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Best Things to Do in Dinant, Belgium (+Tips for Your Visit)

Best Things to Do in Dinant, Belgium (+Tips for Your Visit)

Are you thinking of visiting Dinant in the French-speaking part of Belgium and wondering if it’s worth it or what there is to see and do in Dinant? This article should answer all your questions about visiting Dinant.

Dinant is one of the most beautiful little towns in Belgium. It’s charming, beautifully located, and full of history. It’s also very compact and you can easily see pretty much everything that the town has to offer in 3-4 hours.

This makes a perfect day trip from Luxembourg or from Brussels. In fact, there are tours from Brussels that visit Dinant and Luxembourg in a day (see here).

So if you are wondering if Dinant is worth visiting, my answer is yes, absolutely! It’s a local’s favorite and a great place for those looking to explore Belgium deeper and beyond the most popular tourist cities in Flanders.

Below, you can find our suggestions for the best things to do in Dinant. Take a look!

Dinant colorful bridge of saxophones
Kids exploring the saxophone bridge
 

Here are the best places to see and things to do in Dinant:

Citadel of Dinant

We arrived in Dinant in the morning and headed straight to the parking of the Citadel. It’s on the hill, outside the city center, it’s easily accessible and there is plenty of free parking space available.

There is a military cemetery here, which was the first thing our kids wanted to see. Here you’ll also find a playground and an old military plane.

Old military plane at the Citadel of Dinant in Belgium
Old military plane at the Citadel of Dinant
 

We bought the all-in tickets which included the Citadel visit, a round-trip ticket for a cable car to the city centre and back, and a 45-min boat cruise on the river. It cost 14 EUR for an adult and 10 for a child.

Dinant citadel cable car and boat cruise ticket prices
Dinant citadel all-in ticket prices
 

You can only visit a small part of the Citadel privately, so we quickly joined the guided tour which was just leaving when we arrived.

To tell you the truth, we don’t really like organized tours and try to avoid them whenever we can, especially when traveling with kids. But we really enjoyed the guided tour of the Citadel of Dinant!

Dinant Citadel interior - bedroom for soldiers
Dinant Citadel interior – soldiers’ bedroom
 

Our tour guide, an older gentleman, was exceptionally good. Not only did he speak perfect French, Dutch and English, he also managed to keep everyone interested and did a great job getting the kids involved too.

Dinant areal view from the Citadel
View over the town of Dinant from the Citadel
 

We learned some history of the place, saw the rooms soldiers used to sleep in, the kitchen where they had to cook food for 400 people… The kids loved seeing all those old-fashioned guns and the canons and we were all impressed with the canon ‘bullets’ – the smallest one weighs 8kg!

Just try to imagine bullets like that flying around the valley at a huge speed…

Dinant Citadel cannons and bullets
The cannon bullets are very impressive
Visiting Dinant with kids
View over Dinant from the Citadel
 

Some expositions were somewhat unsuitable for young children, but ours didn’t seem to care much about it, we just tried not to linger by the guillotine longer than necessary..

Dinant Citadel guillotine room
Guillotine
 

There were two rooms in the Citadel that left the biggest impression on us.

The first one was the room with a replica of WWI trenches. We were walking through the trenches in the dark while we could hear loud explosions and the sound of shooting bullets all around us. Very impressive!

WWI trenches in the Citadel of Dinant Belgium
WWI trenches replica
 

The second was a  sloping room, a reconstruction of a bunker that has been hit by a bomb and it’s an amazing sensation to walk through it!

A bit of sloping floor you’d think, so what? Lots of paths and floors slope, but I’ve never experienced something like this! Gripping the walls we shuffled sideways, afraid of losing our balance, stumbling or falling in the water.

I watched the kids laugh when they tried to get out of the room at the same time trying to figure out what was going on with my body. My head was spinning as I finally reached the end of the room and could finally get a gasp of fresh air and feel a stable straight surface under my feet. The whole experience took no longer than 10 – 20 seconds, but I don’t think we’ll ever forget it!

You can find more practical information for visiting the Dinant Citadel on the official website.

Kids walking through a sloping room inside the Citadel of Dinant
Kids walking through a sloping room
 

Dinant Cable Car (or the 408-step Staircase)

After our visit to the Citadel, we took a cable car to the town center that’s located by the river below.

You can also take the stairs if you are in need of a challenge. We gladly skipped them – all 408 stairs – and used the cable car both ways. It takes less than a minute!

Staircase leading to the Citadel of Dinant
Staircase to the Citadel
 

The Cathedral of Dinant

The 13th-century Gothic Collegiate Church of Our Lady is definitely worth a short visit. It’s located very close to the cable car entrance and the staircase to the Citadel.

City of Dinant in Belgium
The Church is located closet to the cable car entrance next to the stairs to the Citadel
 

The House of Adolphe Sax, the inventor of the saxophone

In Dinant, you can also visit the house of Adolphe Sax who invented the saxophone.

The house is easy to find on the main street, to the right after you exit the church. The entrance is free of charge, and there is only a very small exposition inside. It won’t take you longer than 5 minutes.

House of Sax in Dinant interior
Original drawings for a saxophone patent application
 

Dinant Bridge of Saxophones

Ok, this bridge is not really a bridge of saxophones. It’s actually called Pont Charles de Gaulle, but there are many colorful saxophones on the bridge, so we call it that way. 

Our kids loved this bridge with colorful saxophones and flags from different countries. They were running from one saxophone to another reading the country names and looking at their colorful designs. It definitely adds a lot of color to the little town center.

Pont Charles de Gaulle or the saxophone bridge in Dinant Belgium
Pont Charles de Gaulle or the saxophone bridge
 

Dinant Boat Cruise on the Meuse River

There are several options when considering a boat trip in Dinant. First and the most popular one is the 45-minute river cruise to Ansereme that is included in the all-in ticket with a visit of the Citadel.

There is another company running river cruises. They have the same tours to Ansereme as well, but they also offer a longer – 2 hour – tour that leaves at 2.30 PM and goes all the way to the castle of Freÿr, another tour of 3 hours and possibilities for private tours as well.

If you like to explore the area from the water individually, you can also rent a small electric boat.

Steep rocks near Dinant in the Belgian Ardennes
View from the river cruise
 

As already said, we opted for the all-in ticket and thus took a 45-min scenic cruise. It’s a rather big boat with all amenities and you can easily take a stroller on board.

We sat outside on the roof deck, but the stank of the engines was really bad when going in one direction. I guess it has to do with the wind and there is really no way to avoid it, but it ruined the whole experience for me.

It was nice to see the area around Dinant from the water and the kids liked being on the boat too. Was it not for the smell, it would have been much more enjoyable.

Boats on the Meuse River near Dinant in Belgium
Boats on the Meuse River
 

More things to see and do in Dinant

If you are looking for something else to do in Dinant, you could consider visiting the nearby caves of Dinant – Grotte la Merveilleuse.

These stalactites and stalagmites caves are located very close to the town center and can easily be visited on the same day as the rest of Dinant. Ask for some information and a discount voucher at the ticket office of the Citadel of Dinant! You can find practical information and opening times on their website.

We ended our day in Dinant at the playground of the Citadel and headed to Durbuy instead. Durbuy is said to be the smallest city in the world and is also worth a short visit. It looks like it’s close by, but it’s almost 1 hour drive time from Dinant. It’s a nice place to go to for dinner too or to stay for a couple of nights when exploring the Belgian Ardennes.

TIP: If you are in this area, you may also want to visit the beautiful town of Bastogne, mostly known for the Bastogne War Museum.

Playground at Citadel of Dinant
We ended our visit in Dinant at the playground at the Citadel
 

How to get to Dinant

The easiest way to get to Dinant is by car (100km, 1h20) or with an organized tour from Brussels. There is also a direct train from Brussels-Luxembourg train station to Dinant; it runs every hour and takes 1h25.

Where to eat in Dinant

There are many restaurants in the town center of Dinant and two on top of the hill, one at the playground of the Citadel, and one at the parking. We had lunch at an Italian restaurant by the river and it was ok (not great), but really touristic. They all are. If you are looking for good food, you may need to look a bit further away, further from the main tourist route.

Dinant Cake

A visit to Dinant wouldn’t be complete without tasting the Couque de Dinant – Cake of Dinant. It’s an extremely hard, sweet biscuit that comes in all shapes and forms and can be bought at any bakery in town. Our kids chose a car-shaped cookie each and a week later we were still eating it. It’s so hard that it lasts a very long time. Let’s just say you get some value for your money.

Kids eating cake of DinantKids eating cake of Dinant
Waiting for a boat and eating the cake of Dinant
 

More travel tips for Belgium:

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Visit Dinant in the Belgian Ardennes with kids
 

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Tatiana

Tuesday 12th of December 2023

Thanks for sharing! We will surely visit Dinant, when we are visiting the area at the end of the month. :)

Jurga

Saturday 16th of December 2023

Happy to help. Have a great trip!

Daniela

Saturday 22nd of May 2021

Thank you so much for all this very useful information!

Jurga

Wednesday 26th of May 2021

Glad you found this useful, Daniela. Enjoy your time in Dinant! If you're looking for other nice places to see in that area, check out Namur and also the tiny 'city' of Durbuy.

Adaobi

Wednesday 12th of October 2016

Hey Jurga-- your blog is a gem!!! I happened upon it as I am planning a 17th wedding anniversary getaway with 4 kids...and I'm never leaving :) We share your love of travel and in fact travel to a location neither of us has been to every year on our wedding anniversary. This year we're doing something a little different and taking the kids on a short getaway rather than a weeklong adventure. This October it's a weekend in Antwerp by train! Any recommendations for a day's trip??

Jurga

Wednesday 12th of October 2016

Hi Adaobi and thanks a lot for your kinds words; really appreciate it! What a nice tradition to travel to a new place on your wedding anniversary every year! Antwerp is a great choice and I'm sure you'll find plenty to see and do for a weekend. I have two posts about Antwerp, not sure if you read those already: Best of Antwerp in 1 day and Antwerp with kids: off-the-beaten-path. I have many suggestions in those posts and also a map with a recommended walk. So you could use it in your planning. Depending on how much time you have, there are also many nice museums that you can visit in Antwerp. If the weather is not so good, you might want to check Aquatopia (aquarium) - it's fun for young and old and it's inside ;). I suggest you read those posts and let me know if you have any questions! Have a nice time in Antwerp!

melbtravel

Monday 12th of September 2016

This place looks amazing and I am definitely adding it to my bucketlist. I really need to explore Belgium more next year.

Jurga

Monday 12th of September 2016

Belgium has a lot to offer - you'll love it here!

Frank Halsted

Wednesday 24th of August 2016

Another summer day in Belgium, another adorable town nestled in the hills along a river with a castle to visit. Thankfully those are not things that we really ever get sick of, we discovered when we dove into exploring Bouillon the other weekend.

Jurga

Friday 26th of August 2016

Thanks for your comment, Frank. Indeed there are many adorable little towns in Belgium. Bouillon is really nice as well! Were it not for its' remote location, I think it would attract many more visitors.

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