Date: 20th September 2022
Travelled: 80 kms from Saint-Hubert to Dinant
Visited: Chateau Lavaux-Sainte-Anne and Dinant
Stayed: Dinant Aire, โฌ10, N50.256161, E4.907426
Budget: 118 days @ โฌ102 per day
We get an early wake up this morning in Hubert. The council depot is next door and we hear trucks going around 6 am. Still dark so we roll over for another hour.
Having purchased a loaf of bread from a bakery yesterday afternoon, we breakfast with some lovely toast this morning. The heavy dark German bread does get a little boring after a couple of weeks.
We service the Hymer once again get ready for the road. Stopping at the Carrefour for a quick shop as we do.
Thirty minutes later we arrive at Chateau Lavaux-Sainte-Anne. Our guide book recommends visiting this moated chateau, so we pay our โฌ7pp (seniors). In the early 13th century a watchtower was built here on the road from Saint-Hubert and Rochfort. Over the next 4 centuries it was expanded into a moated castle before its transition into a hunting lodge come chateau.
Rue du Chรขteau, Lavaux-Sainte-Anne, Rochefort, Dinant, Namur, Wallonia, 5580, Belgium
The chateau and its gardens are beautifully presented. Even better we are the only people visiting although a few others start arriving as we finish up. The furnishings are period as you would expect and if it once walked the Ardennes there is an example of it stuffed on a wall or a mantle piece.
We certainly enjoyed our visit and thought it was as good as any we have visited this year.
Anyway time to move on, so we return to the road. Another 30 minutes and we are driving down the hill into Dinant. Why are we here, well itโs certainly not because our guide book recommends it. Apparently Dinant is very busy with tourists and the roads are chocked with cars.
Dinant, Namur, Wallonia, Belgium
We didnโt see any of that, but itโs now out of season and itโs on our way west. There is only a small privately run aire in Dinant and itโs not easy to find but when you do, the views make it worthwhile, as you can see from the picture below.
From our โฌ10 overnight camp we have a fabulous view across River Meuse to the Notre Dame and the Citadel standing on the cliff above the town.
Having settled in, we walk off to do a little exploring.
Our next stop is Dinantโs centrepiece church, the Collรฉgiale Notre-Dame de Dinant. Itโs pear shaped spire certainly catches your attention. The original romanesque church on this site was partially destroyed by a rock fall from the cliff above in 1227. It was rebuilt in the gothic style as you can see.
We continue exploringโฆ
Our host has recommended a restaurant down on the river (maybe his brotherโs) so we decide it will do nicely for a late lunch. Then Pam finds a hairdresser and as if by magic the afternoon just slides through to the keeper, before you can say, walk home up a steep hill.
So itโs a quite evening with a wonderful view, we chat with our neighbours for a bit before calling it a night.
Michael+ Pam
2 thoughts on “Dinant, Belgium ๐ง๐ช 2022”
What a lovely day you had, we only drove through that area in 2010 then with a leased car so really missed รฒut on a lot of things because we were in a hurry great report and photos
Safe travels Johannes
Dinant looks really beautiful