Nationaal Tabaksmuseum

About the museum

The National Tobacco Museum is in Wervik, a border town that grew into the centre of Belgian tobacco cultivation in the twentieth century. Tobacco was already grown here around 1650. After the southern part of the town went to France in 1713, smuggling across the border flourished.

The museum opened in 1987 in the outbuildings of the protected eighteenth-century Briekenmolen. In 2003 it received a new wing, and in 2014 it was completely renewed in view of the commemoration of one hundred years of the First World War. Much of the collection belonged to the vzw Vrienden van het Tabaksmuseum (Friends of the Tobacco Museum), founded in 1981; at the end of 2023 the vzw was dissolved and donated the collection to the museum and the town of Wervik.

The collection comprises more than 12,000 items, including pipes and other smoking equipment, tobacco advertising and objects from cultivation and processing. The permanent exhibition shows around 2,000 objects on 600 m². It tells how tobacco conquered the world, how the crop is grown and what role smuggling and customs played in the border region.

Highlights

• Tobacco use in all its forms: smoking, snuffing and chewing
• A seventeenth-century smoking tavern and a pipe gallery
• A tobacco shop from 1930 and a nineteenth-century smoking room
• Reconstruction of an authentic tobacco factory
• Smuggling stories and tobacco advertising signs of vanished brands

Permanent exhibition

• Permanente tentoonstelling – On 600 m² you see around 2,000 objects about how tobacco conquered the world, cultivation, Wervik tobacco, smoking traditions and the link between tobacco and smuggling.

Founded

1987

Operated by

Stad Wervik

Admission & discounts

Free admission: On the first Sunday of every month, admission is free for residents of Wervik and Wervicq-Sud (France) on presentation of an identity card; this cannot be combined with a guided tour or paid activities.

Holders of Cultuursmakers, Davidsfonds, Femma, Gezinsbond or PasarPas (TrIP) receive €1 off the standard adult rate. Free admission with the MuseumPASSmusées, a teacher, press or guide card, the tourist passport of Riebedebie, for members of the vzw Vrienden van het Tabaksmuseum and for pupils of Wervik schools. There is a social rate via the Steunpunt Vakantieparticipatie; with a UiTPAS at social rate (UiTPAS Zuidwest) you get 80% off. Payment at the counter can be made in cash or by bank card (Bancontact, Visa, Mastercard).

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

Wheelchair users can access the new section with the reception area (lowered, roll-under counter), the spacious exhibition rooms and the adapted toilet (which is rather cramped), on the ground floor of the Briekenmolen and on the ground floor of the old museum wing. The upper floor of the old wing can only be reached by stairs. On the way to the entrance is a narrow, slightly sloping cobbled strip; the threshold of the first entrance door is bridged with a ramp. A reserved parking space for visitors with reduced mobility is about 40 to 50 metres away. Portable stools for a rest break are available. The reception is also a tourist information office with the A label from Toegankelijk Vlaanderen. Assistance dogs and guide dogs are admitted.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide

The museum has games and treasure hunts for children: the game “Charles & de charette” (searching for hidden smuggled goods), “Op stap met douanier Jef” in the border area around the museum, and “Op smokkeltocht met Sos”, an interactive treasure hunt through the museum. Children under 6 enter free.

Getting there & parking

From the A19 motorway, take exit 2A (Wervik-Geluwe, from Kortrijk) or exit 3A (Beselare, from Ieper) and follow the N303 towards Wervik. At the entrance there is bicycle parking and a free charging point for e-bikes; cycle node 12 is nearby. Behind the museum is a landing stage on the Leie for the organised boat tours.

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Museum shop
• Wi-Fi

Free wifi throughout the museum. Next to the museum is the retro inn In den Grooten Moriaen (Koestraat 63a, closed on Wednesdays), with a terrace, regional beer and pancakes. At the counter you can buy tobacco-related publications and other items.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit