This is worth the visit if you are have interest in history, are looking for a peaceful environment…read morefor tranquility and/or exploration, or love photography. As of 2024, the ticket for 1 adult is 10 euros.

What a wonderful experience. If you're trying to figure out some tourist things to do, This place…read moreshould be on the list. If you have a car or time on a weekend to figure out the public transportation route here, there's a train stop which you can walk to here from the train stop this place was such a great family activity. The history behind this Abbey was great to explore as well as walking around the ruins. There were plenty of places to sit and rest. You can go to the second floor of the abbey where monks used to sleep. We learned about bleeding (which was very interesting) and the timeline of this place really put the abbey and its age into perspective. This place have plenty of places to have quiet time and is a great place for a date if you're ever looking for a date spot.

Spent an afternoon here and loved it…read more Really enjoyed walking around, looking at all the architecture, eating churros, sitting in the center and watching people walk by (lots from different areas of the world). There's also stores and I highly recommend walking away from it too, there's a church a couple of blocks away and the walk there is very nice (beautiful scenery).

First of all, am surprised that there isn't a review in English on the main square in Mons…read more I get downtown Mons probably a half a dozen times at least each month and since the heart of the city is the main square or "grand place" as they call it in French, I usually end up down here. The center piece of the square is the town hall "hotel de ville", which was built back in the 15th century, if I remember correctly. On the front of the town hall is the Monkey of Mons, but that's for another review and there are many on Yelp about it. The square is mostly filled with cafes and restaurants, so you can walk across the cobblestones from one side of the square to another and enjoy Belgian food, Danish food in the Copenhagen or if you must, there is also a McDonalds. In the summer, or really any time that it isn't raining, its great to sit outside to eat or just enjoy one of the 500+ beers that you can find in the area. The tourist info office is located here too, just next to the town hall. On the other side of the town hall too is the Salle St Georges, where there are often free exhibitions going on. It is a nice little square which affords a nice view of the belfry too. Oh, the UK's Princes William and Harry were just here this week, along with William's wife, and the Belgian Prime Minister, who is a local man, to commemorate the beginning of World War I's 100th anniversary.

This is highly worthwhile, especially if you are interested in history / the battle itself…read more I try to do appreciable advance research relating to our trips. However, there are sometimes levels of detail that are not evident until you experience things first hand. So as an introduction to this site, I'll first discuss travel logistics. Assuming that you are staying in Brussels without a car, you'll need to take a train / bus combo to visit this site. Trains from Brussels Central or Noord run fairly frequently to Braine-l'Alleud. You can probably get one within 30 minutes or so of walking up, but you may want to consult a schedule. The out there takes around 30 -35 minutes, I think. You purchase this ticket from a machine via a credit card (I'm not sure if there is a way to purchase with cash other than finding a human-staffed desk at a large station). I think the fare was in the neighborhood of 10 Euros. Once you reach Braine-l'Alleud, you walk directly from the platform across a small parking lot to a street. Across the street is the stop for the 'W' bus, which will take you to the battlefield. The stop is between a Chinese restaurant and a motorcycle dealer (when we went). The bus runs roughly every 30 minutes and there is a schedule posted at the stop. It varies between weekdays and weekends. There is also an app you can get (my daughter found it) that lets you track the buses in real time. We saw a bus pull away just as we exited the station, so coordinating the schedules would have saved us a few minutes. The crucial detail that we missed was that bus far is cash only - no credit cards. It was our last full day and we had tried to spend our Euros so as not to have too many left. Hence, we could not ride this bus! We got off and found an ATM across the train tracks. We obtained 25 Euros to have some buffer. The bus fare one-way to the battlefield is less than 3 Euros per person. We got back and waited for the next bus, which we then rode to the battlefield. The total route on the bus is probably about 1.5 miles and there are sidewalks the whole way. Later, we noted tha the return bus was delayed by 30 minutes, so we ended up walking back to the train station from the battlefield. It wasn't a bad walk. As to the battlefield and museum itself, here are the highlights: * I bought tickets in advance, but it didn't seem like that was necessary on the day we went. These were not timed, but were good for the entire day. It doesn't hurt to have them, though. The museum is built underground, perhaps so as not to disturb the views of what the battlefield looks like. There were references to audio tours and some app that you could have downloaded to help with the visit but we didn't see these until we were well into the exhibits. You may want to ask when you arrive. The layout of the museum first a short high-level timeline of how the battle came about - monarchies, the French Revolution, and the rise of Napoleon. This is covered in 2 - 3 intiial rooms. You then move into a long hallway that slopes slighly up as you go. Along each side behind glass are manikins dressed as representatives of the states engaged in the battle. Some are mounted on horses. The timeline here is more dense, showing the maneuverings in the days leading up to the battle itself. You can then view a 10 - 15 minute 3-D film about the battle, which gives you even more of a feel for it. If you have the audio tour, you may get translations for the French / German bits also. After the film, you can check out some details about the aftermath of the battle, as well as an animated bird's eye view of the engagement. * The Panorama - This is a huge painting that wraps around to 360-degrees and attempts to tell the story of the battle. This is housed in a large round stone building adjacent to the museum. Apparently, this type of painting was popular in the late 1800s (pre-movies) and traveled to various cities. There is also one related to the U.S. Civil Ware in Atlanta, GA. I think there is one at the Gettysburg battlefield in Pennsylvania as well. Having seen the one in Atlanta a few times, this was neat to compare. * The Lion Mound - a memorial to one of the fallen nobles/military leaders. This is about 130 feet high with over 200 steps leading up. It was a workout, but has nice views at the top. * Hougoumount Farm - this place figured prominently in the battle, and is preserved as a separate site. It is about a mile from the museum and can be reached by a wide paved path. They have a regular shuttle cart (think of the type that cover huge parking lots in places like Disney World in the U.S.) that runs at ~ 25 minute intervals. We walked out to the site and took the tram back. The site has some exhibits and is worth the short side trip if you have time. They also have a café and table-service restaurant on-site. Go early (before 12:30 p.m.) for the best chance of service. There are few other walkable eateries

Of course, Waterloo. With a country so rich in history you can't ignore such historic places…read more There are several things you can do here, most of which have a fee tacked on-- from climbing up to the lion, to exploring the museum, to checking out the panorama. It's your grade 1 class field trip all over again. However, it does have a bit of tech involved. While I personally am more a fan of climbing up to see the view the museum was very interactive. Moving paintings, puzzles, and questions. Lots to mess with and see. At first I thought oh, this will be rather kiddie, but for an adult it was pretty entertaining too. It had a good equilibrium of those science museums for kids and what would usually be dry history. At the end there was a 3D movie. Probably not something I'd want to go on again, but for the first time it was neat. The most outdated thing there was probably the panorama. It looked like it's been around for awhile in terms of panorama x museum life. We could include the Lion.. but he was remarkable as ever. Very educational.

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.