Getting Here & Around

Getting Here & Around

By Bus

From train stations in Liège, Verviers, Eupen, Trois-Ponts, and Namur there is bus service to other cities in the Ardennes. By far, bus travel is not the easiest way to get around. Buses depart infrequently, and connecting usually involves long waits. The national bus company TEC (Transports En Commun) serves the Ardennes region. In the major cities, TEC buses also provide local service.

In Liège, buses serve the downtown area, along the main boulevards, from the Coeur Historique to the train station. The main bus stations are on place St-Lambert, rue Léopold, place de la République Française, and at the Guillemins train station. Bus stops are clearly marked with a yellow TEC sign, and tickets can be purchased on the bus, in TEC kiosks, or in stations. Service maps are free. A single trip on a bus in the inner city costs EUR 1.30 (two zones), and eight-trip cards sell for EUR 6.30.

By Car

The most convenient way of getting around the Meuse valley and the Liège region is by car, especially since public transportation services are scant. The E411 highway cuts through the region. Elsewhere, you travel chiefly on pleasant, two-lane roads through lovely scenery. Getting lost on the back roads of Wallonia is a true pleasure.

In the Meuse valley, Rochefort is close to the E411 highway, which links Brussels with Luxembourg and runs south and east. Namur is close to the intersection of the E411 with the E42, which links Liège with Charleroi, Mons, and Paris, as well as with Tournai, Lille, and Calais. To get to Tongeren from Brussels take the E40 to Exit 29 for the N69.

Liège is almost halfway to Cologne from Brussels on the E40. The city is also linked with Paris by the E42, which merges with E19 from Brussels near Mons; with Antwerp by the E313; and with Maastricht and the Dutch highway system by E25, which continues south to join the E411 to Luxembourg.

If you want to rent a car, most car-rental agencies in Liège and Namur are open weekdays and Saturday morning. In Liège, the majority of agencies have offices either on boulevard de la Saveniée or boulevard d'Avroy. In Namur there are agencies on avenue des Combattants and avenue de Luxembourg.

By Train

Two NMBS/SNCB trains an hour link Brussels with Namur (one hour from Brussels' Gare du Midi, 50 minutes from the Gare du Nord). They connect with a local service to Dinant (25 minutes).

Two trains run every hour from Brussels to Liège's Gare des Guillemins (one hour by express train from Brussels Nord, one hour and 10 minutes from Brussels Midi; local trains are 10 minutes slower). Thalys high-speed trains cut 15 minutes off travel time from Brussels Midi. All express trains from Ostend to Cologne stop at Liège, as do international trains from Copenhagen and Hamburg to Paris.

Direct trains run hourly to Tongeren. There are local train services from Liège via Verviers to Eupen, and to Trois-Ponts (near Stavelot). The high-speed TGV train runs from points in France and Germany to Liège.