Do you, like me, have two wild daughters? Children for whom nothing can ever be adventurous enough? Who only want to be outside, climbing, swimming, jumping and running?
Yes? Then The Outsider in the Flemish Ardennes is THE place to take them for a day out.
Romance in the Flemish Ardennes? Cycling in the Flemish Ardennes, sure, but ADVENTURE in the Flemish Ardennes?
YES WE CAN! The Outsider Vlaamse Ardennen is absolutely bursting with adventurous activities!
The Outsider Vlaamse Ardennen
The Outsider has several locations in Belgium: the Coast, Aalst and Liège. At each location you can do different activities. For us, the Flemish Ardennes stood out because of its swamp trail and cable park for water skiing or wakeboarding.
There's also a beautiful summer bar by the water. And not to forget: a very pretty lake with warm water. As dedicated sun seekers, that warm water really is a thing for us. A frozen Swedish lake is all fun and games until you're lying in it. No, give us warm water any day.
Oh yes! And free parking. Certainly not unimportant!
The Outsider Vlaamse Ardennen can be a budget day out
By spending the summer in Belgium for a year for once, we're noticing all the more how incredibly pricey Belgium can be, and also how you often pay without getting much out of your day out. Since, besides two big daughters, I also have a 1-year-old son, it means I often pay entrance fees to all sorts of parks without being able to enjoy the attractions much.
At The Outsider you don't have this. To begin with, only the person doing the activity pays, and the spectators can come along and cheer for free.
I also appreciate that you don't have to pay for activities you don't (like to) do, only for the ones you find fun. Every package you put together is custom-made and prices start from 6 eur per person.
You have the choice of doing one activity or several, entirely depending on what you feel like and what your budget allows.
There are also food and drink options for all sorts of budgets. There's a restaurant and a bar for a bite to eat or a drink, but also a lovely meadow where you can picnic. And that's not even mentioning the cosy waterside where you can just sit down for free.
Adventurous activities in the Flemish Ardennes for ALL ages
I have a daughter of 14 and one of 10, but also a little one of 1 year. Let's not kid ourselves … that's not an easy combination.
Although the baby goes everywhere with us in the carrier, that's obviously not practical when you're going kayaking, wakeboarding or climbing.
Still, we all found something to our liking at The Outsider. My husband and I took turns looking after the baby. Since most activities only last about an hour, you're never 'alone' for long.
The barefoot trail, by the way, is perfectly doable with a little one. I wanted to do it with him in the carrier, but with a bit of help he did it entirely by himself.
Thanks to the cosy terrace right in the heart of the park, it's also nice to bring grandparents along, for example. They can rest there while cheering on the grandchildren.
Did you know, by the way, that you can also rent a wigwam there to have a sort of 'base camp'?
Activities at The Outsider Vlaamse Ardennen
Although there really are a huge number of activities, we only did a few, still more than enough to fill a day comfortably.
Barefoot trail
We've already done barefoot trails in various places, so we have something to compare with. Completely unanimously, we found it the most exciting barefoot trail we've ever done. There's the dry trail, which is really very easy. If, on the other hand, you choose the wet trail, there's a real chance you'll fall in the water.
Swamp trail
Swamp what? Let's say a wet barefoot trail plus. Where the wet barefoot trail was already fairly adventurous, the swamp trail goes another 10 steps further. The whole trail runs through a swamp with lots of sludge, mud and water. And there's the constant threat of tumbling into the water.
I myself was very careful and always took the easy path, yet I still ended up in it in the end. My daughters went straight for the difficult path and so were quickly wet. Advantage: for the rest of the route they played the daredevil with great glee, because well … they were already wet anyway.
So I'd start with the difficult path straight away, because you'll get wet anyway.
For those who'd still rather do the easy path … you stay together, don't worry. The difficult and easy paths run side by side and you can have a good laugh together.
And afterwards you simply take a good shower.
Pedalo
Yup! A pedalo on the Donkvijver lake. The perfect activity for any age. The Donkvijver is a very beautiful lake and it's best discovered from the water.
And let's be honest … a pedalo is always a laugh. The steering going wrong, that one person who isn't pedalling, the people at the back sitting there giggling.
SUP
A bit of the same story as the pedalo but with a bit more risk of falling in. Although that last part isn't too bad. The Donkvijver is super calm and we actually didn't see any motorised boats (which cause a lot of waves).
The risk of an unpleasant tumble into the water is also really small, given that the lake is extremely warm. Life jackets are compulsory, by the way, even for good swimmers.
Water skiing-wakeboarding-kneeboarding
In the cable park there are two cables. A short straight one that's ideal for beginners. This one has a start and an end, and you have to walk back along a wooden boardwalk.
The second is a round one where you can keep going for as long as you want and are able to. This one is for more advanced water artists.
Since the short one was closed, my ladies started on the long one for their very first time. The first time they were in the water before the cable had even properly got going, but it didn't take long before they started getting the hang of it.
The instructor at the cable also gave good tips every time, which helped them do better with each go.
We truly had a wonderful day at The Outsider Vlaamse Ardennen. The children gave it a 10/10 and can't wait to go back again.
So to give the answer: yes, you can do adventurous activities in the Flemish Ardennes. And what's more, for all budgets and all ages.
