Panoramic views in Ittre

The start is near the restaurant ‘La casa vostra’ at the top of Rue de Huleu. There are a few parking spaces opposite the care home, the ‘Champ de Hule’ residence, before the roundabout.
You can get there by bus: TEC line 65 (Nivelles) or 43 (Tubize), getting off at the Paradou stop (zone 17).

(S/E) Head to the roundabout, with your back to the restaurant “La casa vostra”, cross Rue du Croiseau and take the small path between two houses on the other side of the street. It is there, a little further on, that the llama might come running towards you. Do not feed it! At the end of the path, continue straight on along Rue de Fauquez until you reach a chapel sheltered by trees.

(1) Here is the first panoramic view stretching as far as the Ronquières Inclined Plane Tower. Turn right onto Rue de Fauquez and walk down it until you reach another chapel. Or at least, that’s where it used to be before it was turned into a high-voltage substation… Ignore the streets to your left and right and continue along Rue de Fauquez, which soon descends to join Rue de Bornival. First turn right then left to reach Rue Sainte-Lutgarde, passing through the small neighbourhood of houses opposite you, running perpendicular to Avenue des Tilleuls.

(2) To reach the Ravel cycle path running alongside the canal, take the small path at the back of the gardens on your left and, once you reach the Ravel, turn left. At a place called Pied d’Eau, you’ll see the Ronquières inclined plane ahead of you. Don’t go all the way there. Take the first road going uphill to the left, cross Avenue des Tilleuls and take the path leading off to the right towards a large farm. You’ll come to the start of a path on the left.

(3) This is the Chemin Mazette; it’s not very recognisable as a path at the start. It runs alongside a meadow before beginning to climb as a sunken track. Follow it uphill until you find yourself in the fields; the path becomes a farm track and joins a T-junction with Rue Godart

(4) Turn left. After a steep climb through the woodland, you’ll reach the plateau before coming to the trickiest part of the route: the Chaussée de Soignies.

(5) Sorry, there’s no way to find an alternative route, especially as there’s no pavement until you reach the houses and there’s heavy traffic. Stay well to the side of the road for about 600 m, until you reach a multi-way junction.

(6) Turn left onto Rue du Croiseau (Rue d’Ittre), walking on the correct pavement on the left-hand side of the road until you reach the first junction. Turn left and follow Rue de Basse Hollande, a quiet little road that leads you to another chapel. Ignore all the paths or roads branching off to the left until you reach the houses and a junction on a right-hand bend.

(7) Leave Rue de Basse Hollande and continue right onto Rue du Pérou. Just before this, on your left, you’ll have a panoramic view of the route you took at the start, and you’ll find yourself in the Ri de Fauquez valley. Leave the valley via a steep climb until you reach the first chapel you passed on the way there.

(1) Turn right to retrace the path you took at the start in the opposite direction. At a slight left-hand bend in Rue de Fauquez, take the path on the right. From this angle, it looks like the entrance to a private property closed off by a large black gate, but it is indeed the path. The path starts to the left of the gate. Say hello to the llama and head back to the car or the bus (S/E).

Refreshments available at the finish; nothing along the way.

Much of the route is on tarmac, but the majority is on quiet country lanes and the Ravel cycle route, apart from about 1 km along the Chaussée de Soignies (heavy traffic and no pavement) and then along Rue du Croiseau (or Rue d’Ittre), which has a pavement and is less busy.

Two chapels beside their trees and magnificent panoramic views stretching far into the distance.
If you wish, you can extend the route with a return tripto the Ronquières inclined plane.