So happy to find this place only a 15 minute drive from home…read more Plenty of space to walk around. Paths to ride bikes or run. Lake to fish. There's a big playground with plenty of shade. Downside for me personally is the sand but other than that my oldest (6 years old) enjoyed our visit here. They also have some tennis courts but not sure how it works out to utilize them or if they provide gear or not. There's a "bar" area but not sure what they serve besides beer, fries and ice cream. Nice place to take photographs.

Fantastic site to visit. The view of Mons from the grounds is limited, but from the tower it is…read morespectacular. Interactive displays on for sides out over the city and the countryside. The top visitor's floor is at the bottom bell level; the bells are amazing, oh and deafening as well...lol, and some of them ring every 15 minutes. I highly recommend visiting the tower! Teachers, you get free admission (bring ID); adults 9.00€. My wife forgot her teachet ID, but they were very nice and gave it to her anyway (besides who would claim to be a teacher but a teacher)

Despite the fact that's currently undergoing renovation at the base, the parc and the beffroi…read moreitself, outside of the grand place, should be be either No.1 or No.2 on any "must-see" Mons guide, even for locals. Though the parc is closed on Mondays, it's open the remainder of the week and there are two entrances. There's the "main" incline entrance off Rue des Clercs or the "old" entrance (which I prefer and is less strenuous and bit more awesome) off of Rue Marguerite Bervoets. It's a definite "blink and you'll miss it" entrance. It took me 6 months to find it, and then it was by accident. Look for a door-like entrance just opposite a meter or so from "Passage Victor Hugo". It looks like it leads to someone's garden, which it does- the town's. I don't know that this was ever "the" main entrance, either way, it's a windy, way up the hill with some steps and in some areas, a very medieval feel. As you ascend you'll eventually pop out of one of the "turrets" in the ground and there you are- at the park! The views are unbeatable, and it's a very quiet, serene place. A lovely place for a picnic (there's quite a bit of grassy area available) or to take a book and relax in the summer. It's one of my favorite places in Mons, and will probably stay that way.

Absolutely amazing recreational park! Soccer, water polo, kayaking, paddle boats, mini golf,…read morehiking, bike park, picnic area.....this place has it all. And did I mention the trolls??? Danish artist Thomas Dambo has built seven giant trolls from reclaimed wood using old shelves, pallets, and branches from fallen trees. Trolls are 13 to 60-foot-tall sculptures and are dotted around the forest with some practicing chores and others taking a rest. Super fun to discover! But be careful for mosquitoes - they are brutal in the wooded area. Mr & I got totally eaten. But better than being eaten by the trolls. This place absolutely rocks!

This stretch of the Meuse river between Namur and Dinant is just beautiful. Huge limestone boulders…read moreprotrude through the lush green hillsides overlooking a most tranquil and picturesque stretch of one of Europe's great rivers. The fast roads on both sides of the river are excellent for biking and are of generally good quality. The villages to be found up on the plateaux above the river are very pretty and hidden amongst verdant and tranquil woodlands. A real gem.

This park and lake is hard to miss so I often used it as an easy landmark to explore the city. It…read morealso has many types of birds surrounding it from swans to pigeons. They're somewhat enjoyable to watch so when passing through we'd stop for a bit. This place also made a nice area to jog and you can easily walk the perimeter. You can't really go near the water or the birds due to a railing. So unless you decide to break that rule then you can't really mess around with either and either can't bother you. I can't imagine it's worth going to the water as there is a lot of bird waste lining the banks of the lake. Despite that its not particularly smelly or gross... the rain makes short work of the waste and there are plenty of benches for sitting on the sidewalk underneath the trees. All in all, beautiful little area with all sorts of wildlife to watch.

Magnificent and magical experience - it was a sight for my eyes to behold!!! But I do think park…read moremgmt has to do a better job with parking and also getting more park benches, hence while its 5 stars showing, in reality it's more like 4.5 from me. There's a great park ranger blog you can follow (and best of all its in English) and they post videos + pics and so that's what I have been doing since mid-March, as didn't want to miss the hyacinth flowering like had done last year. Last Friday the blog showed a sea of blue and since they flowers have a short flowering season of 2 weeks, a group of 5 of us left around noon and then got to Hallerbos 40 mins later. Parking was really horrible and we finally got some a long way from the park entrance. We found the blue marker near parking lot #2 and set off down the trail, sorta disappointed not to see that many hyacinths covering the wood floor as had expected. Encountered lots of tree stumps along the trail way that had been converted into stools to sit upon. About the halfway point, there was a long steep hill and when we reached the top and from the corner of my left eye, to paraphrase the poet: When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of blue hyacinths... beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. I just stopped and stared in wonder and turned around in a circle because all around me, I was surrounded by blue undergrowth. I felt had wandered into a sacred, special place and luckily it wasn't too crowded, so we all just co-existed, marveling at natures bounty. The hyacinths were numerous in number now and we continued our walk, upto parking lot 8, where all the trails converged and had great ice-cream for an €1 per scoop which was totally worth the wait in the long line. This is when I sorta felt let down because here was this great open space, and only one park bench? C'mon!! Surely park mgmt can do better! However this is a minor gripe, cause if you live in Belgium and don't come and see this beautiful sight that welcomes spring you are totally missing out!

Hard to describe how pretty Hallerbos is. Twice a year, the wood is turned into a blue rug of…read morehyacinths. A lot of pedestrian, horse rider and bicycle ways exist to explore the wood and its surroundings (more extended than expected - my legs are still hurting ! ). Since hyacinths do need sun to grow up, the wood is bright and light. Walking, sun taning AND enjoying the smell of the flowers is the perfect combination for a Sunday afternoon a few minutes away from Brussels. Little tip : you can follow the blossoming of the flowers on the website http://www.hallerbos.be/.