Grotte de Lorette, Rochefort
Grotte de Lorette: sixty metres under Rochefort
Grotte de Lorette at Rochefort is an hour's guided visit sixty metres underground, with more than 600 steps. Why it is our cave near Dinant, and who it does not suit.
Grotte de Lorette is a cave at Rochefort. A guide takes you about sixty metres underground for an hour. It is the cave on our day around Dinant, and lunch is on the table when you come back up.
Why it is our cave
From Château de Walzin, where the day starts, it is about forty minutes by car. In 2026 I tested Lorette against a closer cave near Dinant. Lorette became the default.
What makes it work for us is what happens around it. There is a place on site to set up lunch. And it puts the Rochefort tasting in Rochefort itself.
One honest detail. My very first tour went wrong here, because I did not know where the cave parking was. So I tell every guide to drive it once before they guide it.
Sixty metres down, more than 600 steps
The visit is guided and takes about an hour. The river Lomme carved these chambers out of the rock. It is around eight degrees down there all year, so bring a layer. On a hot summer day, that makes it the coolest hour of the day.
The visit has more than 600 steps. The cave states plainly on its own website that it is not accessible for people with reduced mobility.
I stay up, and lunch comes out
I do not go down with the guests. I use that hour to set up lunch and the beer tasting at the reception building. When they come back up, lunch is ready. There is a picnic area and a souvenir shop on site.
Rochefort, at the table
Rochefort is also a Trappist name. The Abbey of Saint-Rémy has been brewing here since 1595, and it is closed to visitors, always. So we drink Rochefort at the table, a few kilometres from an abbey nobody may enter.
The abbey makes three beers: the 6, the 8 and the 10, at 7.5, 9.2 and 11.3 percent. The 8 is the one I put in your hands. There is always a non-alcoholic option on the table too.
When it is not worth it
If walking stairs is hard for you, skip it. More than 600 steps is a real climb, down and back up.
Check the calendar too. Outside the summer weeks, the visits run on weekends, public holidays and Belgian school holidays only. From 12 November to early April the cave is closed to individuals. Groups can book all year.
The visit times are fixed and do not move. Miss the 10:30 visit and the next one is 12:00.
Days we ran here
- After the usual towns: a Dinant day, August 2024. The cave guide that day was a geologist who spoke three languages.
- A day for one: Vivien’s Dinant day and Orval, August 2024. Underground in the morning, then a lunch of local food.
- A family of five from Arizona, June 2026. Underground in the morning, then lunch with a beer tasting I had kept as a surprise.
- Our first day: Amy’s day in southern Belgium, July 2024. She had not expected the climb back up from the bottom of the cave.
The whole day is in my guide to Dinant and the Meuse valley. If you want a morning like this, tell us your dates on the private page.
Rather not plan it yourself?
Lorette is the morning stop of our day around Dinant and the Meuse valley, with lunch and a Rochefort tasting after the cave. Pickup at your door in Brussels, Ghent, Antwerp, Bruges or anywhere else in Belgium. Tell us your dates and we build the day around you. Days run year-round on request, and you get a personal reply within 24 hours.
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