Bistro de l'Abbaye
What to order: a dish of the day from the board with a V or an IX, the abbey's beers
Every day, 11:00–19:00 from April to October and 11:00–18:00 from November to March
geocalia
Day itinerary · 50.59° N · 4.53° E
The ruins of Villers and the field of Waterloo, a day by car, 40 minutes from Brussels.
A morning in the Cistercian ruins of Villers, lunch in its vaulted bistro with the abbey beer and an afternoon on the Waterloo battlefield.
Leaving from
Direct flight to Bruselas fromBarcelona 2 hGirona 2 hSantander 2 hVitoria 2 hZaragoza 2 hMadrid 2 h 15Palma de Mallorca 2 h 15Valencia 2 h 15Alicante 2 h 30Málaga 3 h
Part of Villers-la-Ville AbbeyBeers of Belgium
Add to my trip
Total time8 h
By car45 min each way
From BrusselsCar · 40 min
Abbey€10 · 1 h 30
DifficultyEasy
Cost€45–70 pp
SeasonAll year
The plan
The day at a glance
Any part can be swapped for another without spoiling the day.
-
Leave Brussels 45 min by car
along the N5 or the E411 and Ottignies
- 1
- 5 min on foot
-
2
The abbey gardens: medicinal plants and old roses
medicinal garden and the abbot's garden
- 3 min on foot
-
3
Bistro de l'Abbaye
home cooking and the abbey's V beer · every day
Rue de l'Abbaye 55, 1495 Villers-la-Ville · +32 71 88 09 86
Restaurant €€Book - 5 min on foot
-
4
Meditative path to the Chapel of St Bernard
the best view of the ruins · lots of stairs
- 30 min by car20 km
-
5
The Lion's Mound (Butte du Lion) In Waterloo
226 steps over the field of 1815; with the Memorial ticket
- 5 min by car2 km
- 6
-
Back home
in Brussels around 18:15
Approximate cost
About €30–45 per person
Adds up the activities and meals in the plan at their published prices; travel and accommodation not included.
The route
Visit to the ruins of Villers Abbey
Two visits that hardly anyone combines and which are 20 minutes apart: in the morning, the ruins of the Cistercian abbey of Villers, with its roofless church and its gardens; in the afternoon, the battlefield of Waterloo, where Napoleon fell in 1815. It is a day by car, unhurried, 40 minutes from Brussels.
The day, hour by hour
9:15 · Drive to Villers-la-Ville. About 40 minutes; free parking next to the abbey.
10:00 · The abbey. €10, an hour and a half with the free app: the church, the cloister, the warming room and the dungeons that inspired Victor Hugo.
11:30 · The gardens. The medieval medicinal garden, the old rose bushes and the abbot's garden.
12:15 · Lunch at the Bistro de l'Abbaye. In a vaulted cellar above the river, with the abbey's beers. Open every day.
13:45 · Meditative path. Climb to the Chapel of St Bernard: the best view of the ruins.
15:00 · Waterloo, the Lion's Mound. About 25 minutes by car. Climb the steps of the monument above the battlefield; access comes with the Memorial 1815 ticket, which you should check on its website.
16:15 · Hougoumont. The fortified farm that held out all day.
17:30 · Back to Brussels.
Time1 h 30
Where to eat
Where to eat?
Lunch is half the plan: book before you set off.
Map
The stops, in order
With where to park at each one.
What to do
Eat
88 €Stay
Services
Getting there
By car or without one?
When to go
When to go to Villers-la-Ville Abbey
All year. From May to September the abbey gardens are in bloom; in winter the abbey closes at 17:00. If you go on the second Saturday of the month from March to November, add the micro-brewery tour.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Best timeGood timeLow season
Questions
Frequently asked questions
How much does this day cost?
Between €45 and €70 per person with the abbey, lunch and the Waterloo ticket.
Can you go with children?
Yes: at Villers under-6s do not pay and there are visit games; at Waterloo, they like the Lion's Mound.
More plans like this
Other days of walking and good food
geocalia.com/en/belgium/villers-la-ville-abbey/itineraries/ruins-and-waterloo-from-brussels
Prices, opening hours and times are approximate: check them before you go. Each place has its own page on Geocalia.