Where to stay in Liège

Liège is a city and municipality in the Belgian region of Wallonia, and the capital of the eponymous province. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from borders with the Netherlands (Maastricht is about 33 km (20.5 mi) to the north) and Germany (Aachen is about 53 km (32.9 mi) north-east).

At the foot of Ardennes on the river Meuse, it has been a prominent urban centre since the Middle Ages, but really blossomed during the industrial revolution, when it grew to become Belgium's third-largest metropolis, after Brussels and Antwerp. Thanks to its strategic position, Liège still enjoys relative affluence and economic importance, in contrast to its fellow Wallon cities farther south. Despite its size and location in-between some of the most-visited cities in Europe, Liège sees very little tourist traffic.

For a city of its size, Liège has surprisingly few accommodation facilities. This is both due to the city's relatively low popularity as a tourist destination and the fact that it is between 1 and 3 hours from many major cities where business traffic to it originates. You may want to take advantage of the latter yourself and stay anywhere closer or farther and come to the city for the day.

Getting around

Because the roads in Liège are always complicated, old and narrow, walking can be a better choice. Unlike most Belgian cities, Liège has no inner ring built along the path of the old city walls. Instead, the main streets were laid out along the old branches of the river, which makes their organisation a bit obscure. Leave your car in one of the city-centre parking garages, especially if you have no map of to your destination.

Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.