DURBUY - BELGIUM ARDENNES
Prettiest Smallest Historic Town on the Ourthe River
Durbuy
has been a “city” since 1331, dubbed so by John the
first of Luxembourg. For the longest time this trading town on the Ourthe
River in eastern Belgium, at the northwest edge of Luxembourg province
of Wallonia called itself “the smallest town on Earth”.
Granted, it’s a small town, but you can find many smaller ones.
It might better refer to itself as the prettiest small town. Or
perhaps truly, the “luckiest”. While most of the other small
towns in this part of the Belgian Ardennes were heavily damaged in 
WWII,
some almost destroyed, especially during the Battle of the Ardennes at
the end of 1944 (see Battle
of the Bulge WWII Belgium), the medieval town of Durbuy
was mostly untouched. Early on in the occupation of Belgium, the Germans
destroyed
many of the bridges across the rivers, while leaving others intact for
strategic routes. Durbuy’s bridge on the Ourthe was gone by the
time the allies reached Belgium. While other towns suffered devastating
battles for their bridges, Durbuy’s was already down and the town
survived.
Nestled
in a steep canyon of thick trees Durbuy is a striking little journey
back into time with narrow cobblestone streets through buildings
and houses dating from the 16th and 17th Century constructed of the same
light gray stone. Dominated by its story book looking privately owned
castle at the end of the bridge where the Ourthe courses below the steep
cliff of the 'La Falize', the narrow streets of Durbuy and its open town
square are lined with brasseries and restaurants. Durbuy is a very popular 
tourist
destination among Belgians, known for its fine food gastronomy. On
a good weather weekend it can be pretty crowded, with car parking stretching
down the narrow highway and strollers on narrow streets.
For earth's smallest city, Durbuy boasts
27 restaurants, 19 hotels and 16 Bed & Breakfasts from the elegant Le
Sanglier des Ardennes to the Hotel
La Caleche "The Carriage" in the center square,
where horse carriages clop visitors from bar to bistro, is one of Durbuy's
most popular and best reviewed hotels. Across the river from
the
central town
is
the Durbuy
Topiary Park composed
of 250 boxwood trees sculpted into birds, crocodiles, mermaids and deer.
At
the end of the foot bridge to the topiary park in the center of the village
on the main Rue d'Ursel is the brewery restaurant of “La Ferme
au Chene” serving
The Marckloff Beer. Phillippe Marckloff established the second “free” brewery
in Durbuy in 1550 and brewed a beer known for a few hundred years as “La
Marckloff”.
In 1989 the Trine family re-established the brand as a micro-brewery
with
a tasty
rich
amber beer
served in the small historic bistro with a river view terrace. A good
stop if
touring Belgium's many famed small beer purveyors (see Orval
Monastery and Trappist Beer).
Durbuy is about 40 minutes south of Liege. Other sites of interest
near Durbuy are the megalithic era site at the village of Weris,
a little
tourist tram through the woods at Erezee ,
the Golf
of Durbuy greens course where you can whack a ball through
the thick Ardennes trees, the Chateau
de Modave also known as the Castle of the Counts of Marchin, and
the underground caverns Grottes
de Hotton. © Bargain
Travel Europe
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Durbuy
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SEE ALSO:
ROMANTIC
HOTELS OF DURBUY
CASTLE
LA ROCHE - JEWEL OF THE OURTHE
WATERLOO
BATTLEGROUND MUSEUMS
FLANDERS
FIELDS WWI MUSEUMS AND MONUMENTS
UNDISCOVERED
MONS
