Randonnées Etalle (Belgique)

A beautiful gravel route with varied landscapes and stunning views. It’s a chance to pass by Orval Abbey and perhaps stop off at the Brasserie de La Rulles. This route takes in a variety of surfaces, including roads, farm tracks and forest paths. Please note: the route is quite challenging, with some steep climbs along the way.

What a lovely, enchanting walk! Enter the great Gaume forest. Passing through another beautiful high forest, you’ll follow a magnificent path winding through a secluded valley, where you’ll discover the Trou des Fées right at its heart. This astonishing sand dune is made up of several galleries carved out by natural erosion.

A pleasant walk passing through Montauban, the Fourneau Marchand fish market and crossing the old railway line. In summer, you can enjoy a drink on the terrace at the Fourneau Marchand!

The magnificent Thibessart Pond, on the Mandebras Stream, features a bird and dragonfly observation point. An educational trail has been created there, focusing on dragonflies.

Start at the Ermitage de Saint-Léger, continue towards the Trou du Pérou and its waterfall, pass by the Étang du Fourneau David, then the Source Pétrifiante, and finish by crossing the Bois de Saint-Léger.

After reaching the Château du Pont d’Oye, the walk begins with a pleasant route through the woodland, skirting the ponds before moving away from them to join a secondary gravel road. This takes us over hill and dale through the forest up to the heights of Martelange, a border town between Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

For this second stage, if the cockerel wakes us up early enough after a night’s camping on the farm, we’ll have no trouble packing up the tent and cycling the 30 km to Chassepierre,We’ll even be able to visit Orval Abbey halfway there. We’ll be cycling through the forest for most of the way.

This second stage can be covered in a morning, leaving you free to enjoy an afternoon swimming in the Semois and/or a walk around its meander. If you’ve come to attend the street arts festival, you’ll have time to pitch your tent and grab a bite to eat before the first show on Saturday afternoon.

Circular in the Anlier forest starting from Habay-la-Neuve, discovering the various ponds used for the forges.

Starting from Bellefontaine, a small village in the Gaume region, this is a lovely walk through the forests of Gaume to Meix-devant-Virton, following both sides of the Chevratte valley. Along the way, you’ll discover the Gros Cron (a remarkable geological formation in the Belgian Gaume) and its spring.

This walk is simply intended as a chance to recharge your batteries in the forest, in this case the Neufchâteau forest. Passing through the Forges de Mellier and the Étang du Cul de l'Oie.

The route is mainly through woodland. Choose autumn for the colours or a sunny day to enjoy the scent of pine trees warmed by the sun. A moderate hike in terms of length, with no difficulties to be expected.

For families out hiking, curious holidaymakers, and forest lovers… Starting from the heart of the Anlier Forest, the forest visitors’ route takes you along the most beautiful paths and tracks to meet those who experience the forest on a daily basis. After a stop at the landscape viewing platform, you’ll encounter life-size sculptures of characters typical of the forest throughout this 10-kilometre walk. Through information panels, they’ll tell you about their passion and their work, as well as how they go about sharing this precious environment. One by one, you’ll come across the forest ranger, the red deer, the timber merchant, the hunter, the woodcutter, the forager, the logger, the hiker, the mountain biker and the naturalist. And perhaps some other unexpected encounters… Keep your eyes peeled – even in the deepest silence, life is everywhere in the forest!

Gaume, this beautiful hilly region in southern Belgium, is known for its mild climate. However, I have no idea if the area is popular with hikers... There are hiking markers all along the route. It is possible that you will encounter few or no people.

Leaving Meix-devant-Virton via roads with light to moderate traffic and arriving in Halanzy via similar roads does not mean the entire route is like this. No, there are quiet country lanes with beautiful views, farm tracks that turn into woodland paths, and a steep downhill stretch through a neighbourhood of holiday homes. And then there’s the River Ton, which sets the tone in its valley, along with more unexpected and unlikely paths and tracks. As I’m staying with a local, my stopping point is open to chance.

A pleasant walk in Gaume, even in gloomy weather, through countryside and forests.The route begins by climbing up to the plateau overlooking Rachecourt before descending into the depths of the Batte valley.After the small reed pond, the route crosses the country ridge before descending to Battincourt, where the playground offers a few benches and a welcome picnic table.In Battincourt, the walk follows the marked "Les Sept Sources" trail in the opposite direction until just beyond the Battincourt ponds.On the way back, the route passes through a lovely arboretum!Please note that some sections, such as the Bois de Pertot, can be very muddy.

After a detour via the Etang de Tattert, you’ll traverse the first Lorraine cuesta – also known as the Sinémurian cuesta – discovering its sandy soil, rocks and steep-sided paths.

A gentle walk through a forest with a variety of habitats and landscapes. Ideal for a half-day of exploration!

A peaceful route through woods and valleys. The Anlier Forest covers over 7,000 hectares. It is the largest contiguous beech forest in Belgium. It is here that the black stork has made its grand return to Wallonia, after a century of absence.

This very natural route takes you on a journey of discovery through the wooded hills on the border between the Batte (Belgium) and Coulmy (France) valleys.Anyone with even a passing interest in the region's industrial history will also discover its mining and steel-making past, highlighted by the Transfrontier Iron Mines Trail and a number of information panels along the route.The trail passes by some of the iron mines that brought prosperity to the region in the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as the Musson slag heap, which over time collected all the slag from the mines on the Musson and Halanzy sides. Now cleaned up, it has been turned into a nature reserve managed by the DNF (Nature and Forestry Division).

We are on the Ardennes plateau, the terrain is not steep, and we can admire the beautiful Ardennes countryside. Basically, we are circling around the relay antenna used to broadcast television programmes. It is a haven of peace and tranquillity. We did it in ideal weather conditions, but you should expect the harsh, windy climate of the Ardennes, where we often have snow in winter.

As the weather is set to be rainy with thunderstorms all day, I’m sticking to the main roads – even the major routes – to get to my destination for the day, Habay-la-Neuve, as quickly as possible. I’m staying in a hotel in the town. The stop (E) is therefore at my discretion.

This route straddles a linguistic border, the one that divides Belgian Lorraine into two cultural zones. To the west lies the Gaume, characterised by Gaumais, a Lorraine dialect of Latin origin. To the east, the Pays d’Arlon is characterised by a Germanic dialect, Moselle Franconian. The place-names, sometimes Latin and sometimes Germanic, allow you to trace the course of this cultural boundary.

Chapels to explore in the villages of Parette and Nothomb, a state-owned nature reserve in the Nothomb Valley to cross, and border marker 151 to find in the middle of the woods: this is what’s on offer on this circular walk starting from the village of Nothomb.

Set off to explore the magnificent landscapes between the Ardennes and Lorraine, from the Marais de Grendel Nature Reserve to Colpach Castle with its permanent sculpture trail, Colp’Art.

This pleasant walk starting from the village of Parette invites you to discover the idyllic landscapes of the Nothomb Valley. The route descends gradually towards the stream, winding its way through green meadows, country hedgerows and small copses typical of the southern Ardennes. Following the course of the stream, the path offers beautiful views of the surrounding countryside and allows you to enjoy the tranquillity of this unspoilt valley. The walk then reaches the outskirts of the village of Nothomb, known for its rural heritage and authentic setting. The return journey to Parette takes you up through the hills. After a steady climb, the route reveals magnificent panoramic views of the valley you have just walked through and the rolling landscapes of the Pays d’Arlon. This ascent offers a striking contrast to the intimate atmosphere of the valley floor, before you reach the starting point in the heart of the village.