← Marathon de Charleroi·1 night

Mons: A Belfry, a Hilltop Square and Van Gogh's Coal Country After Charleroi

A hill-top city in the Borinage coal country with a baroque belfry, a pedestrian old centre and a house where Van Gogh once lived.

Duration1 night
TransitSNCB train from Charleroi-Central to Mons, about 35 to 45 minutes
DepartsCharleroi-Central

After the Marathon de Charleroi: Mons

The Route: Charleroi → Mons → Brussels Airport Logistics: SNCB train, about 35 to 45 minutes. Mons station, designed by Santiago Calatrava, is a 10-minute walk from the Grand-Place, uphill. Marathon Month: April Duration: 1 night

Charleroi-Central ──(35-45 min, SNCB)──> Mons
                                            │
Brussels Airport (BRU) <──(about 1h15, SNCB)──┘

Vincent van Gogh spent the winter of 1879 to 1880 in the coal village of Cuesmes, just outside Mons, living in a miner's cottage and deciding to become a painter. The house is a small museum today. Mons itself is a city of about 95,000 on a low hill, with a belfry that the locals call by its own nickname and a main square that was largely rebuilt after the damage of two wars.

Buy a ticket in the SNCB app or at the station, and check the planner.

April in Mons: highs of 12°C to 15°C, with sun and showers. The old centre is on a slope, so wear shoes with grip. Check opening days, because Monday closures are common.

Night One: Mons

The station at Mons is new, with a long white roof, and the walk from there to the centre climbs gently for about 10 minutes. Take a taxi if the legs object.

The Grand-Place is level and cobbled, with the Gothic town hall on one side and cafés around the rest. The Belfry, the baroque tower of the seventeenth century on the hill behind it, is a UNESCO site and has a lift for its upper gallery. Check whether the lift is running before you climb. Entry costs around €8 and prices vary, so use the figure as a guide only.

The Mundaneum, an archive founded in 1910 by two Belgian lawyers who wanted to catalogue all the world's knowledge on index cards, is a short walk from the Grand-Place. Check the current opening days. The Maison Van Gogh in Cuesmes is a bus ride away, so check the schedule if you want to make the trip.

Hotels are available in the old centre and near the station. Confirm lifts and breakfast times when you book, and ask for a ground-floor room if stairs are difficult.

Dinner suits the streets around the Grand-Place, where brasseries serve Belgian stew, rabbit in beer and a local cheese tart. Reserve on weekends.

Getting to Brussels Airport (BRU)

Mons to Brussels Airport takes about 1 hour 15 minutes by train with a change at Brussels. Check the SNCB planner. The airport station is below the terminal, with lifts.