Once a grimy, insignificant, coal-mining backwater, Genk is today a surprisingly green city featuring a garden-city design, quiet park-filled suburbs, and marshland nature reserves, with Hoge Kempen National Park nearby. While the last coal mine closed in 1988, the miners and their families from all over Europe remained, making both Genk and its gastronomic offerings very diverse indeed. Learn about the city’s past at the Bokrijk indoor-outdoor museum with some fascinating 18th-century buildings, churches, and farms. Learn about coal mining in Genk first-hand by visiting one of the old coal mines such as André Dumont. Take a hike or a bike ride through beautiful Hoge Kempen National Park. Explore the unique outdoor museum of sundials, the only one of the kind in the world, at the Genk Sundial Park.