"Waterloo visit in May" Topic

Planning to visit the Waterloo battlefield in May. Any recommendations on the best (but not too pricey) hotels, place to eat in the area. Will be travelling to the site by train form Brussels.

Thanks in advance!

Pete

No train connection from Brussels, take a bus. There are some B and B's in the area that offer good value i believe. Make sure to visit the renewed visitors centre (take a couple of hours a least for that) and take your walking shoes, the best way to appreciate the battlefield is to actually walk over it through the country lanes. when in Plancenoit it' always nice to have abeer a the "Gros Vélo" café right next to the church.

When arriving in Brussels south station (Bruxelles-Midi) you need to find a bus from TEC ( Walloon buscompany, there is also a Flemish one and a Brussels one Welcome to Belgium) line 365a (to Jumet Madeleine) this passes by the main road through the battlefield and has a stop at the Gordon monument right next to the Haye Sainte and 300 metres from the lion mound. It is about one hour (slightly more in traffic) from Brussels. Where exactly this bus leaves as BXL south is a big station, you'll have to ask on site. if in Brussels don' forget to pay a visit to the army museum at the cinguantennaire, they have some intersiting pieces on the napoleonic period, unfortunately the museum is no longer free.

Train to Braine l'Alleud I have done a few times……..easy and pleasant walk to the battlefield. You enter it just above Hougomont. Same if you want to visit Wellington's HQ. One stop earlier, Waterloo and just a mile east takes you straight to it. Don't miss that and the separate museum (which was closed last time I went)

Walk a diamond shape. From the crossroads the Ohain road east and then down into the valley around Papelotte , Smohain etc. Then head south west along an obvious track. It starts sunken, but soon emerges to show you D'Erlon's view. Takes you to La Belle Alliance. You will just see the spire of Plancenoit on your left as you walk, but only just! Then head on another track north west. That now takes you on the route of the cavalry and Guard attacks. On the ridge, a short detour to the left to Hgmt, then back again north east along the ridge towards that stupid mound and the museum. By now you will be knackered…………so back to the crossroads if coming by road. You can do the whole thing on Google Earth of course, as with Blucher's march from Wavre!

Hotels can easily arrange a taxi there and a pick up late in the day, but obviously pricey……….unless you are in a small group of course!

Another option is the guide with his own transport who gets you to Wavre, Genappe, QB etc. One tricky spot is le Caillou, Napoleon's HQ which is on the main road but a long way south of the field

Why not stay in Brussels? There is no great advantage in staying near the battlefield itself once the museums close unless you want to wander around there in the dark.

Take the bus or train and then go back to Brussels in the evening. Plenty of touristy places in Brussels as well as a fantastic selection of restaurants and bars.

Le Caillou, certainly worth a visit, can be reached by the same bus as it passes there (at least i think so), but it could also be a nice walk from another part of the battlefield if you have time and the weather is good

Lucky you! Bring back pictures please

You probably know that you can even stay in Hougomont itself these days. Some of us may have misunderstood your plans. I thought you meant a day trip to the field, from Brussels. There is much to be said for a more local stay of more than one day.

By May the hours of daylight are long and there is a lot to see, enough for two days certainly. If you manage Wellington's HQ, the museum, the battlefield walk, Hougomont, Plancenoit and le Caillou (remember it is a rebuild though) you will have done well! Quatre Bras and Ligny are worth a visit. Genappe purely to see the inn (not easily noticed) and the tiny bridge (ditto!). Wavre, you need a lot of imagination to see anything there.

I see you are coming all the way from Nova Scotia. Much easier for me to pop back to Waterloo whenever I get the urge!

I meant to attach this link re staying at Hgmt. Might be worth considering. Heck, if you are travelling all that way, see as much as you can while there

link

Thanks for all of the information. My plan is to take a train from Brussels to Waterloo and hopefully stay in an Air BnB – seems less expensive than a hotel. I plan to stay there for approximately two days. My wife is sceptical that there will be enough sites to see there. I don't expect to walk every inch of the battlefield but I'm sure that I will have no problem finding things to look at.😃

Pete

If you stay in Brussels, the Army museum is also worthwhile a visit.

Also visiting Paris and would like to see Les Invalids but not sure if I'll get the chance.

You must not miss Les Invalides…even if you only see Boney's tomb and then the Napoleonic section of what is a wonderful museum. You must make a chance…..it will be the highlight of your trip

Do remember that if you take the train to Waterloo and stay there you are still quite some distance from Mt St Jean. Braine l'Alleud is the next station and much closer. Again, look on Google Earth…….it is all set out for you.

Your wife may be right. The field is not like Gettysburg. LHS is closed and far from welcoming. Hougomont is restored, but far from sympathetically, for what is an ancient monument.

It needs much prior knowledge and imagination to work out what you are seeing. Last time we went, my wife finally did come with us and found it fascinating….totally against her expectations.

@deadhead – so basically if I stay in the town of Waterloo I can easily take a bus to the battlefield.
My wife isn't keen on warfare of any era but this is the only battlefield in Europe that I'm really interested in seeing. Been reading on Waterloo for years and would love to actually visit the site.

True. Snag is Waterloo town is not the most exciting place to spend a rainy weekend……..you will owe her big time. Beyond the Wellington HQ and the church opposite, it is a really dull, modern(ish), shabby, town. Walk it on Google Earth……..on the main road Brussels to Charleroi…she will kill you and would be much better going with you.

I do hope many others will respond with ideas to make your trip a success.

Personally, I think east of the chausee is the better half of the field. Unspoilt.

West of it, LHS is off limits, Hgmt desperately needs decades to age its restoration, the mound "has destroyed my battlefield" and the reverse slope is just a massive car park now.

and yet……….I go back repeatedly and just walk it….

My wife has visited a few times with me and found it fascinating.

Another idea would be to rent a car in Brussels. The battlefield is less than 30 minutes on the motorway.

There is a new large car park there and with a car you will be able to visit Quatre Bras, Le Caillou, Hougoumont, La Belle Alliance and Plancenoit as well as Wellington's HQ in Waterloo town and the church opposite. On foot all you will see is the museum and panorama and, if it is not raining, Hougoumont on foot.

The train or bus option leaves a lot of walking for you not to mention the wife! You have to remember as well that you cannot guarantee dry weather in Belgium at any time of the year.

Deadhead suggested a guide which might be worth it especially if you are going to travel all the way from Nova Scotia and want to see everything in 2 days.

Here is one company link
although it might be an idea to search the web for others and compare prices.

Regards

I see the Farm of Mont Saint Jean is now open to the public

fermedemontsaintjean.be

Also it would be a very very long walk to Le Caillou from the Waterloo battlefield.

Regards

I would agree with the idea of hiring a car – even for a day – as you can cover virtually the whole area of the campaign quite easily. Save the walking for the immediate area of the battlefield. The Hougoumont restoration might still be a bit stark but it's a massive improvement on the closed-up, abandoned near-wreck of the pre-2015 years.

Without wishing to hijack this thread, I was wondering if there is much to see at Quatre Bras and Genappe? I have been to Waterloo on a few occasions but never had enough time to also visit these.

car hire would be undoubtedly the nest option, but not cheap.

Genappe almost nothing to see. The famous inn, (Auberge au Roy (sic) D'Espagne), inhabited by just about everyone at some stage, is very hard to spot now in a terraced street…..and it is as open to visits as is LHS of course. The bridge is tiny and so small you could cross it without noticing. I just tried to copy some images off Google Earth but cannot.

Quatre Bras of course lost the large farmhouse at the crossroads, which in truth had been shamefully neglected for decades. I always suggest walk on Google Earth to see the remaining buildings, so no unrealistic expectations. Nothing to compare with LHS or Hgmt though. The whole vista is far less spectacular than "Waterloo" (which does much to explain Ney's dilemma…what was he facing?). The Bois de Bossu is gone and the Allied ridge hardly rises above the surrounding rolling ground. The crossroads itself is a modern trading estate at its worst and footpaths are scarce……..otherwise it is……..not great

The one value is to appreciate the distances involved. QBras, Genappe, Waterloo. But, for that, Wavre to Plancenoit on foot is the one to do.

Thanks everyone. I think the plan now is to take ć bus from Brussels to the site. Only have about 2-3 days in Belgium and want to see things in the city as well. Want to at least check out Hougomont while We're there for the day as well as the museums.

The site of the Duchess of Richmond's ball is now a modern office block too, with nothing of interest to see. I guess they can't preserve every last thing.

If the wife is not at all interested (although the new underground museum is really quite nice also for non history buffs) you can leave here a few hours at waterloo town centre, not the most bustling place in the world but stil lquite few shops (my wife likes to shop there), except on sunday of course. Let me know when exactly you are in the waterloo area IF I am free that day i can try and show you a couple of sites (i live 10 miles from the battlefield, used to walk it all the time before marriage and kids) Quatre bras is less than inspiring nowaday's, Genappe is a nice place but the interest for napoleon is marginal.

Thanks for the offer Marcel.

If you chose a hotel in central Brussels then maybe your wife might prefer to stay in Brussels while you are at Waterloo. There are plenty of shops, art galleries and other attractions to occupy her. Tell her to bring flat shoes as there are plenty of cobblestones in Brussels.

Heading there in late April myself, we're staying in Brussels and taking the Train to Braine l'Alleud. Then doing the leisurely walk and starting a walking tour at Hugomont.
😀

It is a hike from the station, but easy walking and pleasant surroundings……very middle class part of town. You do miss the very small older centre, but I doubt much there from 1815.

The train is well worth it though, as so fast, cheap, and Brussels road traffic can be horrendous.

Yeah Deadhead we reckon about a 20 minute walk to Hugomont from the station then my partner and I have planned our own walking route including the major sites about 6.5 kms…I've done the whole thing before by myself but before the new visitor centre so looking forward to seeing that…

I would suggest that the ideal way to visit the battlefield is via bicycle. You go too fast driving a car, and miss some of the monuments which are flat plaques, or very low profile. If you walk, it's just too much ground to cover. But a bike is perfect for covering 4 Bras to Waterloo in detail, I found.