C-mine Genk: Former Coal Mine, Tickets and What to See

C-mine is the former Winterslag colliery in Genk, rebuilt as a culture and design site, and walking onto it costs nothing. The one paid attraction is C-mine expeditie, the underground route through the old galleries, at €14 (about $15, £12) for adults and free for children under 4. It sits at C-mine 10, 3600 Genk, in Belgian Limburg.

I stopped here on the way home from two days in Maasmechelen, having shopped at Maasmechelen Village, hiked in Connecterra and walked round the old miners’ neighbourhood, and it is worth the detour even if you never go underground. Part of the site has been renovated into offices, an arts school and a cinema; part has been restored as mining heritage. It works the same way as be-MINE in Beringen, the other big Limburg colliery conversion.

What is C-mine Genk?

C-mine is a cultural and creative site built into the buildings of the Winterslag coal mine, which produced coal from 1914 until 1988. The site holds a cultural programme of concerts, theatre, talks and exhibitions, the C-mine expeditie heritage route, a design studio, an arts school campus, business space, a cinema and several restaurants, all inside the original industrial buildings.

Genk bought the site in 2001, after the mine had stood empty for over a decade. The name C-mine, with the C standing for creativity, was adopted in 2005, and the renovation of the historic buildings ran through to 2010 under the Belgian architecture practice 51N4E. The site opened to the public in 2010.

Entry to the site itself is free. You can walk in, look at the buildings, use the square and eat or drink without buying anything, which is why it works as a stop rather than a day out if that is all the time you have. The paid parts are C-mine expeditie, the cinema and whatever is on in the cultural programme.

Where is C-mine Genk?

C-mine stands at C-mine 10, 3600 Genk, in the Winterslag district that grew up around the colliery in the early 1900s. Its coordinates are 50.9826° N, 5.4905° E, which puts it about 2 km (1.2 mi) south of the centre of Genk in the province of Limburg, near the Dutch and German borders.

Hasselt is the nearest city at 15 km (9.3 mi), and Brussels is 87 km (54 mi) to the south-west. Maastricht and Liège are both close enough for a day trip, so C-mine fits into a wider route through south-eastern Belgium rather than needing a trip of its own.

Note the address. Older listings give Evence Coppéelaan 91, which is the historic street address of the colliery site. C-mine’s own address is now C-mine 10, and that is what to give a satnav or a taxi.

What is the history of C-mine and Winterslag?

Coal was found under Genk in 1901, and Winterslag was the first of the city’s three collieries to open, in 1914. Winterslag ran for 74 years and was the backbone of the local economy for most of them, drawing workers in from across Europe and later from Turkey and Morocco, into the purpose-built mining districts that still shape the city.

Seams thinned from the 1960s, and the mine closed in 1988 along with the rest of the Limburg coalfield. The buildings stood empty through the 1990s while the LRM, the Limburg reconversion company, held the land.

The city of Genk acquired the Winterslag site in 2001 and set out to make it a centre for art, design and the creative industries rather than a museum alone. Renovation ran from 2005 to 2010, the name C-mine was chosen in 2005, and the main buildings opened in 2010.

What is there to do at C-mine Genk?

Six things at C-mine are open to visitors in 2026, and they are listed below. Check the site’s own pages before travelling for anything specific, because several tenants have changed since C-mine opened.

1. C-mine expeditie. C-mine expeditie is the 1.5 km underground route through the old galleries, starting in the Energiegebouw six metres below ground. It runs through story tunnels using animation, holograms and virtual reality, an interactive sound cabin, a build-your-own mine landscape and a labyrinth, and takes 1 to 1.5 hours at your own pace. Tickets and the current route are at c-mine.be/expeditie.
2. The cultural programme. C-mine programmes music, theatre, dance, circus, comedy, film, talks and exhibitions across more than 30 spaces in seven buildings. What used to run under its own name as CC Genk is now published on c-mine.be with the rest of the site’s calendar.
3. The Labyrint. The Labyrint is the steel maze on the C-mine square by Gijs Van Vaerenbergh, the art and architecture duo behind the see-through church at Borgloon. It is free, it is outdoors, and you do have to find your own way out.
4. Studio Pieter Stockmans. Studio Pieter Stockmans is the hard-porcelain design studio at C-mine 100 bus 2, with a shop of over 1,000 m² and the exhibition ‘Het Archief’. It has worked to small unique collections since 1987, made the Memorial Van Damme trophy and the plate for the princely wedding in Monaco, and opens Wednesday to Saturday from 11am to 5pm, with Monday and Tuesday by appointment.
5. Pathé Genk. The cinema on the site is now Pathé Genk, not Euroscoop. Pathé bought the Euroscoop chain in 2019 and rebranded the Genk cinema in November 2024 as its first in Flanders, so the Euroscoop name, website and phone number that older guides give no longer reach it.
6. LUCA School of Arts and ‘t Speelmijntje. LUCA School of Arts runs a C-mine campus teaching bachelor’s and master’s degrees in audiovisual and visual arts and in product design, at luca-arts.be. ‘t Speelmijntje is the indoor playground for children aged 1 to 12, with a cafeteria attached so the adults can sit down.

For eating, the site’s own Eten & drinken page is the reliable list, because the restaurants change more often than anything else here. Bistro Bels closed at the end of May 2025, the Italian restaurant Norma now trades at C-mine 1, Wok Plaza does a wok buffet with starters and desserts, and Ciné Città is the simple Italian near the cinema.

Mining heritage beyond C-mine is handled by ECRU, the regional heritage cell that was previously called Erfgoedcel Mijn-Erfgoed. The old name and the old web address no longer apply.

What are the opening hours of C-mine Genk?

C-mine’s visitor reception opens Monday from 1pm to 5pm and Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 5pm. C-mine expeditie is closed on Mondays, except when the Monday is a public holiday, when it opens from 1pm to 5pm. It also closes on 1 August, and closes early on 24 and 31 December.

Other tenants keep their own hours. Studio Pieter Stockmans opens Wednesday to Saturday 11am to 5pm and takes appointments on Monday and Tuesday; the cinema runs to its film schedule; the cultural programme runs to whatever is booked. Check the individual venue rather than assuming the site’s hours cover it.

How much does C-mine Genk cost?

Walking onto C-mine is free, and C-mine expeditie is the ticket most visitors buy. The 2026 rates are listed below.

1. Adults: €14 (about $15, £12).
2. Young people aged 19 to 25: €11 (about $12, £9).
3. Children aged 4 to 18: €6 (about $6.50, £5). Children under 4 go free.
4. Adults living in Genk: €7 (about $7.60, £6); children from Genk aged 4 to 18: €3 (about $3.20, £2.60).
5. Museum pass holders: free. C-mine pas holders pay €11, and EU Disability Card holders pay €5 for ages 4 to 18 and €11 from 19.

Groups of 10 or more pay €11 a head without a guide, €6 for school and youth groups aged 4 to 18 and €8 for 19 to 25. A Dutch-speaking guide costs €80 for up to 15 people and a German, English or French guide €90. The family games “Waar is Cyriel de Krekel?” for over-6s and “Stempel mee met Cyriel de Krekel” for 3 to 6 year olds cost €5 each on top of the entry ticket, and are bought at the visitor reception rather than online.

How long does a visit to C-mine Genk take?

C-mine expeditie itself takes 1 to 1.5 hours at a normal pace, and a visit to the whole site runs from two hours to a full day. Two hours covers the expedition and a walk round the square and the buildings. Half a day takes in the studio, an exhibition and lunch as well, and a full day only makes sense if you are also going to a performance or a film.

There is no limit on how long you can stay. The site is public space and the outdoor parts, including the square and the Labyrint, have no closing time of their own.

Give yourself extra if you want the terril. The old slag heap next to the site is a short walk away and climbing it gives you the view over Genk and the surrounding country, which costs nothing and is the thing I would not skip.

How do you get to C-mine Genk?

Take the train to Genk station and then bus 1 towards Waterschei, which stops directly at C-mine, or drive and use the free parking on site. Genk is the terminus of the line from Hasselt, and it is connected onward to Hasselt, Maastricht and Liège. Check Belgian rail times and fares on Omio if you are combining Genk with another Limburg or Maas valley stop.

By car, leave the E314 at Genk-Zuid and follow the signs for Bokrijk and C-mine. Parking on the site is free and there is plenty of it, which is unusual enough in Belgium to be worth saying. Studio Pieter Stockmans suggests parking 3 for its own visitors.

Staying overnight makes sense if you are pairing C-mine with Bokrijk, Labiomista or the Maasmechelen side of the province, since all of them are separate half-days. Compare hotels in Genk before a summer weekend, when the Limburg cycling network fills the area.

What should you know before visiting C-mine Genk?

Three things about C-mine expeditie are worth knowing before you buy a ticket, and none of them appears in most write-ups of the site.

Access is limited. C-mine expeditie is only partly accessible to people who have trouble walking, wheelchair users and pushchairs. Wheelchair users must contact the visitor reception before buying a ticket so the lift can be reserved, no more than two wheelchair users can go through with a group, and electric wheelchairs and mobility scooters cannot be taken on the route at all. A Flemish Sign Language tour is available for deaf and hard-of-hearing visitors through visit@genk.be.

There are light flashes and VR. One pentagonal tunnel on the route uses flashing light that can trigger a seizure in people sensitive to it, and the experience uses virtual reality headsets. Anyone affected by either should say so at the reception before going in.

The galleries are damp. In wet weather the tunnels hold moisture, so C-mine itself advises suitable clothing and shoes. Children under 12 have to be accompanied by an adult on the headframe platform when it is open.

Is C-mine Genk worth a visit?

C-mine is worth a stop, and worth a half-day if the underground route interests you. What makes it different from an ordinary industrial museum is that the buildings are still in use: students, businesses, a cinema audience and a theatre audience are all on the site while you are looking at the machinery, so it reads as a working place rather than a preserved one. It is one of the more unusual things to do in Belgium for that reason.

The reservation is that it is not one attraction. It is a site with a dozen tenants, several of which have changed in the last two years, and turning up without checking what is open on the day is how people end up disappointed. Food and drink prices on the square are on the high side for Limburg.

Go for the expedition, the square, the Labyrint and the terril, and treat everything else as a bonus if it happens to be open.

WonderfulWanderings Pro Tips

The 5 tips below come from my own stop at C-mine on the way back from Maasmechelen and from re-checking every tenant and price against C-mine’s own pages in 2026. Three of them describe things that have changed since most guides to this site were written.

1. The headframe climb is closed, so do not plan around the view from the top. Both headframes are being restored through 2026, and from September 2026 the climb up the 62 m tower is not possible at all. C-mine has installed 360° VR viewers so you can see the view from ground level instead. The famous “climb the tower, or stop halfway if you are afraid of heights” description of this site no longer applies.
2. Climb the terril instead. The old slag heap beside the site is free, always open and gives you the same kind of view over Genk and the flat country around it. It was the part of my own visit I would repeat, and it takes about half an hour there and back.
3. Bring a museum pass if you have one. The Belgian museum pass gets you into C-mine expeditie free, including on a group visit with or without a guide, against a €14 adult ticket at the desk. Book the slot online and show the pass at the C-mine counter.
4. The cinema is Pathé now, not Euroscoop. Pathé took over Euroscoop in 2019 and rebranded the Genk cinema in November 2024, making it the first Pathé in Flanders. The old Euroscoop website for Genk returns an error and the old phone number is no longer the one to ring.
5. Check the restaurants on the day. C-mine’s food tenants turn over faster than anything else on the site: Bistro Bels shut at the end of May 2025 with no immediate successor, and the Italian restaurant Norma now trades at C-mine 1. The site’s own Eten & drinken page is the only list that keeps up.

About the author. This guide is written and maintained by the Wonderful Wanderings editorial team. Wonderful Wanderings was founded in 2012 by Sofie Couwenbergh, and the first-hand notes on C-mine and Maasmechelen come from the trip she made through Belgian Limburg. The team has covered Belgium for independent travellers ever since, including its mining heritage sites, museums, hotels and rail routes, and updates this page when tenants, prices and opening hours change.