Wallonia & Ardennes

The largest city in Wallonia, charmingly decayed on the banks of the Meuse. Long known as the "City of Steps" (due to the 374 steps of the Montagne de Bueren). Liège has one of the liveliest street scenes in Belgium and an exciting culinary offering.

• Place Saint-Lambert — central square with the Prince-Bishop's Palace (now the Palace of Justice)
• Montagne de Bueren — famous staircase with a panorama
• La Batte — Sunday market on the banks of the Meuse, one of the largest in Belgium
• Liège-Guillemins Station — spectacular Calatrava design
• Maison Curtius (archaeology) and La Boverie (art museum)

Culinary: Boulets à la Liégeoise (meatballs in syrup sauce) and, of course, the Liège waffle.

The Meuse Valley between Namur and Dinant is one of Belgium's most beautiful river landscapes — spectacular cliffs, castles, and vineyards.

• Dinant — photogenic town on the banks of the Meuse with a citadel on the rock, Collegiate Church of Notre-Dame, birthplace of Adolphe Sax (inventor of the saxophone)
• Namur — Walloon capital with one of the largest citadels in Europe
• Caves of Han — spectacular cave system with an underground river
• Castle of Freÿr with UNESCO-listed gardens

The Ardennes are Belgium's densest forest area — hilly, full of rivers and castles. They border the German Eifel and Luxembourg.

• Bastogne — site of the "Battle of the Bulge" in World War II (1944/45); Bastogne War Museum
• Durbuy — "smallest city in the world" (according to local pride), picturesque medieval town center
• La Roche-en-Ardenne — castle ruins above the Ourthe, base for canoeing and hiking
• Spa — namesake of all "spas": the first mineral springs town in Europe, today famous for the Belgian Grand Prix at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
• Hohes Venn (Hautes Fagnes) — high moor, German-Belgian border area, UNESCO biosphere reserve

In the German-speaking community (East Belgium) around Eupen, St. Vith, and Malmedy, German is spoken and the local customs are closely related to those of the Eifel.

The south of Wallonia was long a European industrial center — today a UNESCO World Heritage site with the Major Mining Sites of Wallonia.

• Mons — 2015 European Capital of Culture, UNESCO belfry; the annual "Doudou" (Ducasse de Mons) is UNESCO intangible cultural heritage
• Grand-Hornu — neoclassical mining complex, now an art and design center
• Tournai — one of Belgium's oldest cities; Notre-Dame Cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage site
• Boat lifts on the Canal du Centre — four historic hydraulic lifts from 1888, UNESCO World Heritage site