The Battle of Waterloo in Belgium + The Hougoumont Farm

We left off in our Europe post series with our day at Verdun, France, exploring memorials and forts. That evening, we drove to our next Airbnb (told you we love them!) which was near Waterloo, Belgium.

Let me take a moment to say that I loved every second we were in Belgium!! The culture is so neat and it was fun spending time in rural AND in urban parts of Belgium! We only got a couple days in Belgium but it was a blast. 🙂

^^ our Airbnb near Waterloo. We had our own little apartment on the side of their family home. It was an energy-efficient, eco-friendly apartment, recently finished – and totally beautiful! ^^

^^ the guys slept downstairs on the sofa bed and Signe and I slept upstairs in the loft. It was a small place but totally perfect for our needs. Plus, we felt like we were sleeping at IKEA – which, admit it, we’ve all wanted to do!! 😉 ^^

We had a bit of a slower morning that day, so I made tea and enjoyed the peaceful scene out the back window while we finalized plans (the name of the game in traveling is flexibility and sometimes things had to be tweaked!).

We drove through a lot of small towns and lots of fields on our way to Waterloo. The Belgian countryside was just gorgeous, and I found myself snapping photos of so many houses and scenes in the tiny towns we passed through!

They had a phenomenal museum in Waterloo! We were really impressed! The Battle of Waterloo was what meant the end of Napoleon Bonaparte’s reign. It’s not a World War I battle, but definitely a must since we were in the area.

The museum had a lot of technology throughout, which really enhanced the experience! They did it so well. They also had a “4-D” video of the battle – meaning, we had 3-D glasses on, plus our seats shook AND when the army campfires were burning during the video, they had the smell of smoke in our little theater! I mean, wow!

We then climbed the 226 steps to the top of The Lion’s Mound next to the museum, and saw much of the surrounding area from up there. The Lion’s Mound was commissioned to be built by King William I of the Netherlands to commemorate the battle and was finished in 1826.