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Ramble in the Belgian Ardennes

VanSims25. 05. 2014 17:27:00

For the May Day holidays I visited Belgium, specifically the Ardennes and two more days in Brussels.

For hikes I found a good German site:

http://www.belgien-tourismus.de/contenus/wanderland-ardennen/de/5020.html

For the first day I chose a nice walk around Achouffe:

pdf.opt.be/pdf/de/tour11_luxemburg_durchs_tal_der_feen.pdf

The place, if you can even call it that, is near the larger town of Houffalize and consists of a brewery, an inn and a few houses. It's of course extremely touristy, tourists rush there for the beer which you could get in the shop for half the price. Question is if this brewery isn't like those famous Dutch cheese farms along the roads, set up just to show tourists how cheese is made and sell it to them at two- to three-times the normal shop price. The cheese is of course made elsewhere entirely. jezik

Belgian beer is of course famous and I consumed it diligently during my ramble. By my estimate the country has at least as many beer brands as France has cheeses i.e. a few hundred or more. Practically every village or small town has its own beer, monastic beers are famous,...

Anyway I didn't worry much about whether the 'brewery' in Achouffe is genuine or not. I leave the car in the place and head out on the ramble as described above. You'd expect at least some people on the nearby walking paths but all I met was one family. So more or less solitude near tourist bustle. mežikanje

The path consists of two parts. It's a nice walk suitable also for kids, dogs,... Just one slightly harder section in the first part. Otherwise let the pics say more.

One more thing: in the Ardennes there's a whole network of walking paths and lots of walk options. Since it's hilly, the point of rambling isn't 'ascent to some peak' but just wandering around. nasmeh

Paths are decently marked with totally different markings than ours.

Ramble in the Belgian Ardennes Path through a nice little forest

Ramble in the Belgian Ardennes Mill by the path

Ramble in the Belgian Ardennes Difficult path section. Caution needed. Example of markings above.

Ramble in the Belgian Ardennes Fish farm at the end of the first path section

Ramble in the Belgian Ardennes Yeah, the Belgians also cut in a similar way as the Austrians. Raze everything! I hope they at least reforest something.

Ramble in the Belgian Ardennes Through the forest in the second part of the trail.

Ramble in the Belgian Ardennes Sad... :(

Ramble in the Belgian Ardennes Little bridge just before returning to Achouffe

(+1)

VanSims29. 05. 2014 22:04:05

The next day I drove to nearby Nadrin, a village or small place. In the village shop I stock up on food and drink and head to the nearby viewpoint tower where I park the car. From the viewpoint tower you can nicely see the path where I'll walk. Many paths in the surrounding hills start and end there. My path is described here:

http://pdf.opt.be/pdf/de/wandertour09.pdf

From the tower I descend to the bed of the Ourthe river. I choose a slightly harder path along the scenic ridge (a bit exposed and not for those afraid of heights), which joins the normal path just before the end. Unfortunately a rope lures me off it, descending to the other side and so I end up at the completely wrong end of the loop where the path continues. From the path map you can see how winding the riverbed is, so I'd have to walk far if going back around but I go over the ridge again and after searching find the continuation.

The path is nice, wild and at the start follows the Ourthe riverbed, around the Les Hatilles loop and then around La Chesé. Then the path climbs to a Celtic site on it, which reminds a bit of our Ajdno but I think it's better. The remains are scattered over the whole loop. At one of them there's also a wonderful viewpoint on the neighboring Les Hatilles and surrounding hills, you can see the starting tower too.

Then I got a bit lost, the markings on the ground are a bit illogical and unclear but still I reach the little bridge over the stream as described then a steep ascent awaits (for us mountaineers of course nothing special mežikanje

) then another 2 km back to the tower. Right before it I struggle with the path again. zadrega

The path actually covers a small area but is quite winding and at the start nicely routed along the riverbed which makes fantastic loops here, visible from both viewpoints.

When I get to the car it's already evening, shops were closed, but the local fritkot was still open.

Fries are of course Belgian not French as some think, especially Americans (French fries). Hard to find a fries stand in France, in Belgium practically every village has one. They're also along roads. And in the evening when shops are closed and only fancy expensive inns are open, you have somewhere to grab a bite. cool

Not expensive. For 2 EUR you get a decent portion to fill up. But each sauce is about 50 cents. Selection isn't small. They can have up to twenty. Not just mayo and ketchup like here. cool

Some meat specialty with it (sausage, frikandel, meatball),.. is a bit pricier. Of course beer goes with it, usually Jupiler which on the Walloon side is like our Union (on Flemish Maes), finer beers in shops and pubs. In towns, especially Brussels everything is of course a bit more expensive.

View of the Ourthe river from the initial ridge

View of Ourthe from the ascent towards the Celtic site

View of Ourthe from the viewpoint at the site

As already said, Belgians cut and cut... But they manage ;)

VanSims1. 06. 2014 13:36:39

Whoever thinks that in mostly flat Belgium with some hills in the southeast that don't exceed 700 m, there are no via ferratas, is wrong. nasmeh

They have a whole seven! velik nasmeh

I climbed two easier ones myself (both around B/C). Since the Ardennes are gneiss (like e.g. the High Tatras closer to us), there are normally no major crumbling problems.

The first is near the town of Durbuy, beautiful, posh, expensive,... which many famous people are said to have visited. From the local who listed them, I only remembered Madonna. nasmeh

About five km out of town is Adventure Park Durbuy, where a via ferrata is routed in an abandoned quarry. I treated myself, oh sin, and paid for access to the via ferrata! eek

The first part on the left is fairly easy, the second on the right a bit less, at one point you even have to use friction a bit. Beforehand I also got lessons from the instructor on moving on via ferratas. Well, I learned a lot I didn't know... zadrega

The second is in Marche-les-Dames, about 10 km outside Namur, the capital of Wallonia. Entrance through the commandos barracks! nasmeh

Access to the via ferrata (where the commandos probably train too mežikanje

) only when the army goes home, i.e. weekends and holidays. May 1st was perfect! You need equipment, ID and alpine card (insurance guarantee - Slovenian despite all other stories we hear on this portal too, is valid!). But the via ferrata is free! Report to the duty officer who collects documents and registers us then off you go. nasmeh

The via ferrata itself is not too hard for someone experienced. Very varied (cables, pegs, ladder, bridge and main attraction: double cable bridge). To find the start you have to search a bit, then it goes. Nice view from it to the Meuse valley. I got stuck only at the beginning when I didn't realize you have to grab the hanging rope we encounter after the initial ascent and swing over the rocks like Tarzan... mežikanje

The rest went fine. Also over the double cable bridge where I first hesitated then bypassed it and attacked from the other side from which it ascends, then got the feel and did the whole thing in the right direction too. nasmeh

After that I went to Brussels for two days and cycled around the city. Brussels is, although at first glance a city where one wouldn't live, interesting. Full of contrasts: Flemings-Walloons, southern-northern architecture, locals-immigrants, wealth (second richest European capital) - poverty (so many beggars you don't see in any North European city), modern buildings with which they quite spoiled the old town, among old ones,...

There I also drank my favorite Belgian beer, Grimbergen. The city also has many pubs, chocolate shops,... and of course a whole bunch of other museums and sights, there's even a comic museum,... In short, unjustly neglected city.

Let the pictures say more.

View of the Meuse river from the via ferrata Marche-les-Dames

...this didn't stop me from trying it :o

View of the wall from the other side of the Meuse river

Quartier du Nord - Brussels' Manhattan for which they demolished quite a bit of the old town :(

BibaS1. 06. 2014 14:39:36

Nice!

VanSims8. 06. 2014 21:39:59

On the way back from Brussels I stopped in Dinant, a town in the picturesque part of the Meuse valley, squeezed between the river and rocky cliffs. On one of them is the citadel, worth visiting. Natural attractions are also Rocher Bayard, a rock rising above the main road if we approach it along the river from the north, and the Grotte la Merveilleuse cave. The latter is of course not as picturesque as Postojna (because of it, almost all caves in Europe seem poorer and miserable to us Slovenes mežikanje

) but interesting and worth visiting.

On the last day I stopped at Signal de Botrange, which at 694 m is the highest point in Belgium. It is hard to call it the highest peak as it is actually the highest point of the plateau and Hautes Fagnes National Park between Malmedy and Eupen, accessible by a comfortable dual carriageway. But walks around there are interesting due to the landscape that gives a feeling of some steppe covered with marsh and sparse forests (perhaps already cut?). There are many walking paths, but attention: you must stick strictly to the path because of quicksand and of course if night catches you in the middle of the path you are a bit in trouble mežikanje

because due to the mentioned danger you can't just wander around and wherever we come out is where we'll be. nasmeh

At the end I stopped in Eupen, center of the German minority in Belgium, which now demands federal unit status like Wallonia, Flanders and Brussels since the 80s.