Belgium and Luxembourg (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

CENTRAL WALLONIA 209

The Grotte de Lorette at

Rochefort (see p211) has been

revamped and now has a

visitors’ centre that delves into

the broader realms of geology,

including plate tectonics. A

man-made corridor cuts

through impervious marble to

reach the largest of its under-

ground chambers called the

Sabbath, the setting for a

son-et-lumière presentation.

The Grottes de Remouchamps (see p225) have

an 8,000-year-old history of human encounter.

They opened to visitors in 1912 and were illumi-

nated in 1924. A walkway leads down to a giant

chamber called the Cathedral, from where boats

follow the underground river, Rubicon, which

carved out these caves on its way to the Amblève.

The Grottes de Neptune near Couvin

(see p211) take visitors through three

levels of caves and underground rivers,

with a boat trip leading to a spectacular

son-et-lumière presentation.

Former sink holes provide water-free

entrances to the cave system.

Stalactites and stalagmites line the
limestone caves, and over the years,
fuse to form a single structure.

The Grotte de Han at Han-sur-Lesse (see p211) is the
most famous cave system of the Ardennes. In boats
and on foot, visitors can see about 3 km (2 miles)
of a huge cave system carved out by the River Lesse.
Mirror-still pools reflect the bejewelled ceilings.