Mons, Belgium: Self-Guided Walking Tour
Things to Do in Mons: Discover Belgium's Historic City of Culture
If you are looking for things to do in Mons, this historic Belgian city offers a captivating mix of medieval heritage, innovative archives, and lively squares waiting to be explored. Located in the heart of Wallonia, Mons invites travelers to wander through cobbled streets, admire unique architecture, and uncover centuries of local history at their own pace. To help you discover every corner, Neywo provides a free audio guide for Mons featuring 40 narrated places.
What to See in Mons
Belfry of Mons and Historic Landmarks
Rising 87 metres above the city on its highest point, the Belfry of Mons is a defining landmark and the only Baroque belfry recognized by UNESCO. Built between 1662 and 1669, the tower houses a 49-bell carillon and a visitor center with panoramic views. Nearby stands the Chapelle Saint-Calixte, an 11th-century chapel that once served the counts of Hainaut. Close by, the Saint Waltrude Collegiate Church showcases striking Brabant Gothic architecture, featuring 16th-century stained-glass windows and the gilded Car d’or ceremonial carriage used during the annual Doudou procession.
Museums, Archives, and Cultural Spaces
Mons is home to remarkable cultural institutions, beginning with the Mundaneum, often called the “internet of paper.” Developed by Paul Otlet and Henri La Fontaine at the turn of the 20th century, this ambitious archive aimed to gather all world knowledge using the Universal Decimal Classification. For art and history enthusiasts, Beaux-Arts Mons (BAM) offers fine arts exhibitions stemming from a 1885 legacy, while Maison Losseau presents a stunning neoclassical exterior concealing a meticulously preserved Art Nouveau interior designed by Paul Saintenoy.
Military History and Archaeological Sites
The Mons Memorial Museum, housed in a former 1871 water-pumping complex, explores the region’s military conflicts from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century through personal testimonies of soldiers and civilians. A short distance away, the Neolithic flint mines of Spiennes preserve thousands of ancient extraction pits across more than one hundred hectares, recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for their archaeological importance.
Historic Churches and Architectural Heritage
The city’s architectural fabric also includes Saint Elizabeth’s Church on Rue de Nimy, which evolved from a 14th-century chapel into a Gothic and later Baroque structure. Visitors can also admire the Hôtel du Blanc Lévrier, constructed in 1530 and classified as exceptional heritage, alongside Saint-Nicolas-en-Havré Church, which features an 18th-century organ case protected among Belgium’s historic monuments.
Explore Mons with Neywo
To make the most of your visit, download Neywo and explore with a Mons audio guide that turns your smartphone into a personal storyteller. The app includes 2 walking tour(s) and 1 bus route(s). You can choose the Belfry Hill and the Counts of Hainaut walk (1.81 km, 83 min, 8 stops), the Grand-Place, Art Nouveau and the Internet of Paper walk (2.35 km, 110 min, 12 stops), or the Mons Centre Loop bus route (3.4 km, 15 min, 7 stops). Each story plays automatically as you reach the place, letting you walk at your own pace with no group and no schedule. Narration is available in 11 languages, making it easy to dive deeper into the heritage of Wallonia and nearby destinations like Charleroi, Tournai, Namur, Dinant, Rochefort, and Liège.
Places with an audio guide in Mons
8 places in Mons with a Neywo audio guide. Each one starts telling its story as you reach it.
Self-guided tours in Mons
3 tours in Mons, free in the Neywo app. Each stop tells its story as you reach it.
- Bus ride
Mons Centre Loop: Memorial, Mundaneum and the Belfry Hill
The TEC CityR circles Mons's historic centre every 15 minutes, linking the railway station with the Grand-Place. Ride it from the war memorial museum past the Mundaneum, Maison Losseau and the Théâtre royal to the foot of the Belfry and the collegiate church, and hop off wherever you like.
Mons Memorial Museum · Mundaneum · Maison Losseau · Théâtre royal de Mons · Belfry of Mons · Saint Waltrude Collegiate Church …
Open this tour: Mons Centre Loop: Memorial, Mundaneum and the Belfry Hill - Walk
Belfry Hill and the Counts of Hainaut
Climb the hill that gave Mons its name and meet its UNESCO Baroque belfry, the Gothic church that carries the golden Car d'Or in the Doudou procession, and the 11th-century chapel of the Counts of Hainaut's lost castle. Then drop through museums of Napoleonic clocks and forgotten abbeys down to the last tower of the Val des Ecoliers.
Muséum régional des Sciences naturelles · Musée Chanoine Puissant · Chapelle Saint-Calixte · Belfry of Mons · Saint Waltrude Collegiate Church · Museum François Duesberg …
Open this tour: Belfry Hill and the Counts of Hainaut - Walk
Grand-Place, Art Nouveau and the Internet of Paper
From the museum on the old water-pumping site to the Grand-Place with its 1530 townhouse and neoclassical theatre. Pass the Art Nouveau house on Rue de Nimy and finish at the Mundaneum, the paper-card search engine that dreamed of cataloguing all human knowledge.
Mons Memorial Museum · Musée Espace Terre et Matériaux · Halle des Pelletiers · Hôtel du Blanc Lévrier · Fontaine du Ropieur · Théâtre royal de Mons …
Open this tour: Grand-Place, Art Nouveau and the Internet of Paper
Walk Mons with Neywo
Neywo turns Mons into a self-guided audio tour. Stories arrive as you reach the place they belong to, and the route reshapes when you wander off it.
