Farms and castles around the Thure and Hante rivers

Start this loop at the Roman bridge in Montignies-Saint-Christophe.
This circuit will take you through the countryside and woods, as well as past some characterful buildings between Montignies-Saint-Christophe and Solre-sur-Sambre.
Throughout this loop, you will enjoy exploring all types of terrain and appreciating the rural character of this region.

Details

4822686
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 16.27 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 5h 05 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 154 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 157 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 199 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 123 m

Photos

Description of the walk

Park at the end of the tarmac road, near the Roman bridge.

(S/E) With your back to the Roman bridge, take the path on the right that goes up into the woods, continuing straight ahead until you reach the tarmac road (Chemin de Salins-du-Nord), which is in France.

(1) Turn left onto this road and continue until you reach a four-way crossroads.

2 At the four-way crossroads, turn right towards Berseillies L'Abbaye.

3 You will enter Berseillies L'Abbaye, pass the cemetery, leave a dirt track on your right and arrive at a crossroads with a street leading off to the right (there is a mirror). Take this dead-end street (rue des Wattines). Continue along this street until it ends at a path, then continue along this path.

4 Leave the woods and continue left along the path, following the edge of the woods.

5 At the end of the path, turn left and cross the river.

6 Turn right onto the main road (take care). About 200 m further on, at the start of the bend, take the path that goes up into the woods on your left. Follow this winding path to the edge of the woods.

(7) Turn right. Pass a road and a path on your left and walk to the edge of the next wood.

(8) There, turn left.

(9) At the T-junction, turn right, continue straight ahead and join Rue Jeanne, which you take to the right. Walk until you reach the N40.

(10) Cross the main road with caution; on your left is the Ferme du Clocher. Continue to the next crossroads at the corner of the cemetery. Find the small path to the left of the house in front of you and follow it until you reach a tarmac road.

(11) At this point, on your left, you can see the Château de Solre-sur-Sambre. Stop by if you have time. Turn right onto Rue Pont Bara. Cross the Thure. Cross Rue Esperanto (N55) and take Rue de la Cavée opposite.

(12) At the bend, take the path on your right (Chemin du Tram), which initially runs alongside Rue de la Cavée and crosses the Hante. Follow the red and white markings; you are now on theGR® 129. Stay on the markedGR® trail. You can take a break at the pétanque courts.

Focus on theGR® markings (red and white) and follow them, continuing straight ahead. Cross Rue du Vieux Moulin in Hantes-Wihéries and continue straight ahead until you reach a crossroads.

(13) Leave theGR® and continue straight ahead on Chemin du Tram. Continue straight ahead until you reach a tarmac road, Rue Sainte-Anne.

(14) Take this street on the right. On the way down, admire the castle on your left. Follow Rue Sainte-Anne until you reach the N40.

(14) Cross with caution. Pass in front of the Écuries Modernes, the beautiful square farm, and turn right onto Rue du Château. Continue straight ahead to reach the Roman bridge. Cross it and return to your vehicle (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 145 m - Roman bridge
  2. 1 : km 0.93 - alt. 188 m - Salins-du-Nord Trail
  3. 2 : km 2.73 - alt. 176 m - Four-way crossroads
  4. 3 : km 3.88 - alt. 149 m - Crossroads of Rue de Montignies and Rue des Wattines
  5. 4 : km 4.79 - alt. 165 m - Edge of the woods
  6. 5 : km 5.39 - alt. 143 m - Bridge over the river
  7. 6 : km 5.46 - alt. 138 m - The main road
  8. 7 : km 6.77 - alt. 187 m - Edge of the woods
  9. 8 : km 7.83 - alt. 163 m - Edge of the woods
  10. 9 : km 8.65 - alt. 159 m - T-junction
  11. 10 : km 10.8 - alt. 143 m - N40, Ferme du Clocher
  12. 11 : km 11.37 - alt. 131 m - Tarmac road
  13. 12 : km 12.19 - alt. 139 m - Chemin du Tram on the right. Further on, cross the - Hantes (rivière)
  14. 13 : km 13.77 - alt. 135 m - Abandoned GR®
  15. 14 : km 15.79 - alt. 155 m - N40, Les Écuries Modernes
  16. S/E : km 16.27 - alt. 145 m - Roman bridge

Worth a visit

The Roman bridge and the grotto of the Holy Virgin
La Thure Quarry.
The Bell Tower Farm.
The castle of Solre-sur-Sambre.
The Hante Valley.
The castle of Montignies-Saint-Christophe.
The Modern Stables.

Always be cautious and plan ahead when you're outdoors. Visorando and the author of this route cannot be held responsible for any accidents occurring on this route.

The GR® and PR® markings are the intellectual property of the Fédération Française de Randonnée Pédestre.

Reviews and comments

4.7 / 5
Based on 20 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.6 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.7 / 5
Route interest
4.8 / 5
Samistre
Samistre

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 27, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

Hike completed on Sunday 27/10, starting at 9.30am. The weather was grey but dry...
that's a bit about the conditions..
unfortunately, I didn't find much of interest on this hike, apart from the Roman bridge at the start, then not much else.
a detour to the Château de Solre sur Sambre is a must, and there were a few very pleasant sections nonetheless.
access to the woods at point 6 was prohibited (private property)
So, in summary, quite a lot of tarmac, a busy road to cross, no access, not much of interest, it was a nice walk but nothing more.

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JVS59000
JVS59000

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : May 18, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Thank you for this route. We had a very nice hike without any particular difficulties.
The route was very varied (woods, clearings, countryside) and we were able to admire the Roman bridge and the beautiful castle.
It was a real treat for the eyes!

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jacques.nys
jacques.nys

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 13, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A beautiful mixed countryside and forest walk starting from the superb Roman bridge in Montignies-Saint-Christophe.
Like others, we slightly modified the route to take us to the fortified castle of Solre-sur-Sambre, which is definitely worth a visit.
The sections on tarmac are not a problem, even the one between landmark 7 and landmark 8 on a busy road.
However, it is likely that the route will have to be changed again to remain passable, as the path between landmark 8 and landmark 9 was closed to all traffic (pedestrians, cyclists and motorised vehicles) ... there was no sign at the entrance to landmark 8, but a prohibition sign was clearly visible at the exit of the path at landmark 9.

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gerendo
gerendo

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 29, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Superb hike with many points of interest

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Pascale F.
Pascale F.

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 13, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

At point 9, please note that this is not the first junction of the path with a tarmac road. At this point, you must continue straight ahead along the path until the next junction.
A very nice, varied route to do again in good weather

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mamandine
mamandine

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 03, 2021
Reliability of the description : Not used / Not applicable
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A lovely discovery for us in Belgian Hainaut. We will return to do this hike in different seasons. Use of the GPS track, ultra-precise. Many thanks

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Pat Kodiak
Pat Kodiak

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 30, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Hello everyone,

I would like to point out that on hike 4822686, Farms and Castles around Thure and Hantes, the wooded area between points 2 and 3 is a protected area and therefore OFF-LIMITS...
We met the forest ranger, who was very friendly, and he told us that this section is closed to the public due to an abundance of wild boar, among other things.
We also got lost at the end of the 16 km tram route, which took us 3 hours and 10 minutes, with the last hour spent in pouring rain.
Recommended route. Thank you
Be careful

Kind regards

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CloGe
CloGe

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 30, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A magnificent hike with many points of interest (the Roman bridge at Montignies-Saint-Christophe, the castle at Fort de Solre-sur-Sambre, etc.).
Hike completed in 3 hours.

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Daniel Poley
Daniel Poley

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : May 01, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very beautiful hike with pretty buildings and pleasant views.
We had to change the route between points 2 and 3. The path that goes up into the woods at the bend is closed because it's a quiet zone! (It's not clear whether this is temporary or permanent.) The same goes for all the surrounding trails. We returned to point 2 and crossed the abandoned quarry, following the green rectangle with a white line, which took us to point 3.
From Solre sur Sambre Castle (point 7), we followed the Thure to reach Rue Pont Bara at the bridge on the left...
After point 9, the first tarmac road is not Rue Sainte Anne. It is straight ahead for 2 km...
A hike to be repeated... Including detours, it took us 3 hours 45 minutes, covering approximately 16 km
Daniel

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yves.robette
yves.robette

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 06, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

st Anne Street is not signposted, so we ended up at Le Grand Pré. After turning around and taking a path that leads to La Grande Mée, we reached Montignies-Saint-Christophe. A very beautiful walk that is worth repeating.

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degreved
degreved

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 07, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A superb hike on Sunday, 7 March 2021, with plenty of sunshine. Nature and culture are the highlights of this hike.
We covered the 14 km in 5½ hours, but we took photos and stopped for 15 minutes to have lunch in the middle of nature.
A walk to be recommended!
Splendid.

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vincentsmu
vincentsmu

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 01, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Hello

I had a problem while out walking. I have a smartphone that I use as a tablet (I don't have and don't want a SIM card, so it's not a phone as such. This means I don't have an internet connection during my frequent walks, which is entirely by choice)
It worked, and then I lost the map. I tried to restart the app but couldn't find the complete map with the route again) --> is the GPX file stored somewhere in the smartphone?
To be on the safe side, I had printed the document, so I finished the walk in paper mode. (Printed PDF)

Questions:
Do you need an internet connection to maintain the map? The OpenRunner site doesn't require one. The files are simply in my accounthttps ://www.openrunner.com/
It seems that there was a bug when we were in France (this walk passes through a small part of France (Erquelinnes). Could this be related? Not for me, because I am not connected, except via the smartphone's GPS function (without a SIM card)

Otherwise, well done on this site, it's refreshing

Kind regards
Vincent

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glorieux christian
glorieux christian

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 21, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Excellent walk, especially in good weather. The description is helpful because the streets indicated are not always present. At point 10, do not walk past the stables but turn right just before them. The Rue du Château sign is not present at this location. Enjoy your walk.

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Myriamceleste
Myriamceleste

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 23, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Very muddy section between points 2 and 3 due to the passage of large logging machines following the felling of a large section of wood. Otherwise, a very pleasant walk in the first rays of sunshine

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Philetval
Philetval

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 20, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very pretty walk, reminiscent of the Ardennes in its first section. The part along the Thure is very pleasant. The only drawback is crossing Solre-sur-Sambre, which is very noisy and somewhat unsafe due to heavy traffic in narrow streets. We took a short detour to see the castle.

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