Beyond the Bruges cathedrals, river cruises, Grote markets, Central places of different cities, Chocolates and Waffle factories, Belgium has more to see and explore, especially if you are a nature admirer.
Europe is very picturesque and Belgium is no exception. If one search for places to visit in Belgium, you will find almost all the cities and regions of Belgium popping out as tourist places. Yes, they are some of the most popular tourist places and visited by almost everyone across the year. What we usually don’t get to see are say for example, the several caves across the Wallonia region, the natural hot springs in the SPA near Verviers, the tri-country border region that includes Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, etc, to name a few.
Honestly, beyond a point, Europe boils down to Churches, Cathedrals, Museums and picturesque buildings. Nature lovers will seek places of attractions where we can find different dimensions of nature such as the caves, the northern lights, the snow and the hot springs. Wallonia is the French speaking province in Belgium that mostly covers the southern portions of the country. Some of the cities in Wallonia province include Charleroi, Leige, Namur, etc. Some of these regions house naturally formed limestone caves that dates back to literally millions of years. Yes, that’s true. It dates back to the Europe’s tectonic shifts. While the northern Belgium is a flat land called Flanders, the southern Belgium houses mostly hills and hillocks. Hence, presence of crystal caves with stalactite and stalagmite formations wouldn’t come as a surprise.
One such crystal caves is the Grotte De Neptune in the Couvin town, Wallonia region. Located in the southern tip of Belgium (beyond which, France begins), Couvin is one of the border towns of Belgium that doesn’t house huge population. It is visited by passer-by travellers en-route since it is a gateway to France. In fact, Couvin and the southern parts of Belgium doesn’t have electrified trains. It still runs on diesel. Now that is a surprise for a country and the continent that talks so much about sustainability and carbon neutrality.
Cave history
Grotte De Neptune has an interesting history. Its origin dates back to millions of years when Europe’s landmass underwent a tectonic shift. There was a time when this part of the region was under sea and the bones of dead animals and sea-creature shells settled down the basement. Due to water pressure over time, limestones were formed and when the tectonic shift happened, the plate drift created hillocks, hills and caves of limestone crystals.
Today’s scenario
Very well maintained. These crystal caves are well maintained and managed by the local province authorities. The management charges a nominal 9 Euro for a breathe-taking tour of the caves from the inside.
How to reach?
Grotte De Neptune is through both road and rail. The problem is you take a public transport to reach this place, depending on where you come from, you may have to take a couple of hops before reaching this place. From Antwerpen, it takes 3 trains and almost 3 hours. From Brussels, it will still take 2-3 trains and 2 hours. You can google the best train route including the timings of various trains to reach this place. If you drive, then, no worries.
Duration of the tour
The crystal cave tour is a standard 45 minutes that includes a walking tour followed by a boat tour. In the walking tour, you get to see the limestone caves, stalactites and stalagmites. The boat tour is the best part where you get to see a light show inside the cave, in a pitch dark environment.
Mind your heads
Inside the cave in several places, especially during the boat ride, you could bang your head and may seriously get injured unless you are cautious of the claustrophobic walls especially in pitch dark environment. Don’t worry, you have a light strip that shows you the path throughout the cave.
The route to catch the boat is quite dark, infact pitch dark at times that those dull light strips look so very bright to follow the route. Also, en route, you will find water dripping from the ceiling in some places, highlighting the presence of water across the caves and also the fact that water from the river has seeped through the cave’s structure over time. There is a river that runs next to this cave which surprisingly disappears in one portion of the cave and re-appears approximately 4 kms away from the cave in a village. This reflects the tectonic shifts and the resulting water table structures cutting through the ground and in the form of river on the ground.
How much time from Couvin rail station to the caves?
It is a mere 2.5 Kms and a walk will take around 30 minutes since most of the hike is on the highway. Google map works perfectly well to guide you on it.
Is there a way to book tickets online?
It is always preferable to book tickets online if one wants to pick and choose the slot. Also, they have only 3 – 4 slots per day starting 1 PM. If it is a busy day with more crowd, we might as well miss the chance to get to see the caves. Having said that I went on a working day (a not so busy day) and I managed to get the tickets for the first slot itself which began by 1 PM.
Link to book online: https://grottesdeneptune.be/en/
Belgium train booking and schedule checking app: https://www.belgiantrain.be/en
Do we get a guide?
Yes. A guide takes us through the entire tour. The guide is very professional and in fact, the receptionist and the entire crew is very professional and helpful. The guide speaks two languages. French and Dutch. While all of them speak English, it is not one of the official tour guide language. However, there is an English pamphlet which is shared with English speaking crowd for easy understanding and follow-up.
Have a happy cave visit.