Arlon

Arlon was Orolaunum, a Roman settlement on the road from Reims to Trier, and it competes with Tongeren for the title of oldest town in Belgium. What makes it worth a stop is the Archaeological Museum, which holds one of the more important collections of Gallo-Roman funerary sculpture north of the Alps: carved blocks from monumental tombs showing scenes of daily life, travellers, shops, meals, farm work and mythological subjects, recovered from the late Roman town wall where they had been reused as building material. The town also has remains of that wall, a Roman bath house under a modern building, and a hilltop church on the site of the Roman citadel with a view into Luxembourg and France.

What you actually see

• Gallo-Roman funerary reliefs - daily-life scenes carved on tomb blocks.
• Reused sculpture from the town wall - where the carvings survived.
• Roman bath remains - excavated beneath a modern building.
• The hilltop church and view - the Roman citadel site above the town.

When to go

April to October. Half a day. The museum closes on Mondays and has limited hours. Arlon is on the main line to Luxembourg, which makes it an easy stop.

Honest expectations

The town itself is unremarkable and the museum is the reason to come. Museum labelling is in French. Roman remains above ground are fragments. There is little else for a visitor.

Nearby

Torgny and the Gaume are south-west; Luxembourg City lies east.