Maredsous Abbey — Attraction in Anhée

We were recommended to visit here by some fellow travellers and we were looking forward to tasting the beers, cheeses and trying out bread from their bakery. The Abbey is huge and very impressive looking, though not particularly old in a European sense. For the visitor to the brewery etc. there wasn't much to see. As far as we could tell you can't actually visit the brewery or cheese making facility. All tastings appear to be attached to the restaurant. We did try some of the cheese and sausage they make there (and they are very good!), and ended up buying a nut bread loaf, for which the texture was disappointing (very commercial - not like artisanal bread) and it seemed a little stale to be that day's bake. I think the biggest disappointment was the feel of the place. The shop and other visitor facilities are obviously geared towards buses of tourists, and a large one arrived when we were there. The shop was filled with unrelated and non local souvenirs - there was very little or no connection between the displays of products and the Abbey or it's history, which I think is a missed opportunity. It's obviously not my sort of place, but suits lots of other people - that's just the...

we planned to go here the day after we arrived from the USA. I made reservations via email for our party of 4. Upon arrival, we were taken to a table... with a bowl of chips. Finally got to order beer, and only ours came in stoneware mugs. Everyone around us had beautiful glasses. It came to be over an hour later, only chips and beer. This was advertised as a moule and frites dinner. No one brought food. We paid our bar tab and found out that they had charged us $25 per person for dinner (we expected that) but never brought us any food. We got a refund for that. Very disappointed to start off our 20th anniversary...

Pretty building with interesting history but the only two zones that are accessible to the public are the church and the visitors centre. Outside of Covid regulations, one can take guided tours of the area, including another monastery about a kilometer away.

It would be harsh to say it was disappointing but it was not really that different from any other abbey and the beer they brew there (named after the abbey) is available from most supermarkets.

Their cheese and liqueurs are very good, however, and well worth the...