Orval Abbey
A Working Trappist Abbey Beside The Ruins Of Its Medieval Predecessor, With The Fountain Of The Orval Trout Legend; The Ruins And Museum Are Open, The Brewery Is Not · Villers-devant-Orval, Luxembourg Province
Orval Abbey, the Abbaye Notre-Dame d'Orval, is a working Trappist monastery in the green hills of the Gaume, in the far south of Belgium near the French border. Monks have lived in this valley since the late 11th century; the medieval abbey was burned in 1793 during the French Revolution and left in ruins, and a new abbey was built beside the ruins between the 1920s and 1940s, paid for in part by the brewery founded in 1931. Visitors come for the Gothic ruins, the small museum, the medicinal herb garden, the fountain where Countess Mathilde is said to have lost her ring and seen a trout bring it back - which gave the valley its name, the golden valley - and, of course, for Orval beer, one of the world's best-known Trappist beers. The honest caveat: the brewery and the monks' own buildings are closed to visitors, except on very rare open days; you can see the ruins and taste the beer nearby, but you cannot tour the brewery, and the Gaume is remote without a car.
Abbaye d'Orval, Villers-devant-Orval, Florenville, near the French border in the Gaume, Villers-devant-Orval, Luxembourg Province, Belgium
The ruins, the museum and the herb garden are usually open every day of the year, roughly 9.30 am to 6 or 6.30 pm from spring to early autumn, and shorter, roughly 10.30 am to 5.30 pm, in winter, with last entry about 30 minutes before closing; some public holidays may change the hours - check the current schedule. The brewery is not open to visitors except on rare open days announced by the abbey. The new abbey church is open for prayer and services, but the monastery itself is enclosed. The abbey shop sells beer, cheese and books. Getting there: SNCB/NMBS trains run to Florenville, and from there a local TEC bus, rare and slow, or a taxi covers the last 8 or so kilometres; a car is far easier. By road Orval is about 1 hour from Luxembourg city, about 45 minutes from Arlon or Bouillon, and about 2.5 hours from Brussels. Nothing needs booking for a normal visit; retreats are booked with the guesthouse.