Château de Lavaux-Sainte-Anne – Castles in Wallonia, Belgium | My Travelogue

ONE OF THE PICTURESQUE CASTLES IN BELGIUM

Pic Credit: Google Earth

Visit Lavaux-Sainte-Anne in Belgium: Château de Lavaux-Sainte-Anne
Castle is one of the very picturesque and instagrammable castles in Belgium
located in the beautiful village of Lavaux-Sainte-Anne. The castle is the home
to not 1 but 3 museums and a deer park! It is not a very big castle; it has
about 20 rooms in all; but it is a charming village surrounded by deers,
cultivation fields, & village life, so you’d want to spend more time
around than just the castle and you’d want to click a 100 pictures! 
 

VISIT CHÂTEAU DE LAVAUX-SAINTE-ANNE CASTLE 

VISITING CHÂTEAU DE LAVAUX-SAINTE-ANNE CASTLE WITH KIDS

Château de Lavaux-Sainte-Anne Castle is one of the best castles in Belgium to
visit with young kids. Kids get to dress up as knights or princesses as soon
as they enter the castle! As soon as we entered, Atyudarini was given 2
choices and she chose princess, complete with the headdress and that’s what
she wandered around the castle, wearing! This is worn on top of their own
clothes, so I didn’t have to worry about it.

HISTORY OF CHÂTEAU DE LAVAUX-SAINTE-ANNE CASTLE

The history of Château de Lavaux-Sainte-Anne Castle dates back to 1244
CE. The Chateau was then just a watchtower built as a lookout over Bavay –
Nassogne Roman road. This was built by Jacques de Wellin (aka “de la Vaux”) as
requested by Saint Hubert Abbey. It was much much later in 1450, that the
castle was built as we know it today. Jean II de Berlo built 3 towers and
connected them by walls and in 50 years, the 4th tower was also built. In 1630
Jacques Renard de Rouveroit bought it and reconstructed it as we know it today
with Renaissance-styled rooms and castle gates, etc. It changed hands,
survived the revolution, and almost fell into ruins. In 1934, the non-profit
Friends of Château de Lavaux-Sainte-Anne was set up. They renovated it, and
opened it to the public!

MUSEUM OF THE LIFE OF THE LORDS OF LAVAUX IN CHÂTEAU DE LAVAUX-SAINTE-ANNE CASTLE

The ground floor is dedicated to the lives of the Lords of Lavaux. The first
room was stunning with regal couches and a mannequin wearing a huge Victorian
gown, which absolutely fascinated Atyudarini. The next few rooms are more of
the life of the Lords including a study room with historic cabinets &
tables. Next was a bedroom with a charming bedpost and damask duvets. The last
room has the staircase to go upstairs, but the room also has a stunning fresco
of the knights in a battle! There are also armories scattered all over the
castle. As soon as you go upstairs, there’s a very nice view from atop through
the window, which was once upon a time, a watch tower! 

NATURE & HUNTING MUSEUM IN CHÂTEAU DE LAVAUX-SAINTE-ANNE CASTLE

The first floor is dedicated to Nature & Hunting. It was quite interesting
and almost resembled a natural history museum with several stuffed animals! It
was super interesting for little Atyudarini. There were several local birds
and small animals including deer, wild boar, foxes, mountain goats, hares,
ducks, owls and hawks, and more. One of the rooms had a piece of very interesting furniture where everything was adorned with deer/stag antlers – the backrest
& legs of chairs, handles & decor of cupboards are all made of
antlers!!! Typical to any noble household of the yesteryears, there were
mounted heads of stags & bison that they hunted! Apart from actual
hunting, another leisure activity of the times was, of course, falconry! There’s
a room dedicated to Falconry as well with several stuffed predatory birds.

DEER PARK IN CHÂTEAU DE LAVAUX-SAINTE-ANNE CASTLE

Around the castle is a moat and all around it is the deer park which has about
10 European Fallow Deer present. We were incredibly lucky that just a few days
before we visited, the deer had given birth to a few fawns and one of them was
a melanistic (black) one! Black European Fallow Deer are pretty rare (the
usual ones are chestnut-colored with white spots).

CHÂTEAU DE LAVAUX-SAINTE-ANNE CASTLE PRACTICAL DETAILS

HOW TO REACH CHÂTEAU DE LAVAUX-SAINTE-ANNE CASTLE BY PUBLIC
TRANSPORT

How to reach Château de Lavaux-Sainte-Anne Castle without a car? The reason it
has taken forever for me to visit Château de Lavaux-Sainte-Anne Castle is
that, while it is connected by LeTEC buses, it doesn’t run on weekends. 

If you need more time at Château de Lavaux-Sainte-Anne (which, ideally you
will, if you don’t want a rushed visit), the only other option is to stay in
this village and take the early bus the next morning (around 07:00AM) and
perhaps visit Rochefort or Han-sur-Lesse on Day 2!

While the bus doesn’t run on weekends, it does on weekdays of school vacation,
but it stops at Lessive Centre which is about 5km from Château de
Lavaux-Sainte-Anne. If you can bike, the nearest railway station is Beauraing
which is about 13km away. 

TAXI SERVICES IN LAVAUX-SAINTE-ANNE

If the whole LeTEC Bus sounds scary or if you can manage only a weekend trip
or need a comfortable day trip, a good idea would be to hire a taxi from
Rochefort-Jamelle railway station to Lavaux Sainte Anne. I have used Taxi Lux
in Durbuy and not here, but they operate in this region as well. You will have
to call them earlier and pre-book the taxi in advance; there is no fleet of
taxis available outside the railway station. 

TaxiLux phone number – 0032 (0) 495/47 22 73

TaxiLux email id – [email protected]

PLACES TO VISIT AROUND LAVAUX-SAINTE-ANNE

Domaine Chevatogne – Not practical by public transport. 15km away.
Just 15 mins if you hire a car. 

LAVAUX-SAINTE-ANNE HOTELS

HOTELS NEAR CHÂTEAU DE LAVAUX-SAINTE-ANNE CASTLE 

Château de Lavaux-Sainte-Anne Castle is located in the little town of
Lavaux-Sainte-Anne village, which hardly has 10 streets. It is a charming,
little, authentic, Belgian village. Somehow, one of the very few houses in
this little village is a restaurant + B&B called Les 4 Lunes and 2 more of
these houses are listed on Airbnb! I visited Lavaux-Sainte-Anne on a day trip and did not stay here, so I cannot personally review any of these for you!

LES 4 LUNES –  Les 4 Lunes is located steps away from Château
de Lavaux-Sainte-Anne. This is an excellent option because not only do you get
to stay in an authentic Belgian village but also get to go on a sunrise walk
around the castle and visit the deer park early in the morning when they
are just waking up! There’s also a restaurant on the ground floor and both are
managed by its owner Bill. There are only 3 rooms in the B&B – Lune
d’Orient, Lune de miel, Fleur de Lune. It is a cozy little family establishment.
Inform them of your dietary requirements in advance, when you book the room because everything is made to order here and there is no other restaurant in
this village as well. 

How to reach Les 4 Lunes? same as above

Les 4 Lunesphone no: +32 (0)84 38 84 26; +32 (0)477 196
651

Les 4 Lunesroom rates: Room rates begin at €80 for double occupancy in a standard room

AIRBNB IN LAVAUX-SAINTE-ANNE VILLAGE