Dinant is one of the towns in Belgium Ardennes that most people will visit. From there on, you can visit nearby towns such as Namur (Namen), Liege (Luik) and Spa. As a base for your Ardennes exploration, Namur probably serves better due to its location and size.
Walk along the river, starting from the Cathedral (not much to see inside) with the high-rise rock background. There are quite a few restaurants along the river, with the main ones near the ticket counter for a boat cruise. The view is basically the same along the river; it was actually quite a mundane walk along the river. Luckily, the day we were there, there was some sort of festival that most children dressed in some creative clothings (see pic).
You can end your walk nearby the Cathedral where you will find the ticket counter for Citadel of Dinant(Fortress). The price is 6.50 euro/person, including the lift to the top. You can also reach the top by car, however the entrance fee is practically the same. Get the lift for the experience, if you don’t mind waiting for the lift.
There is an obligatory guided tour every 20-30 minutes to see the Fortress. Go to the meeting point (mark as #1), in front of the smal cafetaria. The tour is in Dutch/French with minimal translation to English. If you don’t speak Dutch/French, your best choice is to read the short explanations in each room and get a small leaflet (free) from your guide. Unless, of course, you come with such a large group of only English speaking tourists, which is atypical.
The tour group is rather big, ~25 tourists, per guide, making the guided tour not easily followed (not to mention the language). Each section of the fortress is rather plain, with some tools to help the imagination, but they don’t seem to work well on me. The guided tour ends with a recreated section with slanted floor, similar to those you found in carnivals. Don’t forget to tip your guide at the end.
Do the tour if you have time, but probably not worth it if you have seen other fortress during your trip.
March 28, 2007 at 3:47 pm
I don’t see much of your wife photos in your blog. Only the above one.
Come on, you must also introduce your wife to the world
So at least, they know when you arrive in some place, they must prepare for 2 persons
Just kidding man…
Well done, EJW.. I think you can make all your travel report a book, and then sell it. You get money from that