Tournai; Saturday, 13 June, 2026

I had a quick breakfast in the hotel before checking out and heading down to Lille Flandres station to pick up the train over to Tournai. Once again it was a very smooth journey and a little before 10:30 I was already off of the train and starting to explore the city.

My first stop was to head into the series of parks that follow a curve around the outside of the heart of the city centre, almost as if they are the remnants of old fortifications, which of course they are. The most obvious of these is the Tour Henri VIII or Tower of Henry VIII which was built by the English King during the six year period that Tournai was an English city, before Henry sold it back to the French.

From the parks it was a short walk down to the Scheldt river that runs through the heart of the city and the Pont des Trous or Bridge of Holes, so named for all the times the bridge has been knocked about. The bridge is originally 13th century, though the central span was deconstructed and rebuilt to a wider width between 2019 and 2023 to enable larger ships to pass along the river, so to some extent the bridge element is actually a 21st century bridge. It’s also still under military control so there is no actual access onto the bridge, meaning you have to make use of one of the other crossings to actually get over the river here.

From the bridge I had a long wander through the heart of the old town taking in a couple of the former towers of the city walls that are still visible in a few places, as well as popping into the impressively bulky Église Saint-Quentin which dominates the western end of the Grand Place, which was my next stop – not least of all as it’s home to a large number of cafés and restaurants and by now it was fast approaching 13:30 and I was feeling hungry.

After a very nice lunch in a café on the square I continued my exploration of the Grand Place, which at any other time would have included climbing up the Belfry to take in the views over the city, but due to weather damage the tower was closed at the time of visiting so I had to remain at ground level. From the belfry it’s only a short walk over to the Cathedral or to give it it’s full name the Cathédrale Notre Dame de Tournai, which itself was undergoing heavy restoration so I was only able to see a small part of this impressive building which, with its five towers, dominates the skyline of the city.

By now I was well past the start of check-in for my hotel room so I headed over there to check-in, drop off my bag and freshen up, before heading out for a bit more of an explore of the city, first by visiting the Tourist Information Centre to head down into their basement to look around an original medieval cellar and then to head over to the grounds of the Hôtel de ville de Tournai and it’s very pretty park.

I had a bit more of a wander around the city centre before heading back to the hotel for a little while and then popping out a bit later to grab some dinner.

After dinner I had a bit more of a walk around the city, taking in the views as the late evening sun started to set and dusk settled on the city, before heading back to the hotel to rest my feet which by now had passed through the 25,000 step mark and were actively making their displeasure known.