Butte du Lion Wallonia

Waterloo’s most arresting sight is a steep, grassy cone topped by a massive bronze lion. It commemorates, incredibly, not victory nor the glorious dead but Prince William of Orange, wounded on this spot while co-commanding Allied troops. Building the mound took two years: women carted up soil in baskets. Climb 225 steps and survey the battlefield’s deceptively minor undulations that so fooled Napoleon’s infantry. Admission is included with entrance to Memorial 1815, through whose visitor centre the hill is accessed.