Liege is known for being a city with an industrial past, which generally gives a really nice atmosphere, both dynamic and creative. Liege is also nicknamed “ La Cité Ardente”. Renowned for its warm and festive atmosphere, it is also nicknamed the Ardent City. It is not a postcard city but rather a lively city, full of contrasts and rich in the initiatives of its inhabitants. Liege is a city that has many assets and is very pleasant to visit for a few days. Let’s discover together some of the best things to do in Liege Belgium.
1. La Boverie Liege
La Boverie’s artistic project offers both a program of international exhibitions and a new setting for the permanent collections of the City of Liege. The lower level of the building houses the best of the City of Liege’s Fine Arts collections: Lambert Lombard, Gérard de Lairesse, Ingres, Gauguin, Chagall, Picasso, Evenepoel, Delvaux, Magritte, and others who attest to the modernity of art at all times, from the Renaissance to the present day.
2. Mountain of Bueren Liege
The stairs of the “mountain” of Bueren, on the right the convent of the Ursulines, at the foot on the left their impasse. The Bueren mountain is a staircase connecting the Hors-Château district of the city of Liege in Belgium to the rue Péri and the Citadelle crossing the Coteaux de la Citadelle.
3. Guillemins station
Designed by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, the Liege-Guillemins station is truly impressive with its glass and steel vault that covers the tracks. A true work of art that can be admired on the platforms while waiting for your train. The station also has a museum space with temporary exhibitions. It is one of the best places to visit in Liege Belgium.
4. Museum of Walloon Life Liege
Located in the heart of Liege, and renovated since 2008, the Museum of Walloon Life offers an original and complete look at Wallonia from the 19th century to the present day. The Museum regularly offers temporary exhibitions, divided between two spaces, articulates its offer around a wide range of activities for all as much as it hosts and collaborates in many events.
5. The Great Curtius
On the banks of the Meuse, it is one of the most beautiful buildings in Liege, with its red, green, and gold facade. The former palace of a wealthy industrialist, built in the early 1600s, is now a museum, with over 5000m2 of exhibition space for museum collections of archaeology, decorative arts, glass, weapons, and Mosan art.
6. The Palace of the Prince Bishops
Often presented as one of the largest Gothic civil buildings in the world, the palace of the prince-bishops today houses the courthouse and the seat of the provincial government. From the year 1000, Notger built the first residence of the prince-bishops on this site. It was Prince-Bishop Érard de La Marck who gave it its current look in 1526. Following the fire of 1734, the façade overlooking Place Saint-Lambert was rebuilt in the classical style. Between 1849 and 1852, the neo-Gothic wing in Notger Square was added.
7. St. Paul’s Cathedral in Liege
The cathedral is the bishop’s church in each diocese. There is his seat (the cathedra), he exercises his teaching there, and he holds the place of the successor of the apostles. This place therefore recalls his ordination and his installation as Bishop of Liege. He celebrates the Eucharist there on major holidays (Christmas, Holy Week Easter, Pentecost) and during major moments of diocesan life (Chrism Mass, ordinations, confirmations, St Lambert.
8. Hillsides of the Citadel Liege
A few steps from Place Saint-Lambert and the Palace of the Prince-Bishops, discover a completely different universe on the slope of the hill bordering the city of Liege. It can be reached either by rue Pierreuse. Facing south and sheltered from the wind, the terraces of the Minimes are one of the most beautiful places in Liege to enjoy a break in the heart of nature. Below, we find ourselves almost in the middle of the forest by crossing the Miners’ Wood.
9. Royal Opera of Wallonia
Created in 1967, the Royal Opera of Wallonia is largely subsidized by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, the City, and the Province of Liege. It is one of the three major opera houses in Belgium and one of the most beautiful things to do in Liege. Since its origin, the institution has occupied the Royal Theater of Liege, a magnificent building on loan from the City of Liege.
10. Saint-Barthelemy Collegiate Church
Founded between 1010 and 1015 outside the city walls, this former collegiate church, characteristic of Rhenish-Mosane architecture, was built in coal sandstone from the end of the 11th century (choir) to the last decades of the 12th century. Remarkable baroque furniture from Liege. The interior of the western massif, exceptional for its stands, has partially regained its original appearance.