35 Castles in Belgium: Which Ones You Can Visit

Belgium has roughly 3,000 castles, and of the 35 in this guide 14 let you inside, 7 open only their park or gardens, 3 take overnight guests and 11 can be seen from the outside alone. Access is the thing to plan around, because many of the country’s most photographed castles are lived-in family homes, and two that older guides still list as museums have since closed their doors.

That figure of about 3,000 counts châteaux-fermes, citadels, manors and palaces alongside medieval fortresses, which is how inventories such as Eupedia’s provincial list reach it. VisitWallonia puts it more carefully: Belgium has one of the highest densities of castles per square kilometre in the world. Nobody keeps an official register, so treat the number as an order of magnitude rather than a count.

The 35 castles at a glance

The 35 Belgian castles in this guide are listed below, with the province each one stands in and what a visitor can see.

Castles you can go inside

Fourteen of the 35 castles sell tickets to their interiors, and they are the ones to build a trip around. Each entry below gives the opening pattern that applies now, because several of these castles open for a season rather than a year.

1. Gaasbeek Castle, Lennik

Gaasbeek Castle opens its interior, museum garden and park from 1 April to 15 November, closed on Mondays. The fortress went up around 1240 to hold the Duchy of Brabant’s western edge against the County of Flanders, and what you see now is largely the romantic neo-Gothic rebuilding of the late 19th century, complete with the rooms of its last inhabitant, the Marquise Arconati Visconti, who left the estate to the Belgian State when she died in 1923. A restoration lasting just under three years finished recently, so the interiors are freshly opened rather than tired.

Tickets are €12 (about $14, £10) for the castle, €7 (about $8, £6) for the museum garden and €15 (about $17, £13) for both, with under-18s free. The park is free and open daily from sunrise to sunset. Bus 142 from Brussels-Zuid/Midi runs to Gaasbeek, and Castle of Gaasbeek sits about 10 km (6.2 mi) southwest of the capital, which makes it the easiest castle day out from Brussels.

2. Gravensteen, Ghent

Gravensteen is open every day from 10am to 6pm, with last admission at 4.40pm. Count Philip of Alsace built the stone keep and curtain wall you climb today in 1180, on a site fortified since the 9th century, and the counts of Flanders moved out in the 14th century. The castle then served as a courthouse, a prison and a mint before a cotton mill took it over in the 19th century and preservationists rescued it from demolition in the 1890s.

Adults pay €15 (about $17, £13), students under 26 pay €7.50, under-19s pay €3 and under-12s go free. The audio tour comes in two versions, a comic one recorded with Wouter Deprez and a straighter one called The Big Five. Gravensteen Castle stands in the middle of Ghent, a 20-minute walk from the station tram stop, and the ramparts give the widest view over the old city.

3. Alden Biesen, Bilzen

Alden Biesen lets you walk the grounds for nothing and charges only for the castle and its museum. The moated complex was the headquarters of the Teutonic Order in the Low Countries, built between the 16th and 18th centuries on an 11th-century commandery, and it was restored after a fire in the 1970s. The DOMUS museum, opened in the castle, tells the order’s story and is included in the Museumpass.

The estate hosts concerts, storytelling festivals and summer guided tours through the year, so the events calendar is worth checking before you fix a date. Bilzen station is a short walk or taxi ride away, and there is parking on the estate.

4. Château de Beloeil, Hainaut

Château de Beloeil opens at weekends and on public holidays from April to September, and daily in July and August. The Princes de Ligne have held Beloeil since 1394, and the medieval fortress with its four corner towers was rebuilt as a French-style palace in the 17th and 18th centuries, then repaired again after a fire in 1900. Its library of about 20,000 books is the room people remember.

Adults pay €12 (about $14, £10), seniors and students €11 and children €6. The formal gardens run to 25 hectares (62 acres) and were first laid out in 1664. Mons lies about 30 km (18.6 mi) away, and Beloeil has its own station on the Mons line.

5. Château de Modave, Liège

Château de Modave opens from 1 April to 15 November, 10am to 6pm, with the last tickets sold at 4.45pm and Mondays closed except on public holidays and throughout July and August. The castle sits on a rock 60 m (197 ft) above the Hoyoux valley, and Count Jean-Gaspard-Ferdinand de Marchin rebuilt the medieval fortress as a Baroque country house in the late 17th century.

Its claim on European history is hydraulic. The water wheel that Rennequin Sualem built here was the prototype for the Machine de Marly, the vast pumping system that lifted water from the Seine to supply the fountains of Versailles. Adults pay €9.50 (about $11, £8), over-60s €8 and students €5, with accompanied under-12s free and free parking on site. Huy is 13 km (8.1 mi) away.

6. Château de Vêves, Celles

Château de Vêves can be visited only on a guided tour, and it is worth arranging one. The pentagonal castle with its six towers went up around 1410 on a rock above the valley, was remodelled during the Renaissance and again under Louis XV, and has stayed with the Beaufort family for centuries. Walloon voters picked it as their favourite piece of built heritage.

Parking at the castle is free, and Dinant station is about 15 minutes away by taxi. Children can be dressed as knights or princesses for the tour, which is the reason many Belgian families come. Pair it with Dinant and the Lesse valley for a full day.

7. Montaigle Castle, Falaën

Montaigle opens from 1 April to 31 October, Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm, with Mondays closed except on public holidays, and at weekends in March, November and December. The fortress was rebuilt in the 14th century on a rocky spur between the Molignée and Flavion valleys, over a late-Roman fortification, and the army of Henry II of France destroyed it in 1554. Nobody has lived in it since.

What survives is walls, the outline of rooms, a courtyard, a well and cellars, plus a small archaeological museum showing cannonballs, tools, pottery and coins dug from the site. Namur is about 23 km (14.3 mi) north. Parking is limited, so arrive early on summer weekends.

8. La Roche-en-Ardenne Castle, Luxembourg province

La Roche-en-Ardenne Castle is a ticketed ruin in the middle of the town, and it puts on costumed shows rather than leaving you to read panels. Stone fortifications first went up here in the 9th century on an older settlement, and the castle grew through five centuries until it was abandoned. The walls and towers still stand high enough to climb for a view over the bend in the Ourthe.

The programme runs to guided visits, a treasure hunt for children and a ghost show built around the legend of Berthe, plus a medieval weekend and a Halloween season. The castle is on Rue du Vieux Château, straight up from the main street, and the town is the obvious base for walking in the Ardennes.

9. Bornem Castle, Antwerp province

Bornem Castle, properly the Kasteel Marnix de Sainte-Aldegonde, opens from 15 April to 1 November, with afternoon visits from 1.30pm to 5pm. Hendrik Beyaert built the present house in the late 19th century on the site of a 16th-century manor, itself raised over a fortification that guarded the Oude Schelde against Viking raids. The Marnix de Sainte-Aldegonde family still owns it.

Adults pay €10 (about $12, £9) and 6- to 18-year-olds €5, which covers the castle and the carriage museum in the outbuildings. Groups can book a guided tour of at least an hour and a half. Bornem station is a short walk from the gates, 18 km (11.2 mi) from Antwerp.

10. Wissekerke Castle, Bazel

Wissekerke Castle opens Wednesday to Sunday, 1pm to 5pm, and the audio guide is included in the ticket. Individual entry is €8 (about $9, £7), concessions €5 and under-12s free. The castle carries an Empire-style interior from the 19th century, when the Vilain XIIII family lived here, and its museum now runs under that name.

Its rarest feature stands outside. The wrought-iron suspension bridge across the pond, designed by the Brussels engineer Jean-Baptiste Vifquain and built in 1824, is the oldest surviving bridge of its kind in Europe, and the park around it is open at all times whether or not the castle is. Kruibeke sits roughly 15 km (9.3 mi) from Antwerp.

11. Ooidonk Castle, Deinze

Ooidonk Castle can be seen only on a guided tour, because the family still lives in it. Tours run from 1 April to 1 November on Sundays and public holidays at 2.15pm and 4pm, and also on Saturdays in July and August, and they have to be booked by phone or email. Adults pay €15 (about $17, £13) and under-12s €4.

The gardens keep their own hours and their own cheaper ticket at €4, opening from Tuesday afternoon through Sunday, 10am to 5.30pm in summer and 11am to 5pm from November to March. The Hispano-Flemish Renaissance house with its onion domes was rebuilt in 1595 by the merchant Maarten della Faille after the religious wars levelled its predecessor. Ghent is 15 km (9.3 mi) away.

12. Laarne Castle, East Flanders

Laarne Castle opens on selected days in timed slots, so book before you drive out. The heritage organisation Herita runs it now, and the round towers and square donjon date from the 13th and 14th centuries, making this one of the most complete moated castles in the country. Adults pay €12 (about $14, £10), 19- to 25-year-olds €9 and 3- to 18-year-olds €6.

The visit covers the knights’ hall, the chapel and the d’Allemagne silver collection, and it does not skip the darker history: six witch trials were held here in the early 1600s and four people were burned. Laarne is 10 km (6.2 mi) east of Ghent, and there is a restaurant in the outbuildings.

13. Rumbeke Castle, Roeselare

Rumbeke Castle opens its interior on booked guided tours, while the Sterrebos estate around it is free and open. Built from 1538, it is one of the oldest Renaissance castles in Belgium, and it picked up neoclassical features in the 18th century when the surrounding Sterrebos was laid out. German forces took it over during the First World War.

The estate covers 27 hectares (67 acres) of woodland and stays open when the castle is not. Roeselare station is about 5 km (3.1 mi) away with buses to Rumbeke, which makes the castle a straightforward stop on a drive between Bruges and the Lys valley.

14. Château de Waroux, Ans

Château de Waroux opens as a cultural centre, which means the interior is accessible when an exhibition or event is running rather than on fixed museum hours. Exhibition weeks typically run Tuesday to Sunday in the afternoon. The castle went up around 1300 during the feud between the Awans and Waroux families, and its curved plan, flint and limestone outside and brick within, is unusual among Belgian castles.

The municipality of Ans bought it in 2005 and it is listed as an Exceptional Heritage Site of Wallonia. Liège is about 9 km (5.6 mi) away and Ans station is the nearest rail stop, so this one works as a half-day out from Liège rather than a destination in itself.

Castles where the park or the garden is the visit

Seven of these castles keep their front doors shut and open their grounds instead, and in several cases the grounds are the better half. Two of them open for a few weeks a year only, so the date matters more than the opening hour.

15. Groot-Bijgaarden Castle, Dilbeek

Groot-Bijgaarden Castle opens its private park for one flower show a year and stays closed the rest of the time. Floralia Brussels runs from 3 April to 3 May 2026, its 23rd edition, and the gardeners plant more than a million bulbs for it. The castle itself, with its 14th-century gatehouse and a 30 m (98 ft) keep begun around 1347, is not open at all.

Raymond Pelgrims de Bigard bought the derelict castle in 1902 and spent 30 years restoring it, and Louis Fuchs laid out the 14 hectares (35 acres) of gardens in the early 20th century. Brussels is 7 km (4.3 mi) away, about 20 minutes by train.

16. Annevoie Castle, Anhée

The gardens at Annevoie are open from 28 March to 11 November 2026, seven days a week, and the castle is not open at all. Charles-Alexis de Montpellier laid out the water gardens in the 18th century, and their fountains, cascades and ponds still run on gravity and spring water alone, without a single pump. The family has held the estate for more than 300 years.

Take the Brussels to Dinant line to Godinne and walk 20 minutes, or the TEC bus 21 between Namur and Maredsous, which stops at the gardens. A brasserie on site handles lunch, and the mill in the grounds sleeps guests.

17. Solvay Castle, La Hulpe

The Solvay estate at La Hulpe is open free every day, and the castle interior is not part of the visit. The Flemish neo-Renaissance house was built in 1842 for the Marquis Maximilien de Béthune, bought by Ernest Solvay later that century and handed to the Walloon region in the 1960s, and it is now classified as an Exceptional Heritage Site.

What you can go inside is the Fondation Folon, the museum of Jean-Michel Folon’s work installed in the estate’s farm buildings, open Tuesday to Friday 9am to 5pm and 10am to 6pm at weekends and on public holidays, closed Mondays. The 220 hectares (544 acres) of parkland, lake and beech woods sit about 20 km (12.4 mi) south of Brussels, and TEC bus 366 stops at the gates.

18. Poeke Castle, Aalter

The park at Poeke is open daily from sunrise to sunset and costs nothing, while the castle interior can be seen only on a tour arranged through Toerisme Vlaanderen. The 56-hectare (138-acre) wooded estate holds French and English gardens, stables, a coach house, a kennel with its own bread oven and a farm, all around a pink-fronted castle rebuilt between 1743 and 1752 and remodelled in the 1870s.

The municipality bought the estate in 1977 and Toerisme Vlaanderen has owned it since the summer of 2021. A free guided nature walk runs on the first Sunday of every month from April to November. Ghent is about 15 km (9.3 mi) away.

19. Castle of Beervelde, Lochristi

Beervelde opens its park twice a year for the Garden Days and closes the castle to visitors altogether. The spring edition runs in May and the Garden Festival takes place on 9, 10 and 11 October 2026, drawing around 240 exhibitors to a 25-hectare (62-acre) estate that the de Kerchove de Denterghem family has held since the 19th century.

Outside those weekends there is nothing to see beyond the gates, so this is a date-led visit rather than a spontaneous one. Lochristi lies about 15 km (9.3 mi) from Ghent, and the organisers run parking on the estate.

20. Castle Ter Elst, Duffel

Castle Ter Elst is a free ruin on an island in a public park, open whenever the park is. The abbey of Tongerlo owned it from 1356 until the French Revolution and turned it into an estate grand enough to receive Margaret of York. Fire took part of it in 1584, the revolutionaries pillaged it, the First World War damaged it further, and the town bought and partly consolidated the remains in the 1970s.

Walking paths circle the islet and its moat, which makes this an easy stop rather than a day out. Duffel station is in the town, on the Antwerp to Mechelen line.

21. Castle of Zellaer, Bonheiden

The grounds at Zellaer are open to walkers and the interior opens only for occasional guided visits, which have to be reserved. The neo-Gothic castle was built between 1885 and 1892 on the site of a medieval water castle, using stone from demolished fortifications at Vilvoorde, and it now works mainly as an events venue. The town of Bonheiden took part ownership of the grounds in 2017.

The 18.5-hectare (46-acre) estate keeps a pond, a canal and tree-lined lanes, and there is parking at the gate. Mechelen is about 10 km (6.2 mi) away, with local buses to Bonheiden.

Castles you can sleep in or spend the day at

Three of these castles sell you a night or a day rather than a ticket, and they are the only ones on the list where the interior comes with a bathrobe or a dinner reservation.

22. Boetfort Castle, Melsbroek

Boetfort Castle is now a spa and hotel, and the way inside is to book a treatment or a room. The painter Jacques Hanibal built it around 1587, the Brussels councillor Hendrik Madoets bought and enlarged it in 1594, and the present building dates from about 1610. The towers, brickwork and interior details survived the conversion.

The spa runs from 10.30am to 11pm at Sellaerstraat 42 in Melsbroek, with saunas, pools and treatment rooms in the former stables and outbuildings. Two things catch visitors out: everyone must show a physical identity card to get in, and the address is 8 km (5 mi) from Brussels Airport rather than in the city. Our full account of a day at Thermae Boetfort covers what the day actually involves.

23. Manoir de Lébioles, Spa

Manoir de Lébioles takes guests as a hotel with 16 rooms and suites, a restaurant and a wellness area. The diplomat Georges Neyt had it built between 1905 and 1910 above Creppe, and it earned the nickname “little Versailles of the Ardennes”. After the hotel business failed in the early 2000s the house was vandalised, and new owners put it back together over 14 months of restoration in 2006, repairing chimneys, staircases, floors and the original windows.

Spa is less than 10 minutes away by car, and the hills around it are walking and cycling country. Book directly with the manor, since it does not sell rooms as day tickets and there is nothing to see without a reservation.

24. Castle ten Berghe, Bruges

Castle ten Berghe takes overnight guests as a bed and breakfast about 3 km (1.9 mi) outside Bruges, at Vieringstraat 311. The manor recorded here in 1267 was destroyed in 1490, rebuilt soon after and remodelled in neo-Gothic style in the late 19th century, and the moat, stone staircases, carved woodwork and hearths came through the conversion.

The castle keeps no website of its own and sells rooms only through booking platforms, and it has closed and reopened before, so confirm it is taking bookings for your dates before you plan a trip around it. For alternatives on the same side of the city, our guide to hotels in Bruges covers the places to sleep inside the ring canal.

Castles you can only see from the outside

Eleven of these castles are private homes, working institutions or building sites, and photographing them from a lane or a river bank is the whole visit. Two of them were open to the public within recent memory and are not any more, which is the single most common way a castle trip goes wrong.

25. Horst Castle, Holsbeek

Horst Castle is closed while a full restoration runs, and only the brasserie and the grounds stay open. The picturesque water castle first appears in writing in 1434, though many guides date it to the 13th century, and its 15th-century square keep and the 17th-century stucco ceilings added by Maria-Anna van den Tympel are what the works are protecting.

Brasserie Wagenhuys serves through the building period, and a restoration tour of the site runs on the fourth Sunday of most months. The car park in front of the castle is partly a works entrance, so use the one further along Horststraat. Leuven is about 10 km (6.2 mi) away.

26. Wijnendale Castle, Torhout

Wijnendale Castle no longer runs its museum and its estate is no longer freely accessible, which contradicts most of what is written about it online. The castle is the private property of Jérôme Matthieu de Wynendaele, who guides groups of 40 or more around the domain and the interior at €15 (about $17, £13) a head; smaller groups are charged the 40-person minimum.

The history is worth knowing even from the gate. Robert I of Flanders built here in the 11th century, Mary of Burgundy died in 1482 after falling from her horse in the woods nearby, French troops wrecked it in 1811, and the banker Josse-Pierre Matthieu rebuilt it between 1837 and 1852. Torhout is 3 km (1.9 mi) east.

27. Cleydael Castle, Aartselaar

Cleydael Castle is a private residence standing inside a golf estate, so the view comes from the fairways rather than the courtyard. The 14th-century moated castle keeps a square plan, a drawbridge and four corner towers, known as the Fox, Owl, Cat and Chapel towers, the last of which holds a chapel with a star-vaulted ceiling. The Struisbeek feeds the moat, and Aartselaar sits about 10 km (6.2 mi) south of Antwerp, which makes this a short detour rather than a trip.

28. Borrekens Castle, Vorselaar

Borrekens Castle is a private home, though the surrounding park and trails give a clear view of the moat and the fortified entrance towers. Members of the Van Rotselaar family, stewards of the dukes of Brabant, built the white sandstone water castle in the late 13th century beside the trade road from Antwerp to Cologne. The Proosts rebuilt it in Renaissance style in the 17th century, the van de Werve family gave it its neo-Gothic look in the 19th, and the De Borrekens family has owned it since 1898. Vorselaar is in the Kempen, east of Antwerp, and the village has public parking.

29. Castle of Meldert, Flemish Brabant

The Castle of Meldert cannot be visited because a school occupies it. The Aalmoezeniers van de Arbeid congregation bought the neo-Gothic castle, built around 1845, in 1957 and opened Sint-Janscollege on the grounds, and a full renovation ran from 2016 to 2020 after the building was listed in 1993. What you can see from the village is the main block with its tower, two residential wings and an orangery of 1867 that now serves as a chapel, which makes it a stop for photographers and nobody else.

30. Walzin Castle, Dinant

Walzin Castle is private, and the view that people come for is from below rather than from the gate. The Gothic Revival castle stands on a limestone cliff above the Lesse, on a site fortified since the 11th century, and the restoration of 1930 to 1932 gave it the silhouette that appears on half the postcards in the province. Kayaks and sightseeing boats on the Lesse pass directly beneath it, the walking trails along the river give the same view for free, and Dinant is the practical base.

31. Carondelet Castle, Crupet

Carondelet Castle is a private fortified donjon in the middle of Crupet, and visitors are welcome to walk the grounds but not to go in. The limestone tower dates from the 13th century, the Carondelet family added the stair tower, an extra floor and Renaissance windows after 1510, and a stone bridge still crosses the moat to the gatehouse, which kept a drawbridge until the 18th century. Crupet is about 15 km (9.3 mi) from Namur and sits on several Condroz walking routes, which is the sensible way to see it.

32. Faulx-les-Tombes Castle, Gesves

Faulx-les-Tombes Castle sits close enough to the road to be photographed from it, and that is as near as visitors get. Henri Beyaert built the Gothic revival castle between 1867 and 1872 on the site of a 13th-century castle that had belonged to the counts of Namur and then to the Marbaix and Corswaren families. Fire gutted it in 1961 and it was rebuilt in the same style. Namur is around 9 km (5.6 mi) away, and the two pointed towers and the west facade are the parts worth stopping for.

33. Leignon Castle, Ciney

Leignon Castle is private and largely hidden, so only architecture enthusiasts should plan around it. Auguste Van Assche designed it for the Belgian diplomat and photographer Isidore Jacques Eggermont between 1895 and 1900, in an eclectic mix of Gothic and neoclassical detail, and parts of it including the facade, the chapel and the square tower have been listed since 1992. The stables now host a youth organisation and summer riding camps. Ciney is about 5 km (3.1 mi) north, and Vêves and Modave are stronger uses of the same afternoon.

34. Lovendegem Castle, Lievegem

Lovendegem Castle is privately owned, with the park chained off, so the exterior from Warandestraat is the whole visit. A keep and stone house stood here in the 13th or 14th century, Joos Triest added the north wing and chapel in the early 17th, and the Dons de Lovendeghem family had the neo-Gothic castle rebuilt between 1885 and 1888. Lievegem sits between Ghent and Bruges, about 10 km (6.2 mi) from Ghent, so it fits a drive between the two rather than a trip of its own.

35. Château de Le Roeulx, Hainaut

The park at Château de Le Roeulx is closed to the public, and the castle is seen through the gates on the town square. The de Croÿ family has owned it since 1429, the present building keeps parts of the 16th-century castle and the base of a 13th-century tower, and Ferdinand Gaston-Joseph, Duke of Croÿ, gave it its present look in the 18th century. The rose garden is the exception: Le Roeulx holds an international competition for new roses, and the gardens open for the rose festival and for the Parcs et Jardins de Wallonie weekend in June. Mons is about 13 km (8.1 mi) away.

Planning a castle trip in Belgium

Two decisions shape a Belgian castle trip: which region you base yourself in, and whether you drive. Flanders and Wallonia hold different kinds of castle, and they reward different transport.

The Flemish castles cluster around Ghent, Antwerp and Brussels, and most of them are reachable by train plus a short bus ride or walk. Ghent alone puts Gravensteen in the city and Ooidonk, Laarne, Poeke and Beervelde within 15 km (9.3 mi). Comparing train tickets to Belgium across operators is usually cheaper than booking each leg on the day if you are coming from another European city, and Belgium’s own rail network reaches every town named on this page.

The Walloon castles are a different problem. Vêves, Montaigle, Walzin, Annevoie, Modave and La Roche sit in valleys where the bus timetable assumes you live there, and two of them are 20 minutes apart by car and two hours apart by public transport. For the Namur and Ardennes stretch, book a rental car for two or three days rather than trying to string the valleys together on rail. Parking at Modave, Vêves and Montaigle is free.

For accommodation, Ghent and Namur are the two most efficient bases, one for each half of the list. Our guide to Ghent covers the city that puts the East Flanders and Antwerp castles inside a day’s return, while Namur puts Vêves, Annevoie, Montaigle, Modave and Walzin inside an hour’s drive. Compare hotels across Belgium once your dates are fixed, since castle season peaks with the flower shows in spring and autumn.

Belgian castles FAQ

Which castles in Belgium can you go inside?

Fourteen castles on this list sell tickets to their interiors: Gaasbeek, Gravensteen, Alden Biesen, Beloeil, Modave, Vêves, Montaigle, La Roche-en-Ardenne, Bornem, Wissekerke, Ooidonk, Laarne, Rumbeke and Waroux. Gravensteen is the only one open every day of the year. Ooidonk, Rumbeke, Vêves and Poeke are guided-tour-only, and Waroux depends on its exhibition calendar.

Which castles are near Brussels and good for a day trip?

Four castle outings work as a day trip from Brussels, and each one is named below with the distance and the way in.

1. Gaasbeek Castle: the castle sits 10 km (6.2 mi) southwest of the city, on bus 142 from Brussels-Zuid/Midi, and opens its interior, museum garden and a free park.
2. Solvay estate at La Hulpe: the estate lies 20 km (12.4 mi) south on TEC bus 366, with free parkland and the Fondation Folon museum in the farm buildings.
3. Beersel Castle: this moated brick fortress stands under 20 km (12.4 mi) away, passed to the heritage organisation Herita in January 2026, and opens at weekends from 11am to 5pm and Wednesday to Sunday during Flemish school holidays.
4. Groot-Bijgaarden Castle: the castle park is 7 km (4.3 mi) west and about 20 minutes by train, open only during Floralia Brussels, from 3 April to 3 May 2026.

Horst Castle appears on most day-trip lists and should not: it is closed for restoration, and only the brasserie and grounds are open.

Which Belgian castles host events and festivals?

Four castles run a regular public programme, and each one is named below with the event it is known for.

1. Groot-Bijgaarden Castle: the castle park hosts Floralia Brussels, the spring bulb show, each April and early May.
2. Castle of Beervelde: the park holds the Garden Days in May and the Garden Festival on 9, 10 and 11 October 2026.
3. La Roche-en-Ardenne Castle: the ruin runs costumed shows through summer, a medieval weekend and a Halloween season.
4. Alden Biesen: the estate programmes concerts, storytelling events and summer guided tours.

Several castles open for Open Monumentendag in September, when interiors that are normally shut let visitors in. The calendar of music festivals in Belgium overlaps with the castle season, so check both before fixing dates.

What are the best things to do in Belgium?

Belgium’s headline activities are rafting and kayaking in the Ardennes, chocolate-making workshops in Brussels, boat trips through the canals of Ghent, the summer music festivals, and the maze at Barvaux near Durbuy. Castles fit alongside all of them, since the Lesse kayak route passes directly under Walzin. Our guide to the best activities to do in Belgium sets out the full list.

Is it expensive to visit Belgium?

Belgium costs less than the UK and more than southern Europe, and castle entry is a small part of the bill. Tickets on this page run from free for the parks to €15 (about $17, £13) at Gravensteen and Ooidonk, and a Museumpass covers several of them outright. The cost of living in Belgium depends mostly on where you sleep and eat rather than what you visit.

What should you know before visiting Belgium?

Four practical points matter for a castle trip. Belgium has three official languages, Dutch, French and German, and castle signage follows the region rather than the visitor. Many castles close on Mondays and most Walloon ones close from mid-November to the end of March. The currency is the euro, and while cards are accepted almost everywhere, small rural sites can be cash-preferring. Our page of facts about Belgium covers the rest.

WonderfulWanderings Pro Tips

The 5 tips below come from re-checking every castle on this page against its own opening information for 2026, and each one catches something the castle’s marketing does not lead with.

1. Wijnendale is off the map for individual visitors. The museum has closed and the estate is no longer freely accessible. Owner Jérôme Matthieu de Wynendaele guides groups of 40 or more at €15 (about $17, £13) a person, and smaller groups pay the 40-person minimum, so a couple turning up at the gate gets nothing.
2. Horst Castle is a building site, and the car park is part of it. The castle is shut for a full restoration and the parking directly in front doubles as the works entrance, so park further along Horststraat. Brasserie Wagenhuys stays open, and a restoration tour runs on the fourth Sunday of most months.
3. Allow 15 minutes on foot at Gaasbeek before you even reach the door. The ticket desk sits in the Entrance Building by the car park and there is no ticketing inside the castle, so the last entry at 5pm means leaving the car by about 4.40pm. From October the castle closes an hour earlier.
4. Ooidonk sells the gardens and the castle separately, and the gardens are the flexible half. Castle tours run only at 2.15pm and 4pm on Sundays and public holidays from April to November, on reservation, at €15 for adults. The gardens cost €4, open Tuesday afternoon to Sunday, and need no booking at all.
5. Modave closes on Mondays except in July and August. It is open 1 April to 15 November, 10am to 6pm, and the last tickets go at 4.45pm, so a Monday in May spent driving to the Hoyoux valley ends at a locked gate. Public holidays are the exception.

About the author. This guide is written and maintained by the Wonderful Wanderings editorial team. Wonderful Wanderings was founded in 2012 by Sofie Couwenbergh, who is Belgian, grew up in Leuven and worked in Brussels, so the castles on this page are in her own country rather than a destination she passed through. The team covers Belgium for independent travellers, including the tours, hotels, rail routes and car hire worth booking around a castle trip, and updates this page when opening seasons, closed days and ticket prices change.