Durbuy bills itself as the smallest city in the world, a claim based on a charter granted in 1331, and while the title is more marketing than fact, the little town on the Ourthe river in the Belgian Ardennes is a delight. Its old centre, packed into a bend of the river beneath a limestone cliff, is a tangle of cobbled lanes, stone houses and small squares, with a castle above that has belonged to the same noble family for centuries.
The place has a certain polish. The streets are lined with restaurants, chocolate shops and boutiques, and a topiary park nearby shows box hedges clipped into shapes of birds and animals. Weekends and school holidays bring crowds from Belgium and the Netherlands, so the place can feel like a stage set, but mornings and weekdays are calm, and the cobbles, the church tower and the sound of the river are charming.
The Ardennes are a land of forests, valleys and slow rivers, with limestone caves, including the great caverns at Hotton and Han-sur-Lesse. The region also has a darker memory. In the winter of 1944 and 1945, the Battle of the Bulge was fought across these hills, and towns such as La Roche-en-Ardenne, a short ride south, and Bastogne, further on, carry memorials and museums. Cold, snow and fog shaped that battle, and on a grey November day it is not hard to imagine.
Riding here is a pleasure, with the roads following the Ourthe and its side valleys, climbing through beech and oak forest and dropping into small stone villages. Surfaces are generally good, though cobbles in the old towns are slippery in the wet, and Belgian roads can have patches of rough concrete and potholes. The weather is wet and changeable, with rain possible at any time, so pack waterproofs. Weekend traffic is heavy in summer, with cyclists and canoeists on the river.
Durbuy has petrol stations on the edge of town and plenty of places to eat. The Ardennes are known for their ham, smoked and cured, and for local beers and cheeses. A plate of ham, bread and cheese, with a cold beer, is a classic lunch. Parking in the old town is limited, so use the signed car parks and walk in.