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| Namur Citadel and Parliament of Wallonia by the River Meuse |
The Ninth Edition of CAMRA Good Beer Guide Belgium (2026) mentions '... Namur has joined Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp and Brussels on the list of beer tourist must sees'. Previously visited in a cold and damp January 2025, Tim and Meg revisited Namur in May 2026 at the start of a heatwave.
In 2026 we revisited three favourite bars (red diamonds on the map), found two new favourites, appreciated two more (four yellow diamonds) and faced two disappointments.
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| L to R: Views from Citadel to north west and north east from north bank and to south east from east bank |
The Citadel was also revisited and is recommended for views and an interesting downhill walk (apart from an uphill walk, the cheapest access to the top is the hourly LeTec bus 3 from outside the railway station).
Le Bouffon du Roi
On the first night, Wednesday 20 May, after revisiting Barnabeer and the disappointment of finding Barbetta's (pizzeria and home of Babeleir brewery) fully booked, we ended up in
Le Bouffon du Roi for a first visit and final beers.
The Sports Bar, near the University, is dimly lit and spacious inside with a central bar and areas for billiards and table football. There was music playing including local favourites Au Soleil by Jenifer and Brood voor Morgenvroeg by Bart Peeters.
The beer menu features several local options including draught Bertinchamps and bottles of Brasserie du Clocher
Philomene Florale and Brasserie Houppe
Jambes en l'Air. Fresh and aged bottles of
Orval are listed in the Trappist beers section.
Tim enjoyed Bertinchamps Tripel and Paix Dieu Tripel here. There is an outside terrace area at the back which was not investigated on this occasion.
La Schtouff
In Jambes, on the other side of the river Meuse from the city centre,
La Schtouff is at the corner of the quay and the road over the Pont des Jambes. We walked here via
Passerelle l'Enjambée, the pedestrian footbridge which links Namur with Jambes.
With customers sitting outside, there were several free tables inside with views across the river to the Citadel.
Our beers were served with a small bowl of savoury snacks. The music playing featured Ellie Goulding.
The menu card included Bertinchamps
Pamplemousse, Brasserie du Clocher
Philomene Florale, fresh and aged bottles of Orval. Tim enjoyed
La Trappe Blond, his favourite from this Netherlands brewery. The views of passing river traffic from the window tables make a detour to visit this bar worthwhile.
Ravage Beer Bar
At Marche Saint-Remy 10,
Ravage Beer Bar is a new favourite in Namur. It would be even better with an alternative to heavy metal music playing, perhaps the soundtrack varies?!
Our knowledgeable host was keen to match our preferences with suitable beers. The draught offer with some exotic and expensive options did not appeal but the beer fridges hold a wide selection.
Tim chose Turbulence, a hazy NEIPA brewed in Wallonia by
Brasserie des Beaux Jours about 30 km away (€6.30).
As well as brewery signs on the walls there is a striking mural near the front entrance featuring a grim reaper with a tankard of beer in his other hand!
Arsène Café
A second new favourite in Namur is located only 150 metres away at Rue des Brasseurs 19.
With its views of the river Sambre and nice ambience it was surprising that
Arsène Café did not have more customers at 7.30pm on a Thursday evening.
We chose a table opposite the bar with river views.
The clipboard beer menu lists breweries' beers ordered by the distance of the brewery 'as the bird flies'. Tim's
Vulpio Triple (€6.50) was brewed 5km away at Wépion. On leaving, Tim congratulated the barman on the choice of music that included tracks by The Decemberists, The Shins, Starsailor, Built to Spill and Phantom Planet. He was pleased as these were his choices.
Arsène and Ravage are both featured in
CAMRA Good Beer Guide Belgium Ninth Edition.
Barnabeer, Le Chapitre and Chez Juliette
Read about our January 2025 visits to these bars in the
Namur 2025 post.
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| Barnabeer. Street entrance leads to courtyard for steps to bar entrance. |
Le Chapitre and Chez Juliette are both on the small side but
Barnabeer, near the university and railway station, has several spaces and an impressive entrance.
The Barnabeer 'newspaper' lists all the draught and bottled beers. We visited on both evenings of our Namur visit.
We had intended to visit
Le Chapitre on both evenings but it was full on Wednesday for a musical performance. However, it was a pleasure to visit on Thursday and appreciate the unspoilt traditional look of this small bar where the only draught beer is the local Brasserie du Clocher
Philomene Florale.
Near to the cable car base station to access the Citadel,
Chez Juliette is on the south east corner of Place Maurice Servais, with big windows on two sides.
Inside there is a concrete bar, and a mix of furniture. The beer list includes local beers like
Brasserie des Beaux Jours Le Petit Ballot (Bière au Foin brewed with barley malt, wheat malt and hay).
Chez Juliette, Le Chapitre and Barnabeer are all featured in CAMRA Good Beer Guide Belgium (Ninth edition, 2026).
Footnotes
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| Namur station viewed from B&B Hotel |
Direct trains to Brussels, Liege, Dinant, Mons and Luxembourg etc leave from Namur station. The bus station is above the railway station.
Booking in advance is recommended for
Barbetta's (pizzeria and home of Babeleir brewery).
Au Ratin-Tot a beer cafe that closes early, is featured in CAMRA Good Beer Guide Belgium (Ninth edition, 2026) but after a quick look inside we didn't stop for a beer.
The adapted BRUJAZZWKND map above shows stages visited (red) as well as other bars visited (pink) or noted (lilac) that were not involved with the festival.
Staying near Brussel-Noord station, the first beer cafe we walked to, after arriving on Friday afternoon, was Le Cambridge at Rue de Malines, 37. 
The laminated menu includes a good beer range with local options like Taras Boulba and Zinnebir in bottles. 
Tim chose draught Mystic Krieken for his first beer of the day. Features to admire at this beer cafe include the pale wood bar, tables and bentwood chairs. The floor features traditional tiles in three colours.
A previous visit to Le Coq at Rue Auguste Orts 14, in June 2023 had not impressed Tim but as one of the BRUJAZZWKND indoor venues, near Place de la Bourse, it was time for a return visit. 
On a hot day, most customers were outside and the deep interior was not busy. A table between the entrance and the bar was convenient for a chance to see the various blackboards with beer suggestions. 
The laminated beer menu warns 'No cards' and features several Brussels Beer Project bottles. Tim chose Westmalle Duo, a guest draught reasonably priced at €4 for 25cl. Meg was offered a choice of tea bags from a wooden display box to add to her glass mug of hot water (€2.50). Reggae music was playing which suited the weather. Tim now understands why Le Coq is a favourite Brussels beer bar for many.
C-RHYMS was Friday's lively first act on the Omer stage in the Place de la Bourse. This was the hip-hop strand of jazz with some breakdancing. 
After C-RHYMS memorable set, we moved to nearby Les Halles Saint-Gery where a soundcheck was in progress for Big Dave & The Dutchmen, the first of The Busker Blues Sessions. Super 8 Flandrien from the bar reinforced it's impression as one of Tim's Belgian favourite beers. 
James Stevenson, Tim's Brussels-based friend, had recommended Cafe Bizon. On Friday evening, we found a table inside, near the entrance before the start of Friday's set by Bruno Deneckere & Kathleen Vandenhoudt (Sharing the Blues - Duo) as part of BRUJAZZWKND. With an Americana style, their music has been described as 'Belgicana' but the songs are in English.
The central bar leaves only limited seating space at high tables on either side but there are more tables upstairs. Tim liked Cuvée Devillé by Den Herberg (6.2% ABV, €5) which has been described as an 'Orval clone' and is fermented with Brettanomyces yeast.
Cafe Bizon has traditional furniture, exposed brick walls and a beamed ceiling where gig tickets are pinned up, reinforcing the beer cafe's reputation as a live music venue. 
Later on Saturday, James led us to nearby Beer Capital, Boulevard Anspach 89, which has multiple screens for sporting events. On another hot day, the Happy Hour offer of 50cl Jupiler for €3 or 50cl Stella Artois for €3 was appealing. 
The Le Corbusier inspired concrete bar was the main reason for a visit to Barbeton, Rue Antoine Dansaert 114, on Saturday. 
A review in The Bulletin mentions that the bar opened in 2012 as a Frédéric Nicolay project. 
For the first beer on a hot Saturday, Stella Artois seemed appropriate, especially as the beer menu was rather limited.
Earlier, we had passed Au Derby (formerly Au Daringman, closed until 3pm) and Au Laboreur (open), both on Rue de Flandre.
A visit to Quai Au Foin / Hooikai, the filled in 'Hay Wharf' of the old Port of Brussels, allowed a close look at the Wim Delvoye sculpture 'Concrete Truck' (2013). 
As well as public artworks, Brussels is also a good city to find street art and we passed two examples before reaching Barbeton.
Formerly Cafe Monk, the brown cafe reopened in 2024 as Billie after refurbishment and with a house IPA brewed by Belgoo in the south of Brussels. 
Belgoo Blomekei and Saisonneke Extra were also available on draught when we visited.
We visited Billie several times over the weekend and it became a favourite Brussels bar. It was nice to be able to order at the bar. The BRUJAZZWKND performance we enjoyed here was by Trikosis (Sunday 3pm, soundcheck in photo above), a band from the Netherlands who describe their style as 'East European traditional music arranged in a crazy trikoway and own gipsyklezmerstyle songs'. 
The long bar looks good at night with coloured shelves and overhead globe lights. 
In the daytime it's easier to appreciate the marble topped bar, the traditional bar furniture and floor tiles.
Near the Bourse, at Rue Antoine Dansaert 6, L'Archiduc is 'Brussels' Iconic Art Deco Bar' founded in 1937. 
Listed as number 1 in BRUJAZZWKND indoor venues, we arrived after the start of Sunday's 5pm session with Belmondo - Maillard Duo but a few seats were still available at balcony level. The latest album by the French jazz musicians Thierry Maillard (piano) and Stéphane Belmondo (Flugel Horn) is QR CODE 2. 
There is a small bar downstairs and table service.
The short beer list includes a range of beer styles and includes the rarely available dark Trappist Westvleteren 12 (€16). Art Deco and Jazz enthusiasts should obviously visit this bar when in Brussels.
Between the Bourse and the Grand Place, it was nice to see an blackboard on Rue du Marche aux Herbes at the entrance to the gated alley, with an ornamental metal arch and sign, which leads to A l'Imaige Nostre-Dame, indicating that the historic Estaminet had reopened after a period of closure. 
On our visit, at opening time on Sunday (12 noon), we were greeted by Martin who explained the history of the building, originally a place of detention with prisoners kept in the cellar who would offer prayers to an image of 'Our Lady'. The Estaminet was founded in 1884 in a building that dates back to 1682.
Martin mentioned that the property had been redecorated and suggested we had a look at the two rooms upstairs. 
The oppportunity was also taken to take photos downstairs before more customers arrived. Orval was Tim's choice for the first beer of the day.
As with L'Archiduc, premium prices e.g. Orval €6.80 can be justified for the special surroundings and service. Only the music playing (e.g. Eurovision 2026 winner - Bangaranga) struck the wrong note here!
À la Bécasse, Rue de Tabora 11, only 50 metres away, has a similar gated alley for access and is also recommended for special surroundings and service.
One final brasserie to mention is Le Corbeau which we walked past late on Friday night returning to the hotel near Brussel-Noord. Previously visited in daytime, it is featured in a June 2024 blog post and is one more establishment due a return visit.
All three bars are recommended and the tradition of a Lasagne meal on a visit to Poechenellekelder was maintained!
