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Travel guide
The French Ardennes
4 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: May to October
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Welcome
The French Ardennes, in a few days
The Meuse winds through such tight loops here that road and railway have to tunnel through the hills to follow it. Along its banks, quartzite rocks with legendary names, Roc la Tour, the Dames de Meuse, the Four Sons of Aymon, rise from a 150,000-hectare forest where the wild boar is both king and emblem.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 2 things
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- D4 Day 4 2 things
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Place Ducale, Charleville-Mézières free · about 1 hA royal square laid out after 1606, ringed by brick and stone pavilions over arcaded cafés, near a puppet clock that plays every hour.
- Afternoon · Arthur Rimbaud Museum · about 1 hIn the 1626 ducal mill on the Meuse, manuscripts, letters, photographs from Harar and a travel trunk follow the poet born here in 1854.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hôtel de Paris€95 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Trans-Ardennes Greenway free · half a dayA flat, car-free, surfaced path along the Meuse towpath from Givet to Mouzon, past slate-roofed Fumay, Monthermé's rocks, locks and barges.
- Afternoon · Roc la Tour free · 2 to 3 hA jumble of quartzite columns at 408 metres above Monthermé, said to be the Devil's unfinished castle, reached by a steep woodland path.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Le Val de Vence€85 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Les Dames de Meuse free · 2 to 3 hThree rocky spurs above a loop of the Meuse between Laifour and Anchamps, with a steep path along the ridge between viewpoints.
- Afternoon · Lac des Vieilles-Forges free · half a dayA 150-hectare lake in the forest twenty minutes from Charleville, with a supervised sandy beach in summer and an 11 km path around the shore.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hôtel de Paris€95 a night
D4
Day 4
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Rocroi free · about 1 hA five-pointed star of ramparts on the plateau, begun under Henry II and strengthened by Vauban, with streets radiating from the parade ground.
- Afternoon · Sedan Castle · about 2 hBegun in 1424 and enlarged for two centuries, often billed as Europe's largest fortified castle, with vaulted halls, wall walks and Renaissance bastions.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Le Val de Vence€85 a night
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
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Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Baguette: the daily bread, bought fresh from the boulangerie. Ask for a "tradition", made with nothing but flour, water, salt and yeast.
- Croissant and pain au chocolat: breakfast pastries, best in the morning while still warm.
- The cheese course: served after the main dish and before dessert, from Comté to Camembert.
- Steak frites: the bistro standard. Order it "saignant" for rare or "à point" for medium.
- Galettes and crêpes: savoury buckwheat pancakes from Brittany filled with ham, egg and cheese, then sweet ones for pudding.
- House wine: ordered by the carafe or the "pichet" at lunch, and often better value than a bottle.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Say "bonjour" when you walk into a shop, a bakery or a café, and "au revoir" as you leave. Skipping it comes across as rude.
- Lunch runs from about noon to 2pm and dinner starts around 7.30pm. In between, most restaurant kitchens are closed.
- Most shops close on Sunday, and many small towns shut on Monday too. Bakeries and markets open on Sunday morning.
- Do not pay for bottled water at the table: ask for "une carafe d'eau", tap water that is served free with a meal.
- Around the big Paris sights, walk past anyone with a petition or a friendship bracelet. They are there to distract you while someone else takes your wallet.
Getting by
Words that help
English ↔ French
| English | French |
|---|---|
| Hello | Bonjour |
| Thank you | Merci |
| Please | S'il vous plaît |
| Yes | Oui |
| No | Non |
| Excuse me | Excusez-moi |
| Goodbye | Au revoir |
| Do you speak English? | Parlez-vous anglais ? |
| I don't understand | Je ne comprends pas |
| How much is it? | Combien ça coûte ? |
| Where are the toilets? | Où sont les toilettes ? |
| The bill, please | L'addition, s'il vous plaît |
| Help! | Au secours ! |
| Cheers! | Santé ! |
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyEuro (EUR, €)
BudgetAbout €80 a day, mid-range
Best seasonMay to October
PlugC/E · 230V
Tap waterSafe to drink
TippingService is included by law, round up
Emergency112
EntrySchengen area: an ID card or passport for EU citizens, 90 days visa-free for UK, US, Canadian and Australian passports.
HealthNo specific vaccination needed. Check that tetanus, diphtheria, polio and MMR are up to date.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/french-ardennes
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.