Solvay Park and the Folon Foundation

The Solvay estate at La Hulpe covers about two hundred and twenty hectares of parkland with lakes, beech woods, meadows and a neo-Renaissance castle built in the 1840s and bought by the chemist Ernest Solvay, whose family gave it to the state in 1963. The park is free and open, used for walking and cycling, and its long views over water and open grass are unusual so close to Brussels. In the estate's farm buildings the Folon Foundation opened in 2000, holding around five hundred works by Jean-Michel Folon, the Belgian artist and illustrator known for watercolours of small blue figures and for poster and animation work, displayed in a sequence of rooms he designed himself before his death, with sculpture in the courtyard and grounds.

The main sights

• The Folon Foundation - around five hundred works in rooms the artist designed.
• A 220-hectare park - lakes, beech woods and open meadow.
• The neo-Renaissance castle - the Solvay house above the lakes.
• Sculpture in the grounds - Folon's three-dimensional work outdoors.

When to go

April to October for the park at its best; the foundation is open year round with reduced winter hours. Half a day. Autumn colour in the beech woods is very good. Weekends are busy with walkers.

Practical notes

The castle itself is not generally open to visitors. The foundation is closed on Mondays. The park is large and the walk from the station takes twenty minutes. Parking fills at weekends.

Nearby

The Sonian Forest is north; Villers Abbey lies south.