La Roche-en-Ardenne

An Ardennes River Town Under A Ruined Medieval Castle, Rebuilt After The Battle Of The Bulge, Now A Base For Kayaking The Ourthe, Hiking And Game Dishes · La Roche-en-Ardenne, Luxembourg Province

La Roche-en-Ardenne is a small river town in a deep bend of the Ourthe, in the Ardennes of Luxembourg Province, French-speaking Wallonia. A ruined medieval castle stands on a rock spur above the roofs, and wooded hills close in on every side, which is why the town has drawn walkers, kayakers and weekenders for more than a century. It also carries a hard history: in the Battle of the Bulge the town was occupied and then very heavily damaged by bombing and shelling before it was liberated in January 1945, and much of what you see was rebuilt afterwards. A Battle of the Bulge museum and a British Achilles tank on a plinth keep that memory in the streets. Today people come to paddle the Ourthe, hike the loops above the valley, climb to the castle and eat Ardennes ham, game and local jams. It suits families, hikers and anyone touring the Ardennes by car. The honest caveat: it is small, the centre is one busy main street, and on summer weekends it is packed with traffic, kayak buses and day-trippers.

The town on the Ourthe below its castle ruin, in the Ardennes of Luxembourg Province, La Roche-en-Ardenne, Luxembourg Province, Belgium

The town itself is open at all times and costs nothing to walk. The castle ruin usually opens daily in summer and on weekends and school holidays in the cooler months, with shorter hours or closure on some winter weekdays - confirm the current schedule, as it can shut in storms or ice. The Battle of the Bulge museum generally opens most days in season and fewer days in winter; check before you go. Kayak rental on the Ourthe runs roughly April to October and depends on water levels. Getting there: a car is by far the easiest, about 1 hour 45 minutes from Brussels and about 1 hour from Liege, with paid car parks by the river that fill on sunny weekends. There is no train station in town; SNCB trains on the Ourthe line reach Melreux-Hotton or Marloie, then a TEC bus or taxi covers the rest - check connections, which are thin at weekends. Book hotels, holiday homes and summer weekend dinners well ahead. Brussels Low Emission Zone rules apply if you drive through the capital on the way.

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