Herve Cheese Country

The Pays de Herve is a plateau of small fields, thick hedges and orchards between Liege and the German border, dairy country for centuries, and it gives its name to Herve cheese, a washed-rind cow's milk cheese made in small squares, orange-crusted and pungent enough to be the strongest-smelling cheese made in Belgium, with a protected designation. It is made in a handful of dairies, some of which take visitors, and eaten locally with dark bread and sirop de Liege, the thick apple and pear syrup also made in the region. The landscape itself is the other draw: a dense network of hedges and standard fruit trees that has largely disappeared elsewhere, crossed by cycle routes on old railway lines.

What you actually see

• Herve washed-rind cheese - the strongest made in Belgium, on its home ground.
• Sirop de Liege - the thick apple and pear syrup eaten with it.
• Hedged pasture and orchards - the bocage landscape the cheese comes from.
• Railway cycle routes - old lines converted across the plateau.

When to go

April to October for the landscape and cycling; cheese is made year round. A day. Dairy visits need booking. Blossom in the orchards falls in late April.

Honest expectations

The cheese is genuinely strong and not for everyone. Dairies that take visitors are few and require arrangement. The landscape is pleasant rather than dramatic. Public transport is poor. Interpretation is in French.

Nearby

Liege is west; the Drielandenpunt lies east.