3 Best Sights in Liège, The Meuse and the Ardennes

This complex houses the merged collections from several former top Liège museums. Some 13,000 pieces from the Musée d’Armes recall the city’s prominence as an arms-manufacturing town beginning in the Middle Ages. Among the many rare and beautifully executed items are a Lefaucheux pinfire revolver and a Velodog hammerless revolver. Exhibits describe the technical aspects of manufacturing as well as engraving and inlaying. The Archaeology and Decorative Arts section holds rare Belgo-Roman and Frankish works, such as Bishop Notger’s Evangelistery, an exquisite 10th-century manuscript of the Gospels. The Glass department exhibits Venetian glass and Val St-Lambert crystal, while a department dedicated to religious art details the evolution of religious art from the early Middle Ages on, both at the regional and global level.

Discover the mystique and mishaps of Liège’s most beloved marionette at this museum in the Outremeuse district. Here you can learn the answers to such burning questions as: How did Tchantchès meet his girlfriend Nanesse? Why did he have to eat an iron shoe to fight the measles at the age of three? Was he really designed by an Italian puppeteer? See Tchantchès in action October through April at the Sunday-morning puppet shows at 10:30, or Wednesday afternoon at 2:30. Note that the museum itself is only open on the days of these performances. There’s no explanatory information available in English.

The world of early humans is on display at this speculative re-creation of prehistoric dwellings. You can get a sense of your ancestors’ technical aptitude while trying your own hand at making pots and polishing stones. The museum is next to the cave of Ramioul, where the lighting system brings out the beauty of the rock formations. Guides explain in English the cave’s animal life and its use by humans. Tours are led April–October on weekends at 2.