Arguably one of the most beautiful regions in Belgium, the Ardennes Mountains are rich with beer culture, scenery, gourmet cuisine, enchanting towns and history. It's where Belgians go on vacation.

There are just so many breweries and attractions in the Ardennes, it’s impossible to visit them all in one tour. By having an evolving itinerary each year, this keeps it interesting for returning travelers, of which there are more and more of each year. The tour typically overnights in the towns of Aubel, Durbuy, Bastogne or Houffalize and Leuven.

The Ardennes Mountains Tour also sets itself apart from the other BBM! tours in that it takes place in mostly the small southeast region of Belgium, which translates into even less time driving and more time doing.

The French-speaking Ardennes region is noted for the famous breweries of Orval, Chimay, Achouffe, Fantome, Rochefort, Val Dieu, Lupulus, Minne, Interpol, Waterloo, Peak, Misery, Elfique, Atrium, Caracole and others.  It is also home dozens of lesser known, but equally as magnificent breweries which produce some of the most eventful beers on the planet. That’s part of the beauty of creating a good beer tour, taking you to the source of some of your favorite beers and introducing you to some new favorites.

Get ready to be amazed!

You’ll also visit the WWII Museum in Bastogne, which chronicles the infamous Battle of the Bulge, which took place in this region. And, as always on BBM! tours, there will be plenty of unstructured time to explore, sightsee, shop, dine, discover beer cafés on your own and enjoy your vacation. Once you experience the beauty and magic of the Ardennes you will appreciate the beers of the region even more through this experience of a lifetime.

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• Eight nights accommodations in nice, friendly, centrally-located hotels often in the old town section of the city and some in bucolic rural settings.

• All breakfasts, two lunches and two dinners with gratuities.

• Beer during brewery tours, taproom visits, festivals and company meals as listed on the itinerary.

• Ground transportation via private luxury coach with professional driver. Leave the driving to us!

• Professional and courteous BBM! guide services.

• All tours and admissions.

• An instant group of interesting and fun, beer-loving friends you haven’t met yet.

• Plenty of unstructured free time to relax, shop and explore on your own.

• Custom BBM! name badges.

• Souvenir BBM! luggage tags

• Flexibility in the event you need to transfer or cancel your tour.

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• Airfare

• Airport transfers.

• Some meals and beer on your own.

• Free-time sightseeing. Our guides are available to provide suggestions.

• Fine Print: You are responsible for the costs of your free-time sightseeing. Be sure to read our Terms & Conditions Agreement for important details.

• Gratuities, at your discretion, for brewery tour guides and coach drivers.

Spring is the perfect time to visit Belgium. Combine this tour with the Lonely Monks Trappist Tour that immediately follows and have a grand multi-week tour of beer paradise.

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Deadline to sign up is one month before departure. 

$3495/per person + Air, $595 single supplement*
* Prices based on double room occupancy.  If you are a solo traveler and would like to have a private room all to yourself there is a single supplement fee of $595 in addition to the base price of $3495 per person. We can also work with you to pair you with other single travelers to avoid the single supplement. Better yet, recruit a friend to come, too! Unless, of course, like Rick Steves says, you prefer to “snore alone.”

2026 Price: $3795/per person + Air, $645 single supplement*

We require a minimum number of travelers for a tour to be confirmed to go, so it’s important to sign up ASAP, as opposed to waiting until the deadline. Also, tours can fill suddenly, so signing up early guarantees your place and avoids disappointment.

Please share BBM! tours with your beer enthusiast friends and encourage them to join the fun!  

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SOME OF THE BREWERIES AND ATTRACTIONS We have visited in the past ON THIS TOUR:

• Achouffe Brewery

• Orval Brewery

• Carcole Brewery

• Brasserie Minne

• Interpol Brewery

• Fantome Farmhouse Brewery

• Trappist Abbey of St. Remy

• du Bocq Brewery

• Bastogne famous WWII museum

• Brasserie De Fagnes

• Chimay Brewery Taproom

• Abbey of Maredsous

• Des Fagnes

• Bouillion

• Lupulus

• Misery Beer Co.

• Niewhuys Brewpub & Museum

• Hoegaarden Brewery Museum

• Ambly Brewery

• Saint-Monon

Ardennes Mountain Beer Tour Itinerary ‘26

Day One • Durbuy   The tour begins at 10 a.m. at Brewery & Hotel Het Anker in Mechelen ( Guido Gezellelaan 49), which makes it a great place to stay in your days before the tour. We board our coach at 10:15 then immediately depart for Castle Brewery Ter Dolen for a tour and lunch with vegetable soup and charcuterie. You may have never heard of this brewery, but I guarantee you will be impressed by their award-winning beers. From there we continue to Wallonia, the French speaking region of Belgium, where we check into 5-star boutique Hotel Sanglier in the extremely charming village of Durbuy. (Lunch #1)

Day Two • Durbuy   Today, you’ll have some free time to explore and really soak in the charming atmosphere of Durbuy with all its shops and cozy restaurants. If the Ourthe River is high enough, optional kayaking can be arranged. So, bring clothing and footwear appropriate for kayaking. This is an easy river to kayak and takes only a couple hours. It’s fun to bring some beer to drink along the way. If we don’t kayak, I’ll lead an optional walking tour at 10 a.m. to show you the view from up on the hill above the town and some points of interest in town. 

Lunch is on your own. Durbuy is a great town to settle on to the terrace of a beer cafe and people watch. There’s also a topiary park to visit.

Next, we visit the eccentric and always fascinating Brasserie Fantome, run by our friend, the very animated Brewmaster Dany Prignon. This is an authentic farmhouse ale brewery with a large cult following. You’ll have a leisurely tasting of the Fantome beers in their rustic taproom. Dany has the distinction of being the only brewer I know, who does not drink beer. Fantome has a huge cult following. To be able to visit here, meet Dany and enjoy his beers is indeed a treat. Dany’s English is very limited. His first language is French. His second language is also French.

Afterward, we’ll transfer to the Misery Beer Co for a tasting only. A young couple dared open this brewery during the pandemic and an old stone manor home and they are doing good things. After the Misery tasting, we’ll return to Durbuy by 6 p.m. for dinner and the evening on your own. It’s Saturday, reservations are recommended.

This evening be sure to plan to visit Tortuga Pirate Bar for rum and beer. This may be the coolest pirate bar you’ve ever seen. The attention to detail and the commitment of the bartenders to dress like real pirates is outstanding! Aaargggh, matey!   Lunch and dinner are on your own today. I recommend a reservation for dinner. (Breakfast)

Day Three • Aubel  Morning is free and lunch is on your own. In the afternoon, we’ll have a tour and tasting at Brasserie Minne. It’s the creation of wife and husband duo Catherine and Phillipe Minne. They are known for their non-traditional Belgian beers, especially their stout. They make a great tripel with cognac added, too. They are always popular at festivals and have a large following. This new and futuristic-looking brewery resembles a wild boar. Be prepared to be delighted with their beers!

Once there, we’ll have a short while to freshen up, then we’ll head the cozy Moeder de Gans Teuven Restaurant, (Mother Goose) in nearby Voeren, for dinner. Voeren and the small region around it is an unusual anomaly of Flanders, surrounded by Wallonia and the Netherlands. They speak Dutch here.  (Breakfast & Dinner #1) 

Day Four • Aubel Morning is free to have a leisurely breakfast, go for a hike and just sleep in.  Late morning we tour the Cistercian Abbey of Val Dieu the tour the brewery, followed by a tasting.

Lunch will follow in the taproom of the abbey. We’ll also visit their nice gift shop to stock up on beer and local cider. Note, while this is a Cistercian abbey, this is not a Trappist abbey, thus does not make Trappist beer. Trappists are a strict observance of the Cistercian order. This is also not an active abbey and there are no monks, but mass is held in the beautiful church, which you’ll see. 

After lunch we’ll head to the Ardennes American Cemetery. “The Ardennes American Cemetery is the final resting place for 5,162 Americans, with 65 percent of those being fallen airmen of the U.S. Army Air Forces. Their headstones are aligned in straight rows that compose the form of a Greek cross. Along the outside of the memorial, inscribed on granite slabs, are the names of 463 of the missing, whose remains were never recovered. The façade on the far (north) end that overlooks the burial area bears the insignia, in mosaic, of the major U.S. units that operated in northwest Europe in World War II.” 

This cemetery is unique among all ABMC cemeteries as it served as the central identification point for the entire European Theater of Operations from the last days of the war until 1960.”-American Battle Monuments Commission.

You’ll walk away with a greater understanding and appreciation for the Battle of the Bulge, aka, the Battle of the Ardennes. Bring a handkerchief and be prepared to be moved.

Then switching gears to something lighter, we’ll next visit an old WWII Belgian bunker with a view of the valley, where we’ll have a bottle share. 

This evening, we’ll have a company dinner at Taverne Hacienda. (Breakfast & Dinner #2) 

Day Five • Bastogne  After breakfast at your leisure, we visit my old friend, Francois De Harenne, at his Ardennes Mountain Chateau de Froidcour (castle). This is a rare opportunity to meet a legend in the Belgian beer world and tour his chateau. Francois was the director of public relations and marketing for Trappist Orval for 28 years. He retired in 2018 and we have continued to be friends. As part of the visit, we’ll share some beer with Francois on his terrace. More on Francois, his wife Astrid and his chateau on the tour.

Afterward, we continue on to Trappist Orval for a late lunch at the cafe of Guardian Angel Taproom located just two blocks from the Abbey.  We will have the famous Orvaliflette, which is potatoes, ham and pasta covered with melted Orval cheese with a salad. You’ll also have time to visit the Orval gift shop. 

After lunch, we’ll tour the ruins of the old abbey and the Brewery Museum, where it is virtually like walking through the brewery itself. If the timing is right, we may be able to witness the monks in one of their daily prayer sessions. It is indeed a religious experience.

Afterward, we depart forBastogne, where we’ll be staying for two nights  . Dinner is on your own in Bastogne in one of many inviting restaurants.  (Breakfast & Lunch #2)

 Day Six • Bastogne  This morning we visit the Bastogne War Museum, where you’ll learn more about WWII, the Battle of the Ardennes, and the American involvement in it. You’ll also visit the Battle of the Bulge Monument next to the Museum. 

Afterward, we’ll visit Jack’s Wood. Here you will see what remains of authentic fox holes from the Battle of the Bulge. That they still exist is mind boggling.

Next,  we’ll head to the taproom of Brewery Lupulus for lunch on your own. Time permitting, Brewmaster Tim Gobron will speak to the group and do a short meet and greet. This brewery makes some really nice beers and has a great backstory.

Then, we visit the taproom of Brewery Achouffe for a tasting of their famous beer. We will not be taking a tour here, but you will visit the Chouffe Shop, where you can buy all kinds of gnome emblazoned swag. Time permitting, we’ll do a short hike (about 35 minutes mostly downhill to Achouffe).

From there we continue on to the bucolic Ardennes farming village of Mont, where we have a special visit to Brasserie Inter-Pol for a tasting. Brewmaster Pol Ghekuiri likes to say he has the “smallest brewery in Belgium” and it may be, but his beers are big and delicious. He makes a variety of beers, but his two most popular ones are Zwarte Pol (Milk Stout) and Witte Pol (Wit Ale). Pol was a friend of the late Pierre Celis of Brewery Hoegaarden and later Celis Brewery in Austin, Texas. You’ll taste his influence in Pol’s wit beer. Pol and his wife,  Tine, are the former owners of the famous La Vieille Forge B&B and Aux Grand Cafe next door.

Afterward, we’ll return for our final night in Bastogne. The evening is free to explore the beer cafes of Bastogne. (Breakfast)

Day Seven • Leuven This morning we visit the picturesque riverfront village of Dinant.. This is the hometown of Adolpho Sax, the inventor of the trumpet. Just kidding, the saxophone, thus all the giant fiberglass saxophones around town.

Next, we continue on to the taproom and cafe of the Benedictine Abbey of Maredsous, where you’ll have lunch on your own. You may order a flight of their four beers. You’ll see the historic abbey, visit the gift shop and to be able to experience their line of Maredsous beers in their nice beer garden surrounded by the gentle nature of the Molignée River Valley. In recent years, they installed a small pilot brewery and they brew some seasonal beers, which are only available at the Abbey, so we have this in which to look forward. Brewmaster Hedwig Neven, is the former master brewer of Duvel, where he developed several of their flagship beers. Time permitting, he will speak with the group.

Next, we transfer to see the famous Lion’s Mound at the Battlefield of Waterloo from 1830, which looks very similar to how it did then. 

Then, we visit the nearby Brasserie/Distillery Waterloo for a tasting and to visit the gift shop. Master distiller, Edwin Martin will meet with the group to give you an explanation of the history of the property and the Martins Beverage group.

Then, it’s on to De Kroon Bistro for dinner on your own. The Bistro is the taproom for the famous Brewery De Kroon, brewers of the magnificent Delvaux special blond beer and several others. The company buys the beer.

After dinner, we travel about 15 minutes to Leuven and our stylish hotel, located adjacent to the railway station and downtown Leuven, a very appealing historic university city. Evening is on your own in Leuven. Domus brewpub, established in 1985, is about 15 minutes by foot from our hotel and one of the oldest modern brewpubs in Belgium. It’s a good choice for Flemish cuisine in a traditional atmosphere.

You’ll enjoy this great university city and its many beer cafés, including the “longest bar in Europe,” which is what they call the 30 plus establishments around the Oude Markt (Old Market square).  (Breakfast)

Day Eight • Leuven  We’re on foot today for this final full day of the tour. This is mostly a free day, which will be welcomed as up until this point, we’ve been running a pretty full schedule. There is an optional short walking tour at 11 a.m. of downtown Leuven. Meet in the lobby. Lunch is on your own, then at 2:30 p.m. we meet at one of my favorite places in Leuven, Cafe Commerce for a company farewell beer as we share our favorite moments from the tour and say our goodbyes to our new-found friends.

The rest of the afternoon and evening  is free in Leuven. There’s lots of shopping possibilities in this university town on a Friday when everything is open. It’s also a great town just to sit on a terrace and people watch. Also, consider climbing the tower of the university library. Dinner is on your own. With it being Friday evening, the town should be vibrant. It’s the perfect, beautiful, walkable, Belgian city in which to wrap the tour.

Day Nine• Leuven  Our grand Ardennes Mountains Beer Tour officially ends with breakfast. You may catch the train from Leuven 10 minutes to the Brussels Airport and just about anywhere in Europe.  (Breakfast)

* This itinerary is subject to change.

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