A weekend in the Haspengouw

11 December 2020 | Reading time: 9 minutes | By: Christy |

Are you looking for a destination where you can walk through the vineyards without having to recharge your electric car en route? A place where tranquillity, nature, art and Belgian culture will still overwhelm you? Then head to the Haspengouw for a weekend.

Haspengouw is only a good hour's drive from Eindhoven and once there, you celebrate life in the Tuscany of the Low Countries. At least, that's how it's described by the local tourist office. So pack your bags for a delightful Belgian adventure and explore this relatively unknown area by bike or on foot! In this blog some tips.

Of course, this Belgian region is at its most beautiful when the fruit trees are in bloom. Because of the weather, it is always a bit of a guess when exactly this is, but from mid-April onwards you are usually in the right place. Or go during harvest time in October, when it is seemingly one big party at the chateaus and in the charming villages. Incidentally, the area has something special in every season. I was there myself in mid-November, perfect for enjoying a late Indian summer. But summer and winter will also be fine here because of the tranquillity.

The Haspengouw is the second largest fruit-growing region in Western Europe after South Tyrol, so it is quite an area. If you stay near Borgloon, known as the pearl of the Haspengouw, you will be centrally located. When you are in this region, you will of course take a nice walk or bike ride through the beautiful landscape and enjoy the peace and quiet.

But alongside nature and tranquillity, this region has so much more to offer. Whether you’re interested in culture, gastronomy or history, Haspengouw has something for everyone. And it’s even a great place for a day’s shopping.

My tips:

Stay in a forest cottage such as Loof cabin and walk or cycle through the peaceful rolling landscape with fruit farms, square farmhouses, ancient villages and castles.
Visit a number of PIT artworks in Borgloon, including the famous see-through church
Stroll through Belgium's oldest city, Tongeren, with the Benelux's largest antiques and brocante market on Sunday mornings and the picturesque beguinage dating from the early 17th century.
Go shopping in Hasselt and cycle the street art route with more than 60 works of art. You can also make a perfect trip to Maastricht by the way. That is only about 20 km away.

In eco-lodge Loof Cabin you recharge yourself completely. Even though my stay was only 1.5 days, I feel like I did get away for a week! This was mainly because of my fine stay here. Loof Cabin would definitely not be out of place in a list of design retreats.

The owners have created an über-cool cabin in the woods near Borgloon. They designed and built the tiny-house all by themselves and it exceeded all our expectations. A unique spot with a beautiful, dense forest on one side and a vast, rolling plain on the other. The views from the large windows and the elevated terrace make you feel at one with nature.

The interior is designed to perfection with stylish, warm colours and beautiful materials. Think stonewashed bedding with HK living decorative pillows and ecological care products from Marcel's Greensoap. Fortunately, there is no Wifi and cable TV, but there are plenty of fine books and magazines.

The kitchen invites you to make tasty dishes with regional products (such as syrup from the old syrup factory in Borgloon!) and the baskets full of dry wood call for enjoying a crackling fire inside or outside. You can stay in Loof Cabin with up to four people. There are two spacious bedrooms and a bathroom with a lovely walk-in rain shower. Outside is a cool wooden play rack for kids and there is also a terrace with, again, top views. This location really is too beautiful to keep to myself!

So nothing is compulsory at Loof Cabin, but I was especially energised by the surroundings. So in between idleness we went out. First we took a walk through the orchards of Borgloon to the famous see-through church. This work of art by architect duo Gijs van Vaerenbergh is officially called read between the lines and is not for nothing the most photographed object in Belgium at the moment.

Despite being made entirely of steel, it blends into nature and seems to move with every change of light. Another special place in this area is the Mariënlof Monastery (or Colen Abbey) with surrounding hiking area and a PIT artwork by Eneas Wilder undifined #158. You'll also find Colen's cycling café here. What a pity we were here in November and the café was closed, because what a great place this terrace will be to have a drink after exploring.

Somehow, I had an image of a nondescript, typically Belgian medium-sized town near Tongeren, which also happens to host a large brocant market every week. On Sunday morning, we set out without great expectations to take in part of the market and were very pleasantly surprised by this town.

Tongeren turns out to be the oldest city in Belgium and has a fantastic beguinage from the early 1600s. In the Netherlands, I know the beguinages in Amsterdam and Haarlem. There, they are tucked away in the middle of the city with a number of houses in a courtyard. But here in Tongeren, you can easily get lost there. The beguinage, a UNESCO world heritage site, consists of several streets with centuries-old buildings, churches and even an inn. What splendour and what peace. Without droves of other tourists around us, it was so nice to wander around here.

The Flea Market

From the beguinage, you walk straight to the bric-a-brac market. Not to be missed as it is huge. Streets, halls and car parks were filled with market stalls selling antiques and brocante. The tranquillity we found in the beguinage was far from here. Second-hand shopping is popular and better for the environment.

I noticed that even the terraces were full early on. Deliciously burgundian couples were enjoying a glass of wine with a well-filled fish soup as early as 11.30 in the morning. We ended our visit to surprising Tongeren with a delicious smoske, a typical Belgian sandwich with so much filling you can't eat it without spilling, at the cosy café 't Poorthuis.

Hasselt in Belgium is located just across the border near Eindhoven. If you like shopping, this is the place to be! You will find shops of all well-known brands, but also small boutiques. Even though it is a stone's throw from the Netherlands, you really feel like you are wandering around in a fashionable foreign city here. On Sundays, the shops are closed (what a treat!), so you can do other things.

We decided to walk part of the street art route. In Hasselt, about 60 buildings are decorated with street art. You can get a route at the tourism office, but unfortunately for us, the office was also closed on Sunday. As a result, we walked through the city at random and discovered some wall gems by chance and by asking around. Very fun to do and thus discover a city in a completely different way. Not to be missed is the artwork of famous Spanish street artist Belin at the intersection of Fonteinstraat with Schoolstraat. Next time, we'll rent a bike and do the whole route!