Belgium produces between 1,500 and 1,600 distinct beer brands, with some estimates reaching 8,700 when including one-off and limited-edition varieties.
This vast selection is brewed by approximately 411 breweries in the country, ranging from large industrial producers like AB InBev to traditional Trappist monasteries. Quite impressive for a small country.
You may be wondering what’s the big deal about Trappist beers? Well, because they stick to traditional recipes and methods of brewing, and are not constrained by commercial factors of increasing profits, they tend to be superior in quality. Some of the yeast strains are passed down from many generations. They are also unpasteurised and free of chemical preservatives, instead relying on their high quality ingredients. This all comes together to give a taste that is both unique and delicious. They have got it right these monks!
We have also sampled and purchased Belgian chocolates and decided that the Mary’s brand is the best, probably Neuhaus joint first or second. We shall have to try them again to make sure!
Saturday 31st October 2026 – Westmalle to Buizingen – 63 miles
We had a peaceful night in the Westmalle café car park. Over coffee, we discuss our next stop and, despite saying originally that we wouldn’t go there, we are soon planning a trip to Brussels!
We want somewhere on the outskirts near a train station. H finds a tiny park up on park4night. It only takes 3 vans and it’s the back yard of a tiny hotel which has all the services and gets great reviews. Better still, it’s only 20 metres from the train station with direct trains into the centre of Brussels.
We are stopping in the small town of Buizingen, a 15 minute train ride to the centre of Brussels.
We book in and start the drive towards Brussels, trying to avoid their Low Emission Zone. Jess gets a bath at last. She’s been filthy from motorway rain and muddy campsites. We’ve been looking for a jet wash for a few days now, but have found it difficult. How does everyone else have sparkling vans and we’re the dirty one?
The park-up is quite cute with everything laid on for €40. They even have a little shower room we can use. We like Jess’s shower, but sometimes it’s just nice to stand under a hot shower for a while, which we can’t do with our limited water supplies.
Once settled in and secure, we walk the 20 seconds to the station and get on the train. 15 mins later we are in the centre of Brussels.
It’s been a long time since we visited here and it has become very busy. We walk around all the sights and backstreets and the impressively beautiful Grand Place.
There are hundreds of chocolate shops here; nearly every 5th shop is one. We buy a small box from another luxury brand, called Mary’s.
They have the Belgian royal warrant, so they should be good. We look at a bar that has 2000 beers on sale (the most in one bar in the world, apparently), and decide against it as it’s down a bit of a grubby alley.
We find another nicer bar and have 2 different cherry beers.
Del has the stronger Delirium Red and H has the Lindemans Kriek (another weak lambic beer). We have some Orval Abbey cheese to go with it.
After a walk around some more, and a cone of frites, we call it a day and get back to Jess. We’re glad we came and saw it again, but we are glad to leave and desperate to get back to some countryside tomorrow. Cities are great to visit, but great to leave behind… With Brussels, once you have seen the Grand Place, and a few other interesting buildings, you have seen it all really. The rest is just the same, a chocolate shop, a bar, a tat shop, and another chocolate shop, and on it goes. Alan Wicker and Judith Charmers we are not! (Who remembers them…?). What we did find was a Belgian beer shop called ‘The Beer Temple‘. They sell almost every single Belgian beer here. It’s massive and very interesting. We can’t help ourselves and buy a few goodies…
Sunday 1st November 2026 – Buizingen to Dinant – 64 miles
It was a quiet night here apart from someone letting firecrackers off at 4:30am…! It was Halloween and all that, so… We did have a very brief thought that it was gunfire! Only brief though… what with all the troubles recently with riots happening in European cities, even Brussels had its fair share a couple of weeks ago.
We fill up with water and do all the usual Jess jobs before setting off towards Dinant, which is a beautiful riverside town. Leffe beer originates from this area and also the inventor of the saxophone, Adolphe Sax was born here.
We get a space in the campsite by the river, and walk the 2 miles into town. There’s a little museum about the saxophone in Mr Sax’s old house which we have a look around. Many years ago H used to play the alto saxophone and got to grade 8, though she doesn’t think she could do it now.
There’s an impressive church here as well as a castle and citadel on a massive rock above the town.
We cross the river to Maison Leffe, a museum dedicated to Leffe beer which is set in an old convent. For €17 you get a ticket to the museum, a glass of Leffe of your choice from the many available, and a free gift of a Leffe glass.
It’s very interesting. This isn’t a Trappist beer, the beer is now brewed in Leuven, Belgium by the same company that produces Stella Artois on a massive scale (InBev). We try the brown, a blond and ruby beer. They are all delicious beers but they don’t quite have the depth of our favourites, which are St. Bernardus Abt 12 and Rochefort 10.
By the time we finish it’s almost 5pm, so we make a quick visit to the Leffe Abbey chapel on our way back to the van. The promised sun never came, and it’s now misty, grey and very cold, 5 degrees.
We cozy ourselves up in Jess for a night in.
Monday 2nd November 2026 – Dinant to Han Sur Lesse – 25 miles
We wake up this morning to our first rain since Calais, a week ago. A light pattering on the roof, it’s also cold, grey and a bit bleak. We are heading to the town of Rochefort today, famous for another Trappist beer, our 3rd one of the trip. We do a bit of a shop but fail to find the local cheese and any Ardennes pate (we are in the Ardennes region).
We’ve been out for a week so it’s time to do some laundry. On the outskirts of Rochefort we find a big modern laundrette and spend a bit of time there, the local restaurant also has a vending machine here for its main dishes so you could have a night out here while you do your washing… Lovely!
That’s the washing is done so it’s off to the nearby Abbey Notre-Dame de St-Remy where the Rochefort Trappist beer is brewed. It has a very small but very stylish shop, so we get some of their beer and another glass.
We can’t go into the abbey, but there is an impressive chapel as part of the grounds. As we visit it’s one of the 7 or 8 prayer times of the day and we see the monks chanting and doing doing their thing. It’s very good and very atmospheric, let’s hope they still have time to make their tasty beer! Come on lads!!
We drive on to the town of Rochefort. We have noticed, since being in Wallonia – the French speaking part of Belgium, that the roads are the worst ever. Some of the fast roads have ridges that vibrate the van as we drive, and the others are full of potholes. Flanders Belgium was much better for roads.
Once in Rochefort we wander around, but being Monday most things are closed. We are parked in a free aire in the town, but it feels a bit desolate so we move on to a small campsite by the river, Camping Le Pinot, in the next town of Han sur Lesse. It’s a lovely little, tidy campsite right by the river. The town is more alive than Rochefort and is obviously a busy tourist town in summer. There are caves and an animal park here. We manage to find a good pate and a Rochefort Trappist cheese in the local Spar next door, so we will have a ‘picky‘ dinner tonight.
While Del is in the shower, H sets up a full table with pate, cheese, bread , prawns, salad and other goodies. She also makes it very ‘abbey-like’ with some candles and monk ‘chanting’ songs’. There is even a stained glass window photo put up on the ipad. We are going to try the Rochefort 10 and 8 beers which we shall share tonight.
It turns out to be a spectacular dinner. Brother Del names the van Saint Jesstus. The Rochefort 10 especially, is fantastic. This used to be Sister H’s favourite beer a few years ago, but it’s been a while since she has tried one. It’s delicious, rich and chocolatey and at 11.3% it goes down a real treat with all the food. We will have to have a ‘beer off’ with our favourite 3 beers which are currently the Westvlereten 12, considered by many as the “best beer in the world”. St bernadus Abbot 12 ,and Rochefort 10. We shall fit this in one day before we finish this trip.
Tuesday 3rd November 2026 – Han Sur Lesse – Day 2
We are undecided this morning what to do, should we stay another night or move on?
After weighing up the possibilities for a while, we decide to stay; we will spend the day at the Grottes de Han, the famous caves of the area. We buy a cave and wildlife park combo ticket and walk to the park which is only 5 mins away from the campsite.
It’s much colder than yesterday, the coldest we’ve had on this trip so far. The weather forecast says it’s 5 degrees with a real feel of 0 degrees. First we visit the caves, which is a guided tour, but unfortunately only in Dutch. It’s still spectacular though with massive stalactites and stalagmites. It’s a 1.5 kilometre walk through tunnels of rock into many chambers, some are just massive, one is 145m high. At one point we are 115m below ground level.
The river Lesse here dives deep underground, and has carved out much of the chambers over many thousands of years. It’s much more impressive than we thought, and beautifully lit, says Del. The whole walk takes 1 hour 20 minutes then we pop out into daylight.
It was relatively warm in the caves but now we are outside in the biting wind. We choose to walk most of the animal park rather than ride their safari bus. It’s an interesting walk with tree canopy rope bridges and forest viewpoints. By the time we have finished we have walked 7.5 miles.
We finally meet up with the safari bus for the rest of the visit and see deer, bears and lynx. After sitting on the open air bus for 30 minutes we are now cold to the bone, and are glad to be finishing. H has 2 jumpers and 2 coats on and is still freezing, even Del who is generally more warm blooded is looking a bit purple! We head to Jess where we whack the heating up to 28 and put a brew on. Our hands are so cold and stiff it’s hard to light the gas hob.
Once we have had showers we warm up and have a dinner of some very tasty fajitas. There’s lots of washing up to do, so Del opts to do it at the campsite facility. The sinks are outside and it’s now minus 2 degrees. He comes back frozen again poor thing. Thankfully Jess is nice and cosy.
Tomorrow we shall continue our Belgian Trappist beer tour. Our next stop is Orval.
Wednesday 4th November 2026 – Han Sur Lesse to Florenville – 51 miles
It’s is freezing again this morning, and it turns out to be a complicated morning as we try and service Jess. We have a bad tap arrangement, a strange grey water disposal, and weird waste bins. Sometimes it’s easy, sometimes it’s hard. Humans…! We manage it all in the end, but we have to visit a motorhome aire in town to get rid of the rubbish.
It’s just over an hours drive to the Orval Abbey, our 4th trappist beer, down the bumpiest, but prettiest roads lined with bright orange and yellow autumn trees.
It just looks fantastic. When we arrive it’s really busy in the parking area, but we find a space go in and get settled. They have a museum and an exhibition here for €8 each. The presentation is very slick, with fancy AV displays and beautifully lit buildings, so says Del.
You can tour the old abbey which was destroyed in the French Revolution and view the new church, there is also a museum. This is the most comprehensive presentation yet of a trappist beer/abbey, very professional.
In the shop we buy 2 bottles of their beer and a glass. This is our 4th Trappist beer and abbey of the trip.
The plan tonight is to stay in a nearby restaurant car park, which allow campers to stay, if eating a meal there. We visit the restaurant to find that they will shut at 5, and are only serving drinks. This causes us to have a quick rethink, what should we do, move on? Will they allow us to stay overnight if we only have a drink? H is put forward to ask in her best French if we are ok to stay, if we are just having a drink. The waitress smiles, yes of course no problem. We grab a table and order 2 Orvals and manage to get some Orval cheese to go with it.
Orval is very different to the other Trappist beers, it reminds us a little of the sour lambic taste. One of the bottles we have ordered is a year older than the other, the restaurant deliberately list it like this as the difference in taste in marked, the older is a much more bitter pronounced taste. We enjoy them but agree that we prefer the other Trappists that we have we have had so far.
Time is getting on now so we get back to Jess and make her cosy – blinds drawn, soft lights, candles and music on and the heating ticking away in the background. H prepares dinner of Duck and Lentils which goes down very well accompanied by a Rochefort 10 to share. Tonight’s dinner is one of the best we have has on the van, so says Del… The whole deal was just fantastic… Nice and warm, cosy, nice lighting, so says Del, music and a fantastic dinner. We go to bed content…
Thursday 5th November 2026 – Florenville to Chimay – 70 miles (bonfire night in the UK)
It’s a tropical -2 this morning, but Jess is basking in strong sunlight in the corner of the restaurant car park. The shady part has frost on it so we chose a good spot. No breakfast this morning as we plan to have a lunch at another restaurant where we can stay the night.
The scenery is stunning in the glorious sunshine this morning when we set off. We need to find some fresh water for tonight, and grey water disposal as well as a toilet change, so we head towards a paid service area in Sedan, France.
We will be cutting through France to get to Chimay in Belgium because it’s the fastest way.
The service point is very good, it has everything we need. The next thing is that we try and get LPG, but fail. We are chewing through our LPG supply, being off grid most of the time, we are using it for cooking, heating and water heating. Nevermind, we have enough to last at least another two days.
We pull up at the restaurant, in Chimay, owned by the Chimay abbey. They also allow motorhomes to stay so after checking that it’s ok, we sit down for a delicious lunch of wild boar stew and meatloaf with mushroom sauce.
We accompany this with a small glass of Chimay trappist beer and to follow a Sabayon made with Chimay beer. It’s a fantastic meal, the best of the trip.
We go for a walk through the forest to Scourmont Abbey which is where the beer is made (not to be confused with Chimay Abbey in the town).
The grounds are tranquil and beautiful, and we see a couple of monks in the church who say ‘hello‘ with a smile. What a lovely place. We have a good look around the church and the grounds. It is one of the best ones yet.
Back at the restaurant we go into their little exhibition which tells the story of the Chimay beer, this comes with a small tasting glass of one of the beers of your choice.
We have this in the bar along with a ‘tree’ of 4 other small beers. Finally we finish off in the shop and buy a mixed pack of beers with a glass. We have certainly ‘done’ Chimay as we carefully walk back to the van for a quite night in.
A good day today. We have now done all 5 Belgian Trappist beers. There are 11 worldwide, maybe one day we will do the remaining 6. We did cheat today. One of the 11 Trappist beers is a Dutch beer called ‘La Trappe‘. H found one in a shop and bought a bottle.
It was delicious, but really nice with a nice hint of banana. So we have really done 6 Trappist beers, only 5 to go!
Friday 6th November 2026 – Chimay to Tournai- 75 miles
It’s cold and grey this morning, so we start off with a relaxed breakfast.
H has found a big dam and hydroelectric plant called the Barrage de la plate-Taille which is about half an hour away. It has a guided tour and H is quite excited to go (what a geek).
We pack up and head off. We need to drop our grey water tank on the way. A slight detour and we have found a waste water dumping point. 10 minutes further on is the dam. We don’t know if it’s the weather, or the 70s soviet style architecture, or the fact that it’s deserted, but the dam isn’t quite doing it for us. It’s the biggest dam in Belgium but it all looks a bit neglected. The viewing platform looks a bit eroded and parts of the concrete are breaking down.
Hopefully the important bits of concrete below us are still good. There’s no sign of life, the last review for the tour was dated only 2 months ago, but it just seems abandoned.
We move on to the town of Beaumont where we intend to stay but first the important LPG fill up. It’s tricky getting into the garage, we then have to spin ourselves around in the tiny forecourt (LPG pumps are on the wrong side for the van 80% of the time in Europe). We manage it, after a few disapproving looks, and head to the aire in town.
This also is not inspiring us, we park nearby where Del has spotted a Belgian frites shop, so he can buy a bag of chips with a dipping sauce while we work out what to do.
We decide on Tournai, one of the oldest cities in Belgium and head there. After a struggle finding the entrance we park up in a camping aire, €15 for the night including water and electricity, and a short walk to the centre. It’s a pretty place with a nice square and a large cathedral, which sports a belfry and 4 towers. It’s huge. The cathedral is undergoing a huge renovation project inside and out, so isn’t looking her best at the moment.
There’s another large church nearby where someone is practising on the church organ, it’s very cold in there, so there are a few bum notes going on!
We have noticed over the last couple of weeks that the churches at the monasteries we have been to have been the warmest ones. With all that lovely beer money coming in it seems that they can afford to keep the heat on!
We wander around for a while but it’s another very cold, grey day and after a while we fancy the comfort of Jess and her heating.
We roughly plan out the next, and final week over a cup of tea.
You can see more photos from the week at Del’s photo website here.
Hello Marie. Nice to hear from you. Yes we still talk fondly about our stop off at your place in…