Houffalize Travel Guide

4 more images

Derived from 'Houffalize' and 'Utopia' this is a children's paradise, set up in collaboration with Unicef.
A visit starts with a multimedia spectacle about Universal Children's Rights. Then there are various discovery activities and finally an outdoor playground.

This is also interesting for teachers who develop education programmes.

We had a 4 and 7 course dinner with our package of 2 nights at this hotel. The restaurant is non-smoking.
What did I think of it? Well, so so...
To begin with, the chairs are very hard, despite the thin cushion. It took a while before drinks came and throughout dinner (mind you, 2 long dinners because of the number of courses), no one ever came to ask if we wanted something more to drink. We had to really take trouble to signal a waiter. One of the waiters smelled of sweat, which is highly disagreable.

Favorite Dish: The fish dishes were excellent and so were the desserts. The meat was always too much overdone. So much so that I didn't eat half of my duck breast because it was too hard. Bread was nice, butter came in little tubs, so not the best quality.
The trouble with this chef is that he puts too much fuss on a plate. Tomato here, ratatouille there, some beans, potato croquettes (straight from the supermarket freezer!)... too much fuss and not always good to eat either.

To be honest, this is the first time in Belgium that I did not eat well. Belgian cuisine is excellent and usually food is great value for money. Unfortunately, not this time.
Maybe it's because we chose the Gastronomical package, that our expectations were higher. However, some pub food can be endlessly better than this!

1 more image

Here's a photo of a bus stop and the schedule. The busses are once every hour until 18 hrs. On Saturdays and Sundays the busses do not run.

1 more image

You can buy the famouse Ardennes ham anywhere in the Belgian Ardennes. We bought ours in Houffalize at the butcher across the street from Hotel du Commerce (where we were staying). Most of the hams are about 13-14 euro a kilo. Home-cured, of course!
They'll do well sliced on a crusty bit of dark bread or as a main item in a salad. Or simply with a beer!