After hearing about how tricky it can be to gain access to this site, I figured it should be my aim to get to them as I visit Belgium pretty regularly. Now that the official website has all the relevant information and an exceptionally useful map, mixed with the end of my studies meant that a visit was possible. With the map it was pretty easy to find the site and there are a few small signs to point you there from the village of Spiennes.

We turned up just as a group was going down, so after a brief introduction we followed them down. The mine we visited was 8-10 metres deep and to gain access to it you have a nice climb down a ladder. The main part of the mine was tall enough to stand in and had several different shafts. There were numerous different chambers, and you could see how they were sculpted and where the flint came from, in places there were even marks left by the Neolithic men who dug the flint out.

Our particularly friendly guide was very knowledgeable and described everything we needed to know for a good understanding of these 6,000 year old mines. He also described how tourism in the mines worked. They are open 10 days a year and on average get about 150-200 visitors a year. It was a decision of a local politician in Mons to put the site forward as a WHS. An inspired choice it is not just a run of the mill World Heritage site. He also described some long term aims to explore a few of the other 10,000 mines in the area and potentially to build visitor centres and showcase them in a more tourist friendly way, without making it to "Disney". At the moment the biggest move forward has been to put lights in the main mine.

At the end of the tour we were shown an on going excavation. Then we were shown, and allowed to handle, some of the tools used and produced in the mines. This was a great way to spend a morning and the staff were so friendly and informative. This is a place well of the tourist track, certainly a place I would have even heard of if it had not been for its listing but definitely worth making the effort to get to. A great choice as a World Heritage Site.