RIVEO Hotton

"Its nice but very small. You'll walk through in about half an hour."

Sanne van Straalen

"We visited Riveo Centre with two adults and two kids (€24 total). The indoor educational section about animals was fun and informative for children, with plenty of interesting facts. However, some animal displays were placed too low, requiring even kids to bend down to see them, raising them closer to child eye level would improve the experience.

After that, we moved on to the aquarium, but unfortunately, the outdoor tanks had very murky water, making it hard to see anything clearly.

Since it was a rainy day, we didn’t explore the garden area.

If you’ve already visited any partner locations, they offer discounted entry per person, which is good to know."

Ahmet K.

"We were looking for something to do for a couple of hours as a family and came across this.
It's a smallish venue, as part of a converted house and grounds. Our expectations were moderate and I'd say they were met and maybe a little more.
The exhibition which takes up two floors of the house is well designed with various information boards and some interactive elements. All the information is available in 4 languages (FR, NL, D, EN). The exhibition about the concept of invasive and alien invasion species in Belgium (and wider) was thought provoking and raised a lot of questions with our kids (8 & 11) who are nature lovers. They were both able to understand enough to care about the challenge and, as a result, we as a family, had some discussions around why it matters and what should be done. I thought the way the exhibition made this accessible to them and communicated it helped make this possible and therefore was well thought out and interesting.
The exhibition is not huge, it takes about 30 mins to walk round.
The kids were excited for the aquarium, but this was a single room outside with ultimately 3 or 4 tanks with local species in. Again, interesting to see these species, but do not come expecting a large "aquarium" like you would at a zoo, this is a smaller area dedicated to bringing you face to face with native fish.
The garden (of gardens, there are 3 themes across one large garden), were very charming and perfect for a sunny afternoon. You can enjoy your lunch in the garden and then take part in mini golf (extra fee for this). It's a quaint concept, with the course weaving itself though the whole garden, with 18 holes. It's not a flashy gimmicky course with big structures, it is relatively simple in design, but each hole comes with a unique challenge and some are quite clever. It is pleasant enjoyable fun in the garden, charming probably being the best word. Half way through the course enters a mini labyrinth in the garden, and a couple of the holes must be located by searching through the maze to find them. A bit confusing as they appear to get jumbled up, but once you get the idea, it is fun. The maze is not big and you can easily navigate through it.
Overall, by the time we'd spent 3 hours there, everyone agreed it had been educational, fun, and relaxing. If you have a few hours to spare in Hotton and you're looking for a relaxing family time, this is a brilliant stop. Probably best to enjoy on a warm dry day to make the most of the garden as otherwise the inside bits will not take a great deal of time.
The staff we spoke to at reception were very friendly and helped us, speaking in English when needed and making us feel welcome. Definitely glad we visited."

Alisdair Cunningham