Domain Three Fountains
Domein Drie Fonteinen

A beautiful forest park just a short trip away from Brussels with three pretty gardens.

Stroll the woods, wander the Japanese garden or walk by the canal. Just to make it clear, there aren't actually three fountains here. Yeah, we know. The story goes that there was once a fountain with nozzles in each direction (north, east, etc. you get it!) but as people were coming towards it they could only see three. The name just kinda stuck.

Locals come here for a nice jog or walk around the park. There’s a nearly 5 km route around the park and the nearby sunken paths if that’s more your thing. See the map & GPX file in route details below. The path is suitable for beginners who are jogging or walking, but not for cyclists, wheelchair users or prams. The loop starts in the park but quickly wanders out of it towards the sunken roads of the Tangebeek valley.

Gardens

We recommend dropping by for a relaxing stroll and peak at the different gardens. There’s English landscaping, French garden, and Japanese garden.

• The French garden has one long path leading to the rest of the park, an orangey and a nice view of the stables.
• The English garden was originally 10 hectares and was first laid out in the 60s. It’s changed a bit over the years, but the bridge and pond are definitely still worth a look.
• Japanese garden: turns out that Vilvoorde is actually the sister city of Komatsu in Japan. In honour of the city's friendship, they built a Japanese garden with Japanese style landscaping and décor. Small but pretty!

Other highlights

• Hidden cave: tucked away in the pond, there’s a little cave to the south of the viaduct.
• Sports: the sports areas lie in the north of the park towards Vilvoorde. Plenty of space for football, basketball and more.
• A bit of history: Governor General Moritz von Bissing used the chateau that was once here as his HQ during WWI. Sadly, the chateau no longer exists but you can still see the stables.

Kid friendly: bring the kids along to the park. There’s a playground with a sandpit and climbing areas, plus a 1 hectare field to play in. The playground is located near Beneluxlaan, there’s actually a cute footbridge over to it if you follow along the path from the Beneluxlaan entrance, past the brasserie and French garden.