Cassel
Voted« France’s Favourite Village » in 2018, the typical Flemish village, 176m above sea level, overlooks the Plaine de Flandres with open views of Houtland, the Flemish countryside, and as far as the Netherlands on a fine day.
The Flemish village of Cassel, France’s favourite village
In the lower part of the village, the cobbled square is surrounded with « Estaminets Flamands© », little taverns serving mostly Flemish regional dishes, where you can play traditional games and take time to taste the numerous local beers while watching the world go by.
Welcome to Cassel, a great place to spend a day or more with family and friends enjoying culture, nature and good food.
Absolute musts in Cassel
The Musée de Flandre has a collection of Flemish paintings and lots of temporary exhibitions throughout the year.
Moulin de Cassel : «Windmills have been operating in Flanders since the Middle Ages although today they are mostly tourist attractions. Back in the day, wind power was essential to make the main foodstuff for man and domestic animals.
No wind, no flour ! As soon as there was wind, millers unleashed the sails of their mills to grind the grain, no matter what time of day or night ». Moulin de Cassel stands on the top of Mont Cassel at a place called Terrasse du Château.
Brasserie du Mont Cassel : Brasserie du Mont Cassel, 200m from the historic centre, is the newest microbrewery in Flanders. It produces Bière du Reuze, named after the famous Giants of Cassel, Reuze papa and Reuze maman. Shop and tasting on-site.
« Estaminets Flamands© » are spread throughout the village. « These are essential ports of call in Flanders. Estaminets are friendly places where time has stood still. Local beers, typical dishes and traditional games, everything to make you feel at home. »
Jardin du Mont des Récollets
Jardin du Mont des Récollets is also known as 'Wouwenberghof'. Here the formal stiffness of gardens ‘à la Française’ is combined with a huge variety of plants resulting in a Flemish-style garden. The Jardin du Mont des Récollets covers 1.5 hectares and comprises almost 20 gardens which are just like plant tableaux with evocative names : la chambre sur cour, la chambre des berlingots, le jardin des broderies, la chambre de printemps, la chambre du Nord, la chambre des roses, la chambre bleue...
Numerous examples of box and yew topiary are interspersed with wild plants, typical of Flanders, and impressive oak and willow trees. Plant lovers will recognize ophiopogons, leptinellas, glechomas, lamiums, saginas, hydrangeas, crocuses, tulips, grape hyacinths, lilies, gladioli, roses... and also apples ! Through the round windows cut into the box hedges, the wooded countryside of Flanders stretches as far as the eye can see.
Touring the countryside !
Flanders, a paradise for walkers and cyclists.
Cycle around the countryside as your fancy takes you thanks to the network of cycle routes, inspired by the Belgian model. Far from being flat, these are the Monts de Flandres hills ! A map detailing the cycling network (points nœuds) is available from the Office de Tourisme du Cœur de Flandre.
Yes, there are hills here and there in Flanders ! Many of them have places to visit like Mont des Cats and its abbey where beer and cheese are made !
Mont Noir, above the village of Saint Jans Cappel, houses the Parc Marguerite Yourcenar, a protected area rich in wildlife and also a residency for writers. A wonderfully tranquil place…
A personal view of Cassel…
«Cassel for me means sitting at a pavement café overlooking Houtland with a platter of local cheese and charcuterie, washed down with Bière du Reuze »…
How to get to Cassel
From Lille or Dunkerque, take A25 autoroute, exit Cassel
Discover the Nord département and its ‘absolute musts’ with Gites de France Nord : Lewarde Mining History Centre, Lille, Roubaix and the Villa Cavrois, the seaside resort of Malo Les Bains.
