The Trappist abbey trail: Chimay and Orval
Chimay and Orval in one day: abbeys, a museum and a tasting at the inn. You taste, your driver drives and stows your cases of beer. Quotes on request.
The Trappist abbey trail: Chimay and Orval
You taste, your driver drives: on the trail of Wallonia's Trappist beers, this simple rule changes everything. Nobody has to draw straws to decide who stays sober, and nobody has to work out how much more they can drink before getting back on the motorway. The day links two Cistercian abbeys roughly an hour and a half apart by road, Scourmont near Chimay and Orval on the edge of the Gaume, and each stop ends at a table serving the monks' beer and cheese. The driver does not drink; you taste at your own pace, with a glass of water close at hand.
At Scourmont, on the Forges plateau, the monks let visitors wander freely around their church, garden and cemetery, provided they respect the calm of the place; the brewery, however, is not open to visitors, and the abbey offers neither tastings nor sales. To learn how the beer and cheese are made, head a few hundred metres down the road to the Espace Chimay in Bourlers. The interactive Chimay Experience ends with a Chimay on draught served at the Auberge de Poteaupré, which is also a restaurant and a shop selling regional produce.
In the afternoon, Orval offers an entirely different setting. The ruins of the twelfth-century Cistercian abbey, the museum laid out in eighteenth-century cellars, the old pharmacy with its garden of medicinal plants and the Mathilde fountain, linked to the legend of the place, take about two hours; here too, the brewery remains closed to the public. Close by, the À l'Ange Gardien inn serves Orval Vert, a lighter draught version that you can only drink there. Your purchases go in the boot, and on the journey home, which takes a little over two hours, everyone can doze in peace.
A typical day
- 01Departure at about 08:30 via Charleroi: just under two hours to the Scourmont plateau.
- 02A stop at Notre-Dame de Scourmont Abbey: the monks' church, garden and cemetery, visited in silence.
- 03The Chimay Experience in Bourlers, then lunch at the Auberge de Poteaupré, where the cooking gives pride of place to the abbey's cheese.
- 04An hour and a half's drive south-east to Villers-devant-Orval.
- 05A self-guided visit to the Orval site: the ruins, the cellar museum, the old pharmacy and the medicinal plant garden, then a stop at the shop for beer and cheese.
- 06Orval Vert at the Ange Gardien in the late afternoon, then the drive back to Brussels, arriving in the evening.
- A driver who does not touch a drop, from the first stop to the last kilometre
- Space set aside in the boot for the cases of beer and cheeses bought along the way
- The drive between the two abbeys handled from start to finish, with no route to plan
- Order of the stops reversible depending on the season and opening times
Planning your day trip
Can we visit the Chimay and Orval breweries?+
No, neither is open to the public. The Chimay Experience in Bourlers explains how the beer and cheese are made through an interactive trail, and the rooms at the Orval site trace the history of the abbey and its monks. As for Rochefort, Wallonia's third Trappist brewery, it fits more naturally into a day around the Caves of Han, which we offer separately.
What is Orval Vert?+
It is Orval served on draught, lower in alcohol than the bottled version (about 4.5% compared with 6.2%), and found only at the À l'Ange Gardien inn next to the abbey. The inn has its closing days and an annual winter break: we check its calendar before setting the date. If it is closed, the abbey shop sells Orval beer and cheese to take away.
How many cases can we bring back?+
It all depends on the vehicle. An Economic, Green or Business sedan takes the equivalent of two suitcases; the Van takes six, for up to seven passengers, and the Van Business five, with its lounge-style layout, more pleasant for the journey home. In your quote request, tell us how many of you there will be and how much you plan to buy: a few cases of bottles soon take up as much room as a suitcase.
When is it best to avoid the abbey trail?+
In the depths of winter. The Espace Chimay and the Orval inn close for a while around the festive season or at the start of the year, and opening hours are shorter from November to February, sometimes with an extra closing day during the week. The Orval site itself stays open all year round. Spring and autumn offer the best balance: longer opening hours, quiet roads and the Gaume forests in full colour.
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