Hougoumont

Top choice in Wallonia

LoginSave

This classic fortified farm is around 20 minutes’ walk southwest of the Butte du Lion. Had Napoleon broken through here early in the battle, everything might have turned out very differently. Recently restored to its original appearance, this a peaceful rural spot: it's hard to imagine the desperate struggle of 1815, but a modern exhibition and impressive audiovisual display do their best to evoke it. Entry is included with Memorial 1815, from where free blue shuttle buses run to the farm.

A cottage in the complex houses a cosy apartment decorated in period style, which sleeps four and can be booked for stays of three days or more. Prices drop substantially in low season.

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

  • BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - August 09, 2014: General view of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels, one of the most visited museums in Belgium with its large art collection.; Shutterstock ID 586734455; Your name (First / Last): Daniel Fahey; GL account no.: 65050; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial; Full Product or Project name including edition: Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts POI

    Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts

    11.93 MILES

    This prestigious museum incorporates the Musée d’Art Ancien (ancient art); the Musée d’Art Moderne (modern art), with works by surrealist Paul Delvaux and…

  • The museum of musical instruments "Old England", Brussels, Belgium

    Old England Building

    11.99 MILES

    This 1899 former department store is an art nouveau showpiece with a black facade aswirl with wrought iron and arched windows. The building contains the…

  • Triumphal Arch at Parc du Cinquantenaire in the EU Quarter.

    Parc du Cinquantenaire

    11.72 MILES

    Parc du Cinquantenaire was built during Léopold II's reign. It's best known for its cluster of museums – art, history, military and motor vehicles – which…

  • TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY Laurent Thomet.A picture taken on July 28, 2011 shows stuffed rhinoceros at the Brussels Royal Institute for Natural Sciences Museum. It was a daring daytime robbery at the natural science museum. The two thieves snuck into the rhino gallery and ripped a stuffed head off the wall. They carried it to a restroom, opened a window, and dropped the 30-kilo trophy two-stories down to an accomplice waiting in a van. The museum had never been robbed until the July heist, when it became the latest of a rising number of science museums in Europe targetted by thieves for rhino horns, which can fetch tens of thousands of euros on the black market. AFP PHOTO / GEORGES GOBET (Photo credit should read GEORGES GOBET/AFP/Getty Images)

    Institut des Sciences Naturelles

    11.49 MILES

    Thought-provoking and highly interactive, this museum has far more than the usual selection of stuffed animals. But the undoubted highlight is a unique …

  • Lace making in Bruges, 2014. The intricate lace patterns in Belgium are unmatched in any other country. The lace trade rose during the early Renaissance. Emperor Charles V decreed that lace-making should be a compulsory skill for girls in convents and beguines throughout Flanders. Lace became fashionable on collars and cuffs for both sexes. Trade reached a peak in the 18th century. Lace makers are traditionally women. Hundreds of craftswomen still work in Bruges and Brussels, centres of bobbin lace, creating intricate work by hand, often using over 100 threads per bobbin. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

    Musée Mode & Dentelle

    12.25 MILES

    Lace making has been one of Flanders’ finest crafts since the 16th century. While kloskant (bobbin lace) originated in Bruges, naaldkant (needlepoint lace…

  • Musée Art & Histoire

    Musée Art & Histoire

    11.66 MILES

    This astonishingly rich collection ranges from ancient Egyptian sarcophagi and Meso-American masks to icons to wooden bicycles. Decide what you want to…

  • BELGIUM - AUGUST 11: BELGIUM, BRUSSELS, The Grand Place in Brussels. (Photo by Ulrich Baumgarten via Getty Images)

    Grand Place

    12.31 MILES

    Brussels’ magnificent Grand Place is one of the world’s most unforgettable urban ensembles. Oddly hidden, the enclosed cobblestone square is only revealed…

  • Our Lady of Sablon Church, Brussels, Belgium.

    Église Notre-Dame du Sablon

    11.85 MILES

    The Sablon’s large, flamboyantly Gothic church started life as the 1304 archers’ guild chapel. A century later it had to be massively enlarged to cope…

View more attractions

Nearby Wallonia attractions

1. Butte du Lion

0.7 MILES

Waterloo’s most arresting sight is a steep, grassy cone topped by a massive bronze lion. It commemorates, incredibly, not victory nor the glorious dead…

2. Panorama de la Bataille

0.76 MILES

Included in admission to the Memorial 1815 visitor centre is the charmingly old-fashioned 1912 Panorama de la Bataille, a circular action-packed painting…

3. Memorial 1815

0.76 MILES

Inaugurated for the 2015 bicentenary, this showpiece underground museum and visitor centre at the battlefield gives some detail on the background to…

4. Ferme Brasserie Mont-Saint-Jean

1.27 MILES

This fortified farmhouse was transformed into Wellington's field hospital during the 1815 battle, and was used to treat some 7000 men. A thought-provoking…

5. Dernier Quartier Général de Napoléon

2.05 MILES

The farmhouse complex where Napoleon breakfasted the morning of the battle now forms a small museum, accessible on the combined Memorial 1815 ticket. It’s…

6. Musée Wellington

3.25 MILES

Opposite the church and tourist office on the main road in Waterloo itself, this former inn is where Wellington stayed before the battle. The museum,…

7. De Lambiek

5.55 MILES

This sparkling showpiece attraction is for fans of the Brussels area's trademark gueuze and lambic beers. The De Lambiek visitors centre explains the…

8. Collégiale Ste-Gertrude

5.94 MILES

This 11th-century church was part of one of Europe’s foremost abbeys, founded in 648. It's 102m long with a soaring multilevel western facade topped with…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting: 
    {
  "url": "belgium/waterloo-battlefield/attractions/hougoumont/a/poi-sig/1261209/1325175",
  "destination": "Wallonia",
  "continent": "Europe",
  "country": "Belgium",
  "region": "Wallonia",
  "position": "superzone"
}