What else there is to do in Namur
Start with the free hill, because it is the thing Namur has that nowhere else does: ramparts, gateways and a view down onto two rivers meeting, at no cost and with no closing time. After that the town below is an afternoon on foot, and the rest of Wallonia is a day trip in most directions.
On the hill itself
The free walk between the Donjon, the Médiane and Terra Nova is the first thing to do and the last thing anybody regrets, and it is described on what there is to see up here. If you want to spend money here, four things are for sale: the souterrains, The Citadel in the Middle Ages, the tourist train and the audio-guided visitor centre at Terra Nova, with two passes bundling them. The tariff is on the tickets page.
The cable car counts as an activity in its own right rather than only as transport, especially with children, and its ticket lasts thirty days from purchase. Fares are on the cable car page.
The town at the bottom
Namur is a walking town, small enough to see in an afternoon, which is what the two guided walks are for: a two-hour introduction with a local, and a sixty-minute express version for a tight schedule. Both say in their own exclusions that entry tickets for museums and monuments are not included, so treat them as a person and a route rather than a set of admissions. The photo shoot is the third Namur listing and the only one that climbs the hill, by cable car or on foot.
The Guy Delforge perfumery, which the operator names as one of the free car parks, sits at the foot of the fortress if you are looking for something at the bottom of the walk.
Walk with a localNamur: Best Intro 2-hour Walk with a Local
One hourNamur: Express Walk with a Local in 60 minutes
Photo shootNamur: Photo shoot with a professional photographer
Days out from here
South of Namur the Meuse runs towards Dinant, and that is the direction the organised days take: two coach days from Brussels that stop at Dinant and cross into Luxembourg, and a château tour with a wine tasting at Bioul between the two towns. Neither coach day comes to this citadel, and their reviewers are describing Dinant and Luxembourg rather than Namur. Further out there is the Van Gogh house at Mons, a Napoleon virtual-reality experience at Waterloo, a beer day at Orval and La Chouffe, and a walk round medieval Braine-le-Comte.
Most reviewedFrom Brussels: Luxembourg Tour with Dinant Visit
Meuse valleyFrom Brussels: Guided Day Trip to Dinant and Luxembourg
Near DinantBioul: Château de Bioul Tour and Wine Tasting
MonsMons: The Van Gogh House
WaterlooWaterloo: Napoleon Virtual Reality Experience
Beer and abbeyGuided Tour: La Chouffe & Orval Abbey Beer Tour with Tasting
Six of the twelve listings we track carry no rating at all, including most of the ones closest to Namur, so read what each one actually promises rather than what its stars suggest. That is the job of every tour we list, and the quotes are kept beside their own tours on the reviews page.
If you are still deciding whether to give Namur the day at all, is it worth it is the honest version.
Frequently asked questions
What is there to do in Namur besides the Citadelle?
The town below the hill is an afternoon on foot and two guided walks cover it, one of an hour and one of two. Beyond that, the days out run south down the Meuse to Dinant and on into Luxembourg, or west to Mons and Waterloo. All of them are on every tour we list.
What can you do in Namur for free?
Walk the Citadelle, which the operator calls a public park open at any time of year at no cost, park free at four areas around it, and take the view over the confluence of the Sambre and the Meuse. The whole free half is set out on what costs nothing here.
Is there anything unusual to do in Namur?
Three things people book rather than stumble on: the guided visit into the souterrains beneath the fortress, the cable car up the wooded slope, and a photo shoot on the hill with a professional photographer, which is the one listing here whose itinerary actually climbs to the Citadel.