Belgium has lots of nice spots to visit and discover, and what better year to do that in than 2020 (apparently)?! This time round I’m taking you on a tour of Liège (Luik). I’ve been a few times and tried to gather my favourite spots and recommendations below.
How to get there
Train
One of the easiest ways to reach Liège is to take the train to Liège-Guillemins. If you like modern architecture you get an extra bonus, because when arriving by train you can admire exquisite creation that is the train station by architect Santiago Calatrava (finished in 2009).
Liège has multiple train stations. The smaller Liège-Carre and Liège-Saint-Lambert are located more in the centre. However, you usually have to change in Liège-Guillemins to reach them. Liège is quite walkable in my opinion, so you should be fine leaving the train at Liège-Guillemins and starting off your visit there.
Car
For our last trip to Liège we went by car. The motorway there from Brussels is a bit boring I have to say, about one hour drive. We parked up close to Liège-Guillemins at Parking Liège P3 – ALFAPARK as our hotel was just around the corner from there. This offered a safe and secure spot to leave our car for 24h.
Where to stay
The hotel mentioned above was the Univers Hotel Liège. The room was lovely and we felt at ease, especially with it being our first night away after lockdown. The only annoying thing was that they said the parking only cost 10 EUR, but we ended up paying 18 EUR.
What to visit
Parc de la Boverie
When heading into the city centre from Liège-Guillemins you might want to cross the river, for example over the Passerelle La Belle Liègeoise, to have a mooch around the Boverie Parc. We didn’t have the best weather during our visit, but I imagine it’s a lovely spot to chill on sunny days and warm evenings. Or, if the weather isn’t living up to expectations, you can check out what exhibitions are on at the Boverie Museum.
La Cité Mirroir
This one was high on my list but we didn’t make it there before closing time: La Cité Mirroir. A former swimming pool, this is now an arts centre with interesting exhibitions and shows, also housing different non-profits. I know where I’ll be heading first during our next visit!
City centre
There are some cute little corners and quaint streets in the city centre that are worth exploring. Even more so when you turn a corner and come across a majestic building like the one above all of a sudden. It’s a shame there was so much traffic when we passed by.
Montagne de Bueren
The main tourist spot in Liège I think! It’s an extraordinary staircase, made up of 374 steps with a 30% incline. My advice: follow the little dwindling streets around it up and then take the stairs down. Or you can go full steam and run it up like we’ve seen some people do – have your pick 🙂
Impasse de l’Ange
Don’t miss the different cul-de-sacs, lined with small houses traditionally for industrial workers. A little haven of tranquillity, these streets make you feel as if you shouldn’t be there, only allowed to whisper not to disturb the peace.
Wattitude & Restore
I’m not the biggest fan of shopping but I won’t miss out on a little visit to these two shops whenever I’m in Liège! Wattitude sells and promotes products – food, fashion, design – that were all made in Wallonia. They also sell some products by REstore who make great jewellery and design items, and have their own shops as well (also in Brussels).
Where to eat & drink
Darius Café
Darius Café is a cute coffee place right across one of the university buildings. It’s located on a busy street but offers some relief from the day-to-day in its cosy indoor space and even has a few seats outside. Lots of options for (hot) drinks and definitely try their homemade cookies if you can!
Une Gaufrette Saperlipopette
If you didn’t stop for a cookie at Darius Café (like we did) then you might want to please your sweet tooth with one of the renowned Liège waffles! An institution when it comes to these waffles (as you can tell from the queue outside) is Une Gaufrette Saperlipopette. They also have a bakery and ice cream parlour in the same street, so another one to try on my next visit!
Brasserie C
This spot has an ideal location: near the end of that famous staircase, Montagne de Bueren. So reward yourself with a local beer from this microbrewery after the climb! If you’re lucky you might even get to enjoy it on their terrace in the beautiful Impasse des Ursulinnes.
We had dinner at brasserie Au Point de Vue but it wasn’t anything extraordinary, even a bit overpriced for what we got.
Some other places I read about that I would like to try during a next visit are Mio Posto, Le Labo 4, Bruit Qui Court or Le Dernier Ragot.
And those are my recommendations for a day in Liège! Have you been? Any hot spots I’ve missed? Let me know in the comments below!
If you would like to explore other spots in Belgium feel free to check out my posts on:
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Annelies Explores 
Liége looks and sounds great! Great post!
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Thank you!
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Great post about Liege, thanks for sharing the information.
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Thanks!
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