50.13° N · 5.19° E
One of the great caves of Europe and a 250-hectare park with bears, wolves and lynx, at Han-sur-Lesse, an hour and a half from Brussels.
What to do
Each plan says how long it takes, who it's for and whether you can book.
Cave · 1 h 15 · 1.6 km · 367 steps · 9 °C · €29 · €22 for ages 4 to 11 · guided in French and Dutch
Wildlife park · 2 h · 250 ha · bears, wolves, lynx, bison and wolverines · €29 · €22 for ages 4 to 11
Cave · 2 h · 2 km · 510 steps · departure at 10:00 by safari bus from the park · following the underground river
Itineraries
Days and weekends already planned out, with how to get between each stop and who to book with.
Plan the trip
Each choice narrows the next: the season shapes how best to travel, and how you travel decides where you stay and where you eat.
When to go
The site is open from spring to 11 November; in 2026 it closed for the season on 12 November. In winter there are exclusive guided tours at weekends and it opens over the Christmas holidays. In July and August it fills up: buy your ticket with a date and go before 11:00.
How you travel
Choose how you're travelling and we'll tell you where to stay, how to get around, where to eat and which services you'll need. We only show the ways of travelling that make sense here.
The most practical airport for Han is Charleroi (CRL), with low-cost flights from several Spanish cities: the site is 95 km away, about an hour and ten minutes by car. From Brussels-Zaventem (BRU), with direct flights from Madrid and Barcelona, you go by train via Brussels to Rochefort-Jemelle and bus, or by hire car in a little under two hours. Luxembourg (LUX) is 110 km away.
By car, Han-sur-Lesse is about an hour and a half from Brussels on the E411, exit 23, and from there everything is close: Lavaux-Sainte-Anne castle 8 km away, Rochefort ten minutes and the Euro Space Center half an hour. It is the best way to make an Ardennes weekend with children.
You can reach Han well without a car: a direct train from Brussels to Rochefort-Jemelle in an hour and a half and TEC bus 29 to the village church. From there, the cave, the park and the hotel are on foot. What you cannot reach without a car are Lavaux castle and the Euro Space Center.
Who you're with
A trip with a toddler is not the same as one with a teenager. Pick yours to see what works and what to bear in mind.
Han is probably the most complete day trip with children in Belgium: a cave with an underground river, a park of bears and wolves toured by safari bus, a treetop circuit and, half an hour away, a space park.
With small children, Han works if you choose well: the park by safari bus and the low Tree Experience circuits rather than the long cave tour.
For teenagers, the combination is the complete cave, the high treetop circuits and the Euro Space Center with its simulators.
Where to stay
We show you what suits the way you travel.Change how you travel
Why we like it: Hotel in the centre of Han-sur-Lesse, next to the park entrance and the cave, with cosy, comfort, family rooms and a suite, and a restaurant.
Why we like it: A night in a tent hung from the trees inside the Han wildlife park, with dinner, breakfast, a walk with a ranger and PassHan; €210 per adult.
Why we like it: Mercure chain hotel in the centre of Han-sur-Lesse, within walking distance of the cave and the park, with 117 rooms and suites, a pool and a restaurant.
Services for this trip
Where to eat
From set lunch menus to Michelin stars. We mark the price level and what to order at each place.
What to order: the Ardennes discovery board, the grilled trout or the carbonade
What to order: the evening three-course menu or a traditional dish at lunchtime
Map
The places to stay and services on the map are the ones for the way you travel. Turn on the layers you want and tap a point to see its details.
Nearby
The closest places, whichever country they are in.
50.26° N · 4.91° E
By planeCar-freeBy car
50.35° N · 5.46° E
By carBy plane
49.79° N · 5.06° E
By carBy plane
50.00° N · 5.72° E
By carCar-free
Tips
It is compulsory to buy in advance, and with the pass you can see the cave and the park on different days.
9 °C inside the cave all year round, 367 steps and wet floors.
Pushchairs are not allowed in the cave.
From 12 November to spring there are only visits at weekends and at Christmas, and the restaurants close.
At Han-sur-Lesse, a village in the Famenne at the gateway to the Ardennes, the river Lesse disappears underground into the Belvaux chasm and reappears on the other side of a hill. Inside, it has carved out one of the largest show caves in Europe, with enormous chambers, stalactites and an underground river. Above ground, a 250-hectare park gathers European wildlife in semi-freedom: bears, wolves, lynx, bison and wolverines. It is the big day trip with children from Brussels, and with one night it can be combined with castles and space.
By car, about an hour and a half, some 120 km on the E411 towards Luxembourg, exit 23 (Wellin). The site has no car park: leave the car in the municipal car parks in the centre, at €7 a day.
By train and bus, about two hours: a direct train to Rochefort-Jemelle in an hour and a half and TEC bus 29 to the church in Han. If you fly into Charleroi, Han is 95 km away.
Buy the PassHan online with a date: cave and park for €41.50 (€31.50 for ages 4 to 11). Start first thing with the cave: the Discovery tour lasts an hour and a quarter, covers 1.6 km and 367 steps at 9 °C and ends with the light and sound show. If your children are older and walk well, the Journey tour, at 10:00, crosses the whole cave in two hours following the river.
Have lunch at Le Pavillon, next to the cave exit, with a terrace over the Lesse, or at the Restaurant Arthur, in the village. In the afternoon, the wildlife park, by safari bus or on foot, passing the Belvaux chasm. If you have energy left, Tree Experience has five treetop circuits from age 4.
Sleep at Au Lit des Ours, in the centre of the village, at the Mercure, with a pool, or, for a night you will not forget, in the Tree Tents, tents hung in the trees inside the park, with dinner, breakfast and a walk with a ranger. The next day, the Lavaux-Sainte-Anne castle, a four-towered fifteenth-century fortress 8 km away, or the Euro Space Center, half an hour away, an astronaut's day with simulators and a planetarium.
The site is open from spring to 11 November, with hours that change every month. In 2026 it closed for the season on 12 November; on the weekends from 14 November to 13 December and from 9 to 31 January there are exclusive guided tours of the cave and the park, and it opens over the Christmas holidays, from 19 December to 3 January. In summer, avoid the queues before 11:00 and after 14:00. The village restaurants close in winter.
Han is half an hour from Dinant, where you can kayak the Lesse. Bastogne, with the museum of the Battle of the Bulge, is an hour away. From Namur it is 55 km.
Questions
€29 for adults and €22 for ages 4 to 11; with the park, the PassHan costs €41.50 and €31.50.
About an hour and a half by car and about two hours by train and bus.
No: there are 367 steps. Bring a baby carrier.
Only at weekends with exclusive tours and over the Christmas holidays.
To the cave, yes, on a lead; check the park rules when you buy your ticket.
Geocaliahttps://www.geocalia.com/en/belgium/caves-of-han
