely love to return and explore more of both countries, and I think that a walking holiday in Luxembourg is sure to be on the cards for the future – although it will take me quite a while to recover from this holiday first!