Stavelot

Stavelot grew around an abbey founded in the seventh century whose abbots were princes of the Holy Roman Empire, ruling a small state with Malmedy until the French period, and the abbey buildings survive in part around a large courtyard, holding three museums: one on the abbey principality, one on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit with historic racing cars, and one devoted to Guillaume Apollinaire, who spent a formative summer here. The abbey church is gone but its foundations are marked. The town's carnival, the Laetare, is held on the fourth Sunday of Lent and is dominated by the Blancs Moussis, figures in long white hooded robes with long red noses who parade through the town throwing confetti and hitting spectators with dried pig bladders.

What you actually see

• The Blancs Moussis - white-hooded carnival figures with long red noses.
• The abbey courtyard and museums - the principality, racing and Apollinaire.
• Marked church foundations - the outline of the vanished abbey church.
• Historic racing cars - the Francorchamps collection in the cellars.

When to go

The fourth Sunday of Lent for the Laetare carnival, which is the town's great event; April to October otherwise. Half a day. Museums close on some Mondays. Carnival weekend fills all accommodation.

Honest expectations

Outside carnival the town is quiet and the museums are the visit. The abbey church no longer exists. Interpretation is in French. The Blancs Moussis genuinely do hit spectators, which not everyone enjoys.

Nearby

Malmedy is east; Coo waterfalls lie north-west.