Torgny

Torgny is the most southerly village in Belgium, in the Gaume, and it sits in a pocket of markedly warmer climate than the Ardennes to the north, on a south-facing limestone slope, which shows in the building and the vegetation: houses of pale ochre limestone with low-pitched roofs of curved Roman tiles, a form that belongs to Lorraine and Burgundy rather than to Belgium, and gardens with fig and vine. A vineyard was replanted on the slope above the village in the 1950s and produces wine commercially. A nature reserve on the hillside holds dry limestone grassland with orchids and butterflies at their northern limit. The village is listed among the most beautiful villages of Wallonia.

What you actually see

• Curved Roman tile roofs - a southern building form found nowhere else in Belgium.
• Ochre limestone houses - the pale stone of the Gaume.
• A working vineyard - replanted on the slope above the village.
• Limestone grassland reserve - orchids and butterflies at their northern limit.

When to go

April to October, with May and June for the grassland flowers and September for the harvest. Two hours. Weekends bring visitors to the two restaurants. It is very quiet at other times.

Honest expectations

It is tiny and two hours is generous. There is very little beyond the village and the reserve. Restaurants are few and book out at weekends. Public transport is poor. Parking in the lanes is limited.

Nearby

Orval Abbey is north-west; the French border runs along the valley below.