Travel Guide to the Waterloo Battlefield

Unlike the United States, meticulously preserved battlefields in Europe are a rarity. Whether one is merely curious or a serious military historian, travelers in Europe searching for the sites where history turned on a day's combat often find little beyond a marker or monument waiting for them. Many battlefields are now suburbs, and the few that aren't bear the scars of centuries of farming. Waterloo, the final battle of Napoleon Bonaparte, is a major exception and serves as inviting day trip for anyone visiting Brussels.

Getting There
Brussels is connected to Waterloo by suburban rail. Depart from Gare du Midi/Zuidstation (the first name is French, the other Flemish) the train station south of the city center for the quickest trip, but the necessary suburban train departs from any of the three train stations in Brussels. The trip takes 25 minutes from Gare du Midi, but up to an hour from the other stations. Get off at Braine l'Alleud station, not Waterloo station. Braine l'Alleud is about a 30-minute walk from Waterloo Battlefield, while the namesake train station is twice that distance. If you cannot walk to the battlefield, call for a taxi upon arrival.

Waterloo Battlefield
Waterloo is a park today, and visitors must pay an admission fee. The basic fee covers admission to and a tour of the battlefield, while slightly more expensive tickets can be purchased to include other related sites and museums. Tickets are available online.

The only major change made to Waterloo Battlefield since 1815 was the erection of the Lion Monument, a massive man-made earthen mount with a lion statue at the top. The mound commemorates where the Dutch Prince of Orange, serving under the British, was wounded. A few trees and buildings have disappeared as well, but the topography remains the same, and much else has been preserved. Visitors can explore the farmhouses of La Sainte Haye and Hougoumont, which were turned into improvised forts by British troops, stalling Napoleon's advance and serving as the center for heated, bloody combat through the battle. Memorials around the battlefield make it easy to find unit locations and the sites of particular actions, making Waterloo more like an American battlefield park than anywhere else in Europe.

After seeing the battlefield, visitors can turn to a gargantuan artistic depiction of the battle itself at the Panorama. This circular building houses a vast 360-foot wide fresco of Waterloo, created by Louis Dumoulin in 1912. Across from the visitors center is a Wax Museum, filled with depictions such as Napoleon's marshals gathered around a map table, the Emperor himself with his Mameluke bodyguard, and statues of other famous Waterloo figures such as the Duke of Wellington and the Prussian general Blucher.