Choose your nest
Five nests. One marsh. One rule: take your time.
The five nests of Les Nids des Marais sit in the same marsh, at the Moulin de Biron in Ciney, and yet no two are alike. One overlooks a stream, another opens onto a one-hectare reed bed, a third hides among the reeds. All five are transparent, all five sleep two, all five let the sky in — but each has its own character. The choice usually comes down to three things: the season, whether you're bringing a dog, and whether you want to sleep genuinely under the open sky.
What all five nests share
Each nest sleeps two, with heated bedding, bath linen, crockery, a kettle, a welcome tea and three power sockets. Each has its own deck, a basin, a dry toilet and an outdoor drinking fountain outside the frost season. Breakfast is included with every stay. None of the nests is air-conditioned: natural ventilation and the shade of the trees do the work, and marsh nights stay cool. Rates start at €175 a night, and booking direct remains the best rate.
How to choose your nest
To sleep truly under the stars: La Mésange
La Mésange is the only nest whose roof opens. Raised on stilts above its small pond and lulled by the waterfall linking the two ponds, it offers the most open night of the five. It's also the most affordable, from €175 a night. In return it has neither an indoor stove nor an outdoor fire: book it from late spring to early autumn.
For a winter stay beside the stove: La Sarcelle, La Bécassine, Le Milan Royal
These three have an indoor wood stove and an outdoor fire area, with a bag of logs available at extra cost. They are what make the marsh liveable in November as in February, when mist rises off the pond at first light.
To bring your dog: La Sarcelle, La Bécassine, Le Milan Royal
The same three nests welcome pets. As the marsh is a high biological value area, we simply ask that you keep your companion close to you on the paths.
To be closest to the water: Le Martin Pêcheur and Le Milan Royal
Le Martin Pêcheur is bordered by a stream you cross on stepping stones to reach your private fire area; with attention and a good deal of patience, you may glimpse the kingfisher that gave the nest its name. Le Milan Royal, sheltered by a centenary oak, opens onto a private pontoon where breakfast is served above the water, facing the waking marsh.
For the deepest immersion: La Sarcelle
A double transparent nest, a boardwalk winding through the reeds, a private beach at the water's edge. This is the nest most wrapped up in the marsh, where nothing remains in view but reeds and sky.
Where the nests are
The five nests stand at the Moulin de Biron, rue du Moulin de Biron 44, 5590 Ciney, province of Namur, Belgium. Allow around thirty kilometres from both Namur and Dinant, and about an hour and fifteen minutes from Brussels. The site is a high biological value area: the nests were placed so the landscape would forget them, not the other way round.