Railbikes of Molignée

Riding a railbike through the Molignée valley is so much fun with kids – especially if you add the Maredsous abbey and the restaurant with a playground there!!

Routes

There are three routes available:

• A. Falaën to Maredsous, 6km
  About 3.5 hours or 1.5-2 hours if you skip the Maredsous abbey
• B. Warnant to Falaën, 8km
  You don’t get visit the Maredsous abbey with this option, about 1.5-2 hours
• C. Warnant – Falaën – Maredsous, 14km
  About 5.5 hours or 3.5 hours if you skip the Maredsous abbey

Which route to choose?

You can pick the 6km or the 14km route, depending on how old your kids are and how confident you are that you are going to enjoy it.

In general, with younger kids I would recommend the 6km route and with older the 14km route. The route I would NOT recommend to anyone is the 8km route, because you don’t get to visit the Maredsous abbey

We did the 14km route and it takes about 5.5 hours with visiting the Maredsous abbey and enough time to have lunch there at the kids-friendly restaurant (there is a playground right next to it)

Is pedaling the railbikes easy? Can one adult manage?

Yes, pedaling is easy and only one adult can manage with another adult and two kids sitting.

However, on our first trip, we had an extremely hard time pedaling the railbike with two adults. We were huffing and puffing and we still couldn’t blow the house down – oops, I meant we couldn’t move fast. We changed railbikes with another couple because we were slowing them down, only to find out that there was a mechanical issue with our railbike! With the new railbike only one of us had to pedal and it was much easier. If you find pedaling too hard, you might want to consider that the specific railbike is faulty

You can also pedal with a toddler in your arms, but we definitely don’t recommend it 🙂

Practical tips

• There are two seats for pedaling and 2 for relaxing and enjoying. Kids should be able to sit or you can use a car seat for younger kids
• The railbikes have specific times they leave each station, as they do the exact same route on your way back, thus there are specific departing times
• It’s downhill on the way back, so much easier to reach the starting point
• If you are doing the 14km route, don’t get back at 14.00. You will need to wait for the next railbike to start at 15.00 at the mid point, so you’ll waste an hour waiting
• Keep the receipt at all times, as that’s your ticket and they will ask you for it on the way back to get the railbike
• This is a wheelchair friendly activity! You can attach the wheelchair to the railbike
• You could take a stroller with you, if it’s small when folded
• Each railbike is for 4 people (kids over 6 years old count as a person for this purpose)
• Cost per railbike:
  EUR 22 for each of the short routes (6 or 8km),
  EUR 44 for the 14 km route
• Reservation is obligatory.-You can make a reservation (latest 12 hours before the ride) here

How to reach Maredsous Abbey

The walk from the railbike station to Maredsous abbey can be done in two ways:

• A. going through a tunnel, and then you have two options,
  • A1. there is the option to go from the paved road (stroller friendly, wheelchair friendly, you can see a small château on your way which is not accessible) or
  • A2. take the small path after the tunnel and right before the little bridge (you see the small château from afar),

• B. choosing to go from the road, which is a bit faster and not as nice
• You can also do both A1 and A2 which would give variety on the way up and down

Kids friendly restaurants and snacks

There is a restaurant with a playground at the Maredsous Abbey, which we recommend as it’s in the middle of the trip and very convenient
Abbaye de Maredsous & le centre d’accueil Saint-Joseph
Rue de Maredsous 11, 5537 Denée
https://goo.gl/maps/nKAEthekZFZtdZiK7

Take away food and drinks at La Heronniere (next to the starting point of 6km, which is also the mid point for 8 and 14 km)
La Heronniere
Rue de la Gare 87, 5522 Onhaye
https://goo.gl/maps/AwXorB2mjkGA4PtQ8

Ice creams at the ticket station in Falaën

Parking

There is free outdoor parking at the starting points of each route. See below for details

Address

About 1 hour 15 minutes drive from Schuman, Brussels (3 hours by public transport)

There are two starting points depending on which route you are doing:

• Falaën (6km)
  82 Rue de la Gare, 5522 Falaën (Onhaye)
  https://goo.gl/maps/yoEoCVPR8JCcu1C68
• Warnant (8 and 14km)
  116 Rue de la Molignée, 5537 Warnant (Anhée)
  https://goo.gl/maps/ouBPi1WT2e8nKUDFA

Nearby

Dinant is one of the most beautiful cities in Wallonia and is absolutely worth a visit. You can climb up the citadel with a cable car and enjoy a river cruise. There are so many fun activities for families around Dinant, such as a treasure hunt in a castle dressed up as a knight or a hike around Roman ruins!

Read our full post on Dinant, what to do around there and where to stay here

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