Paradise found: Eight secret gardens to discover in Belgium

You sometimes have to hunt hard in Belgium to find interesting gardens and parks. They’re not as carefully mapped as the gardens of England or Italy, but you can find some beautiful secret spots if you know where to look. Here are eight that are worth tracking down.

Mariemont
The ruins of four great palaces stand in the grounds of Mariemont, along with a modern museum created by the fabulously rich industrialist Raoul Warocqué. The English-style gardens are dotted with rare trees, orchards, fountains and sculptures.
100 Chaussée de Mariemont, Morlanwelz

Tournay-Solvay park
This rambling park on the edge of Brussels was created by the Solvay family. It’s a peaceful spot to wander, with ancient trees, a walled orchard, rose garden and a shady pond. It’s overlooked by a spooky 19th-century ruin that’s currently being restored.
Chaussée de la Hulpe, Watermael-Boitsfort

National Library rooftop
Here’s one of the city’s most secret places. Take the lift to the fifth floor of the National Library and follow the signs to the cafeteria. You can sit outside on the roof terrace (pictured below) surrounded by vegetable plots and beehives. The view is fantastic, but skip the canteen coffee.
Mont des Arts, Brussels

Les Jardins d’Annevoie
When he designed his vast estate in the 18th century, Charles-Alexis de Montpellier borrowed ideas from his travels in Italy, France and England. The result is a wonderful romantic garden with a grand canal, grottos, fountains and cascades (pictured right).
Rue des Jardins, Annevoie

Godshuis Sint-Jozef
Look out for the open door on Nieuwe Gentweg in Bruges. It leads into a garden where crocuses push through the soil in early spring. One of 44 almshouses dotted around Bruges, it was built in the 17th century as a home for the poor, alongside a second almshouse called De Meulenaere. Hidden from the street by high whitewashed walls, the gardens are planted with ancient trees, rose beds and low box hedges. Free entry from early morning until 18.00, but keep the noise down.
24-32 Nieuwe Gentweg, Bruges

Sint-Pieters Abbey
A garden lies hidden behind the Sint-Pieters Abbey on the slopes above the river Scheldt. Entered by an old coach gate, this romantic spot dates back to the 9th century when the hillside was terraced to create a vineyard. The site was restored in 1983 and replanted with fruit trees, vines and herbs. It’s popular with students, but you sometimes have the place all to yourself.
12 Sint-Pietersplein, Ghent

Plantin Moretus garden
A beautiful baroque garden hidden within the walls of a museum. Created in 1639 by the printer Balthasar Moretus, it’s modelled on an Italian formal garden. A smaller, more secret garden was added behind the museum shop in 2002. Designed by the Belgian landscape gardening firm Wirtz International, it’s a simple garden with brick paving, clipped trees and an undulating hedge (pictured above).
22-23 Vrijdagmarkt, Antwerp

Hanging Gardens, Thuin
It hardly seems possible, but the little town of Thuin, not far from Charleroi, has ancient hanging gardens built on the steep hillside overlooking the river Sambre. Reached by old cobbled lanes, the gardens were recently restored to create a fascinating trail that runs past small allotments, old city gates and an unexpected vineyard that produces a few hundred bottles of Clos des Zouaves red wine every year.

This article first appeared in The Bulletin Spring 2017. Browse the magazine here, find it in newsagents or subscribe today