The River Lys and the countryside of the North in Wervicq-Sud

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Although most of the dirt tracks have now been resurfaced as country lanes, this route along the Belgian border might appeal to you because of the diversity of its surroundings.

Details

n°20804850
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 6.13 mi
  • ◔
    Average duration: 2h 55 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Easy
  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 118 ft
  • ↘
    Descent: - 118 ft
  • ▲
    Highest point: 167 ft
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 33 ft
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Description of the walk

Park at Place Charles de Gaulle in Wervicq.

(S/E) With your back to the church, head left along Rue de l’Industrie.
Keep going in this direction, cross the Lys via the footbridge and you’ll arrive in Belgium.

(1) Join the bank of the Lys and follow it south-west until you reach a footbridge.

(2) Cross the footbridge and walk for about 2 km along the opposite bank (the end of this towpath is currently under development at the time of writing this itinerary in April 2022). You will arrive in Comines.

(3) About 300 m before the Comines bridge, leave the riverbank via Rue de l’Industrie; at the end, first turn right then left and continue along Rue Marcel Château.

(4) Continuing in the same direction, take Rue du Professeur Lamelin until you reach Rue des 3 Ballots.

(5) Turn left onto this street and take thesecond right onto Rue de la Blanche Bannière. Stay on this road, leaving the stadiums on your right, and continue along Chemin de la Blanche Bannière. Cross Boulevard des Foulons carefully and carry on straight ahead.

(6) Turn left onto Chemin des Rossignols and right at the next junction. Follow this path to the end.

(7) Turn left at the wayside shrine and follow Chemin du Grand Perne as far as Wervicq.

(8) About a hundred metres before the military cemetery, take the path on the right, under the high-voltage power line, and follow it to the end. At the D9, head right for 200 metres and turn left towards the stud farm, Chemin Gravier du Robinet.

(9) At the pylon, turn left onto the Chemin Vert. You are now entering Wervic. At the end of Chemin Vert, turn right onto Chemin des Gueux and, at the end of that, turn left onto Gravier du Robinet and continue in this direction for 500 m. Go straight across the roundabout and continue straight on along Avenue du Peuple Belge until you reach Rue Gabriel Péri, which you follow to the left for about fifty metres.

(10) Turn right onto Avenue des Sports and then left onto Rue Roetgen, which takes you back to the car park at Place Charles de Gaulle (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : mi 0 - alt. 49 ft - Place Charles de Gaulle in Wervicq
  2. 1 : mi 0.29 - alt. 49 ft - The - Lys (rivière canalisée)
  3. 2 : mi 0.72 - alt. 43 ft - Footbridge
  4. 3 : mi 1.96 - alt. 46 ft - Rue du Chemin de Fer
  5. 4 : mi 2.18 - alt. 52 ft - Rue du Professeur Lamblin
  6. 5 : mi 2.32 - alt. 56 ft - Rue des 3 Ballots
  7. 6 : mi 3.2 - alt. 62 ft - Chemin des Rossignols
  8. 7 : mi 3.83 - alt. 69 ft - Chemin du Grand Perne
  9. 8 : mi 4.09 - alt. 75 ft - Cimetière militaire allemand (Wervicq-Sud)
  10. 9 : mi 4.72 - alt. 128 ft - Pylon
  11. 10 : mi 5.83 - alt. 52 ft - Avenue des Sports
  12. S/E : mi 6.13 - alt. 49 ft - Place Charles de Gaulle in Wervicq

Notes

You’ll find benches on the first part of the route along the River Lys, so I suggest you walk it in the opposite direction if you’re planning to have a picnic.
I don’t know of any good restaurants in Wervicq or Comines. If you have any suggestions, please post them in the comments. I’ll add them to the information on this page.

Worth a visit

If you enjoy this route, please share your photos here.

Reviews and comments

4 / 5
Based on 4 reviews
Reliability of the description
4.3 / 5
Ease of following the route
4 / 5
Route interest
3.8 / 5
M2H
M2H

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 01, 2026
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

I went for a walk this morning.
It can be done in both summer and winter.
There’s just a short grassy path at the end of the route, as well as a small stony path; otherwise, it’s all tarmac.
A lovely walk along the Lys, through the countryside and back through the town.
I’ve downloaded the route as a GPX file 👍 👌

Machine-translated

Bernard Stefaniak
Bernard Stefaniak

Ladies and gentlemen, fellow walkers.
I feel it is necessary to step in and provide some clarification. In particular, I wanted to tell you that if you start following the signposts on Visorando routes, there is a high risk of you getting lost.
Although some routes do follow signposted paths, please bear in mind that the only reliable wayfinding on Visorando is the detailed route descriptions and/or the app’s GPS (which is free) that you can download onto your smartphone.
As for the appeal of this walk, that’s down to individual taste; personally, I wanted to mark the point where the Deûle (which rises in Ablain-Saint-Nazaire, my home village in the Pas-de-Calais) meets the Lys, which forms the Belgian border.
However, if you don’t enjoy walks along the water’s edge, I’m afraid I can’t help you there.
Wishing you all the very best, and in particular many more lovely walks if that’s your thing.

Machine-translated

voisart
voisart
• Edited:

Very, very average. No tourist interest. No signposting.

Machine-translated

voisart
voisart
• Edited:

A COMPLETE LACK OF SIGNPOSTING; THE ROUTE THROUGH BUILT-UP AREAS HAS NO CONNECTION TO THE TRACK. ALL IN ALL, VERY DISAPPOINTING AND NOT VERY EXCITING

Machine-translated

Papy Dominique
Papy Dominique

Overall rating : 3 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 29, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

Luckily, I’d downloaded the Visorando app onto my mobile. It would have been very difficult to find my way. The walk isn’t signposted anywhere.
Apart from the fact that you’re out in the countryside, this walk is of no interest whatsoever. Avoid the hottest part of the day as there’s hardly any shade.
The only point of interest, in my view, is the military cemetery, where there’s a certain tranquillity and plenty of shade amongst the trees.

Machine-translated

imnalavi
imnalavi

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 31, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Pleasant, easy, peaceful

Machine-translated

User 16577919

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 pleasant walk.
We had a bit of trouble in Comines, where we missed Rue de l’Industrie. Rue du Professeur Lamblin is actually Rue du Professeur Lamelin.
At point 8, it would be better to indicate that the path branches off about a hundred metres before the military cemetery, running beneath the high-voltage power line.

Machine-translated

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Walking Saint-Médard Church via the Lys, Menin, Halluin and Wervicq-Sud

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