Gallo-Roman Museum

Northeast Belgium

LoginSave

Sternly clad in battleship-grey stone, this very spacious modern museum devotes two well-crafted floors to the evolution of human culture then, after a drama-filled seven-minute film about local hero Ambiorix, there's another superb floor dealing with Roman Tongeren.

Thousands of original artefacts are supplemented with interviews, timeline video maps, quizzes and touch boxes for children. It takes around three hours to see everything and read the 160-page book of caption translations, but that's soon to be superseded by audio guides. The basement hosts annually changing exhibitions. There's an excellent cafe too.

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

  • x-default

    Aachener Dom

    27.09 MILES

    It’s impossible to overestimate the significance of Aachen’s magnificent cathedral. The burial place of Charlemagne, it’s where more than 30 German kings…

  • St Servaasbasiliek

    St Servaasbasiliek

    10.75 MILES

    Built above and around the shrine of St Servaas (Servatius), the first bishop of Maastricht, the basilica presents an architectural pastiche whose…

  • Blégny Mine

    Blégny Mine

    13.01 MILES

    For one of the best industrial-experience tours you'll find anywhere, don a hard hat, jump in the cage lift and descend through a pitch-black moment into…

  • La Chocolaterie Darcis

    La Chocolaterie Darcis

    21.34 MILES

    Playing a 21st-century Willy Wonka, one of Belgium’s foremost chocolatiers has turned his modern factory into a superb interactive museum experience. Walk…

  • La Boverie

    La Boverie

    11.7 MILES

    South of Liège's centre, this excellent gallery hosts many high-profile temporary exhibitions but always shows elements of its own fabulous art collection…

  • Onze Lieve Vrouwebasiliek

    Onze Lieve Vrouwebasiliek

    10.96 MILES

    Dominating an intimate cafe-filled square, this millennium-old basilica-church is a fabulous example of Mosan architecture, made 'extra authentic' through…

  • Grand Curtius

    Grand Curtius

    10.59 MILES

    Splendid Grand Curtius unites four disparate museum collections in the former mansion-warehouse of a 16th-century Liège arms dealer. The building's red…

  • Domschatzkammer

    Domschatzkammer

    27.04 MILES

    Aachen's cathedral treasury is a veritable mother lode of gold, silver and jewels. Of particular importance are the silver-and-gold bust of Charlemagne…

View more attractions

Nearby Northeast Belgium attractions

1. TeSeUm

0.05 MILES

Start from the south side of the basilica for this state-of-the-art iPod-led guided tour through the post-Roman history of Tongeren seen through the lens…

2. Onze Lieve Vrouwebasiliek

0.08 MILES

This central church mostly dates from the 14th to 16th centuries, with a finely proportioned stone tower that dominates Tongeren’s neatly cafe-lined Grote…

3. Ambiorix Statue

0.13 MILES

Staring at the basilica from the main square is a muscular, mustachioed statue. This is local hero Ambiorix, a tribal chieftain who led a brief 54 BC…

4. Tongeren Begijnhof

0.18 MILES

Three blocks south and west of Onze Lieve Vrouwebasiliek is a small web of very pretty backstreets that once formed Tongeren’s begijnhof. One furnished…

5. NATO War Command

9.15 MILES

One of the least-known uses of the St Pietersberg quarry tunnels was as a once-top-secret NATO HQ to be used in times of nuclear conflict. The hospital…

6. Fort St Pieter

10.31 MILES

Set within a deep-cut dry moat, this hefty five-sided brick fort once formed the city's southern defence and is linked to a network of underground tunnels…

7. Maastricht Underground

10.31 MILES

Maastricht Underground runs spooky, amusing and fascinating tours into sections of the vast tunnel network beneath St-Pietersberg massif. Departures run…

8. Montagne de Bueren

10.43 MILES

Several tiny medieval passageways burrow beneath the house fronts of Rue Hors Château. Most disappear into picturesque hidden yards, but Montagne de…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting: 
    {
  "url": "belgium/tongeren/attractions/gallo-roman-museum/a/poi-sig/1262220/1325165",
  "destination": "Northeast-Belgium",
  "continent": "Europe",
  "country": "Belgium",
  "region": "Northeast-Belgium",
  "position": "superzone"
}