Circular route between Braine-l’Alleud and Maransart

Site 1815 car park in Braine-l’Alleud – Ring East, exit 25

(S/E) Turn your back on the car park and head to the foot of the Butte du Lion. Turn left in front of the hotel. Continue to the Chaussée de Charleroi and cross the road. Caution: heavy traffic. Use the traffic lights by pressing the button, as the pedestrian light does not turn green automatically!

(1) Take the cycle path opposite, running alongside the cobbled road, Rue du Dimont. At the end of the cycle path, cross the road and take the street running between the house and the former Fichermont monastery. Carry on straight ahead until you reach a small chapel on the right, opposite the corner of the Waterloo golf course.

(2) Turn right and, quite soon after, take the path branching off to the left. At the first junction, take the path on the left. At the end of this path, carry on straight ahead until you reach Route de la Marache.

(3) Turn left. At the first junction, take Rue de Genleau on the right. At the first path on the right, head up the sunken lane. This becomes a road. Pass a beautiful farm on the right and carry on straight ahead along Rue Bois Éloi. Cross Rue Bois Paris. Ignore a path branching off to the right and, further on, another branching off to the left.

(4) Immediately afterwards, take the street on the left, Rue Monument Schwerin. At the next junction, head down Rue Bois Éloi to the right until you reach the Route de l’État, then continue along Rue du Village, opposite. Take the pedestrian crossing 50 metres further on to the left. Cross over the Lasne.

(5) Just before the left-hand bend, follow the GR®126 (Brussels – Membre-sur-Semois), which climbs to the right. It leads into Rue de la Cure. Turn right, then right again onto Rue du Village for about fifty metres.

(6) Turn right towards the Couture-Saint-Germain cemetery. Walk past it on the left, still following the GR® 126. Cross the Route d’Aywiers.

(7) At the ponds, continue to the right. At the junction, go straight on along Rue à l’Eau. Take Rue de Colinet on the right until you reach Route de l’État.

(8) Cross it carefully and head down Rue à Fossant opposite. At the bottom, turn right, then left at the next junction.

(9) Very soon after, continue straight ahead onto the Hubermont path (walk 7, Bois Impérial). Pass through a turnstile to enter a horse pasture, then pass through a second turnstile. Continue straight ahead, then, further on, head diagonally towards the woodland above. Pass through the turnstile and continue along the path. Cut across a private road and continue straight ahead until you reach Rue du Bois Impérial. Follow it to the left.

(10) At the bottom of the street, at the hairpin bend, continue along the path opposite. At the edge of the woods, take a path on the far right between the meadows. In the woods further up, turn left then carry on straight ahead until you reach a driveway leading to a beautiful property.

(11) Follow this track up to the left. At the top, continue to the right along Rue Vieux Manands until you reach the Chaussée de Charleroi, near the last of the ‘Napoléon’ neighbourhoods. Take the cycle path to the right as far as the first junction. Cross the road very carefully; there is no pedestrian crossing and traffic is often very heavy and fast-moving.

(12) Take Rue Chemin de l’Ange Gardien, which further on becomes a country lane. At the junction at the top of the lane, turn right onto another country lane until you reach Rue de la Neuve Cour.

(13) Turn right. At the top, continue left along Chemin de Vieux-Genappe until you reach Chaussée de Nivelles. Turn right, staying on the central reservation, until you reach the roundabout. Go round it on the right, passing in front of the Recypark.

(14) Take the path leading down to the right as you leave the Chaussée de Nivelles. It becomes a footpath and joins the lower part of the Chemin de la Maison-à-Tout-Vent. Follow it back up to the Chemin de la Maison-du-Roi.

(15) First turn right then left to take the path running alongside the ring road. At the bottom of the path, take the Chemin du Goumont on the left. Continue straight on until you reach the Butte du Lion. Head for the car park on the left (S/E).

Food and drink are available at Site 1815 and on the Chaussée de Charleroi just before (12).

Site 1815: Butte du Lion Museum and Hougoumont Farm Museum.