Gallo-Roman Museum

Delve deep into Belgium’s Roman past at the award-winning Gallo-Roman museum in Tongeren.

Head over Tongeren’s Gallo-Roman museum and find out how the Neanderthals, Celts, Gallo-Romans and Germans shaped Belgium’s past. Gallo-Roman refers to the Romanized culture of Gaul - aka France in the Roman times, FYI.

Where better to learn about Belgium’s ancient history than in Belgium’s oldest city? Founded in 10BC, Tongeren was once the capital of a huge Roman administrative district called 'civitas Tungrorum'...sound familiar? It was made up of Eastern Flanders, most of Wallonia as well as parts of Luxembourg, France and Germany and the Netherlands. So there’s a lot of history going on here.

In fact, the museum actually takes you right back to Limburg’s prehistory and all the way up to the end of the Roman period, all in a 2000-piece permanent exhibition. Alongside that, the museum holds popular temporary exhibitions, so be sure to check the website to see what’s on when you’re there. Oh, and it won European Museum of the Year in 2011 - the first Belgian museum to get the award, which is pretty cool.

• The main exhibition should take you about 1 ½ hours to explore, so use the rest of the day to check out Tongeren or combine a visit to the museum with a day trip in Limburg.
• Keep the kids occupied with an audio tour made just for them. The “Bob The Diggers Tells” tour, presumably by an archaeologist named Bob, takes little ones through the museum’s history in an entertaining and bite-sized way. But if that doesn’t work to keep them interested, the exhibition still has loads of videos and lifelike historical models.
• Eat like the Romans did! Head over to Bistro Bacchus to enjoy a Roman-style meal or get a bite to eat before enjoying the rest of the city.
• In a large group? Want to know even more? You can book a guided tour with an experienced guide for 60 euros. The group can even choose some of the objects they’re most interested in and the guide will tailor the tour around your favourite picks.

If you want a dose of ancient history outdoors, check out the museum’s guide to Limburg’s important archaeological sites.