Beer is one of the few indulgences monks are permitted, and thus one of the reasons they know how to brew special beers so incredibly well. On this very ambitious tour we will visit five Trappist abbeys that brew beer and sample their beers. While the theme of this tour will be Trappist ales, you will experience many other styles, too.

The designation of “Trappist” is a legal one and encompasses a range of styles rather than a single distinct one. The five Trappist breweries in Belgium are Westvleteren, Chimay, Rochefort, Orval and Westmalle. Other breweries we will visit include de Halve Maan, Bourgogne des Flandres, and Huyghe or Van Steenberge. You’ll experience the four corners of Belgium as we traverse the country to visit these abbeys, from the bucolic farmlands of West Flanders to the pristine Ardennes Mountains of Wallonia, to the beautiful countryside of the northern Limburg Province. As with all our tours, fine cuisine, inviting hotels, camaraderie will be front-and-center, along with sightseeing, shopping and plenty of free time to unwind, explore and discover the beauty of Belgium.

* 2025 marked our final visits to former-Trappist Achel, which lost its Trappist designation in 2021 and Trappist Zundert, which sadly closed in Sept. 2025, and Trappist La Trappe, which was, unfortunately, no longer able to meet our minimum standards for a visit. These have all been replaced by other equal or better events.

Note, most of the abbey interiors are typically cloistered and off limits to visitors. Many of the Trappist breweries are also off limits to the public, but BBM! does have a few connections that may make visiting some places generally not accessible to the public available to us. What we will do is experience the terroir and see at least the exteriors of the Trappist abbeys and breweries, and get to visit the official and unofficial brewery taps to sample the beers fresh from the brewery. 

Plans call for overnights in Gent, Bruges, Bastogne, Bilzen (& Hasselt) and Mechelen. (see map below)

Plan now to be part of this once-in-a-lifetime tour!

• Nine 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 and five lunches 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.

• 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.

Any time of year is the perfect time to visit Belgium.

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The deadline to sign up is one month before departure. Twenty six travelers, maximum.

• 2026 price is $4395/per person + Air, $745 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 $745 in addition to the base price of $4395 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.”

We require a minimum number of guests for each tour to be guaranteed to go, so it’s important to sign up ASAP, as opposed to waiting until the deadline. Also, tours can fill rapidly and suddenly, so signing up early ensures that you will go and not be disappointed.

• 2027 price is $TBD/per person + Air, $745 single supplement*

Please share  BBM! tours with fellow Belgian beer enthusiasts, your friends in general, and encourage them to join the fun! 

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This tour begins in the lobby of our hotel in Gent and ends at our hotel in Mechelen. We plan to visit many brewery locations, and or taprooms, featuring prominently the seven Trappist ones: Westvleteren, Chimay, Rochefort, Orval and Westmalle. Other breweries we visit are  Van Steenberge, de Halve Maan, Bourgogne des Flanders, Brasserie Millevertan, Het Anker and the Jenever Museum in Hasselt. Other highlights will include, Gent, Bruges, Bastogne, Hasselt and Durbuy.

Included are all brewery visits, hotels, canal boat tour, ground transportation, all breakfasts, some snacks, five lunches. Beer is included during group meals and brewery tours, but not informal pub crawls or café visits. The tour does not include airfare or airport transfers. 

Day One • Gent   This incredible tour begins in the afternoon in Gent as we meet at 2 p.m. in the lobby of the historic Hotel Monesterium PoortAckere, tastefully built in a former monastery and very fitting for this tour. We’ll do a short walking tour of Gent to give you the lay of the land, then our Welcome Bottle Share, which will be a great opportunity to get to know each other and showcase beers from your region.

Evening and dinner are on your own. Gent has plenty of inviting restaurants. Indulge! 

Day Two • Gent   Morning is free to explore or just sleep in.  At 10 a.m., we’ll meet to visit Brewery Huyghe, brewers of Delirium Tremens, Averbode, La Guillotine and other popular brands. We’ll plan to have a picnic lunch at the brewery with our beer tasting. The rest of the afternoon is free to explore Gent. Dinner is on your own. This evening you have free time to visit some of the many interesting and cozy beer cafes of Gent.  (Breakfast)

Day Three • Bruges   After breakfast we check out, and board our coach to Waregem to visit the Flanders Field American Cemetery and Museum. Here we’ll learn about WWI and the brave soldiers, who helped liberate Belgium. From there, we head to the home of the coveted and revered Trappist Westvleteren beer (near the village of Westvleteren) the Abbey of St. Sixtus and its brewery tap, “In de Vrede” (In the Peace), for lunch and to indulge in their famous, exquisite and rare beers. The Abbey and brewery are not open to the general public, however, we will be able to see the exterior and if we are lucky buy some beer to go in their gift shop. Then we continue on to Bruges .  There, we will spend two nights at our centrally located hotel. You’ll have the afternoon to explore the cobblestoned streets of Bruges. You are on your own for dinner and to visit some of the most interesting beer cafés in the city. (Breakfast & Lunch)

Day Four • Bruges   Morning is free, and then we meet at 10 a.m. in the lobby for a short walking tour followed by a tour and lunch at 11 a.m. at De Halve Maan Brewery & Museum. They are the brewers of Zot and Straffe Hendrik. After lunch, we will take a canal boat ride and learn more about the history of Bruges.

This afternoon you have some more free time to take in the many sites of Bruges, rent a bike, take a carriage ride, visit museums, or just people watch, while savoring a Belgian beer in a sidewalk café.  Tonight, dinner is on your own in one of Bruges many romantic and rustic restaurants.  Your guide is available for dinner suggestions.   (Breakfast & lunch)

Day 5 • Bastogne  We depart Bruges to go to Chimay for a tour of the Abbey of Notre-Dame de Scourmont grounds and the cemetery.  Just around the corner from the Abbey is Chimay brewery tap Auberge de Poteaupre, where we will have an Abbey cheese and Chimay beer tasting. Next we visit Rochefort to see the exterior of the Abbey of Notre-Dame de Saint-Rémy and visit the chapel. From there we drive to Bastogne, where we will stay for the next two nights in the center of town in the heart of the Ardennes Mountains. Dinner is on your own in Bastogne (Breakfast) 

Day 6 • Bastogne  Today is a big day as we head through the Ardennes Mountains to Trappist Orval for a guided tour of the modern Abbey, the Brewery Museum, the abbey ruins and the new abbey. After lunch at the brewery tap l’Ange Gardien (Guardian Angel), located just a block from the abbey, we’ll walk down to the pond, see the famous Orval swans and the exterior of the chateau. You’ll also have time to visit the Orval gift shop. Afterward, we’ll visit the small craft brewery of Brasserie Millevertus, which will surprise and delight. As an option, you may opt out of the brewery visits of today and you may visit on your own, the Bastogne WWII Museum. As a side note, this museum is included in the Ardennes Mountain Beer Tour. (Breakfast & lunch)

Day 7 • Hasselt, Belgium.  We head north to the charming Ardennes Mountain town of Durbuy for lunch. Afterward, we continue to Hasselt, for one evening, where we stay in the center of the city. This afternoon, we’ll visit the famous Jenever Museum, where you will partake in this ancient distilled spirit, often compared to gin, but it’s not. It’s better! It comes in different flavors ranging from the basic Oud Jenever to fruit flavors, vanilla, mint and chocolate. There’s a flavor for everyone. Get ready to get to know the world of jenever, where everyone leaves happy! (Breakfast)

Day 8 • Mechelen, Belgium   This morning, we depart Hasselt and head to visit the Trappist Abbey of  Westmalle abd the brewery taproom Café Trappisten, where we will have a leisurely company lunch. You’ll experience all the Westmalle beers as fresh to the source as possible. They also have a great short film about Westmalle, narrated by a guy, who puts James Earl Jones to shame. Listen for my favorite line in it, “At Westmalle, time is a reluctant servant...”  Across the street, we will see the beautiful exterior of the Abbey and its spectacular tree-lined driveway. Then it's on to Mechelen, where we’ll be staying at the Hotel Brewery Het Anker right at the Het Anker Brewery. The hotel is built in the former bottling plant. The rest of the day is free to discover Mechelen, have dinner on your own and visit the city's many beer cafes.  (Breakfast & Lunch)

Day 9  • Mechelen, Belgium  Mechelen is the perfect city in which to spend our last nights.  It is an attractive, but much more intimate, historic city than Brussels.  At 11 a.m., we’ll meet in the lobby for a short walking tour to get you acclimated, followed by our Farewell Bottle Share, then you will have most of today to explore it on your own. I suggest packing a couple cold beers and climbing to the top of the belfry. From the modern observation deck, the view is outstanding and on a clear day you can see both Antwerp and Brussels. You may opt out of the walking tour this morning and take a tour of the brewery on your own with a guide. Dinner is on your own before you pack to prepare to depart tomorrow. (Breakfast )

Day 10 • Mechelen, Belgium  Breakfast concludes this most memorable and satisfying Lonely Monks Trappist Tour. Rail, taxi and Uber service between Mechelen and the Brussels Airport (BRU) is frequent and takes about 20 min. (Breakfast)

* Itinerary subject to change.

We’ve been producing this tour since 2008 and through the years it has evolved to the epic tour it is today. We’ve got this tour down to provide you the best travel experience possible. Below is a fun video from the 2014 archives. Enjoy it! Stu

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