MARCH 2022
With a heavy heart I decided to post this blog, to liften my spirits and keep some hope. Did you say ruins and gardens? Okay I guess you will find me there 🙂 Abbaye de Villers-la-Ville is the perfect day trip in Belgium, or a good destination for a Wallonia roadtrip. In this blogpost I accumulated my pictures to inspire you to bring a visit to this special place.
Practical information
The abbey is located in Villers-la-Ville, a small town situated between Brussels and Namur. An entrance ticket for adults costs € 9, while you can park for free in the official parking. We didn’t reserve tickets ahead of time, but just showed up in the morning and bought our tickets. We visited on a cloudy day in August and it wasn’t crowded at all. The premises are stroller/wheelchair friendly, but you have to use a different entrance, which will be explained upon buying a ticket.
The abbey
The abbey is a perfect spot to visit if you are into history, I loved the explanations about the buildings and how they were used. The abbey was founded in 1146 and it is amazing how well it has been preserved, even though it was abandoned in 1796. I found the ruins of the church very impressive and was surprised by the cute little gardens, that you can find in several areas. If you are lucky with the weather, you can catch sunrays shining through the old windows of the church, which I am sure is a spectacular sight. I was super surprised at how undervisited Abbaye Villers-la-Ville is, we only noted about ten other visitors and the premises are huge: a true hidden gem!
