It was a bit too much of a shock to return to Brussels after three weeks of tranquil holidays in Finland. Therefore I immediately needed to plan a little nature escape in the Belgian Alps, the Ardennes in the very southern part of Belgium close to the borders of France and Luxembourg (actually, you cannot get much further away from Brussels inside the Belgian borders).
Sometimes the trails signs can be a bit confusing...
Though I found out that Belgium also has the system of GR (or grande randonnée meaning great hiking) like France, I couldn't find any of the guidebooks of the trails in bookshops in Brussels. The one outdoor sports equipment shop where I went to buy a new mattress had a great collection of guidebooks and maps - for France! The Belgians are really not great in selling their travel destinations to people. So I try to do some of that promotion here...
In any case, after a lot of research on internet (yes, during work hours!) I found the trail that I wanted - and most importantly was able - to do. I combined information from several websites in Flemish (!), English and French to get a bit of an idea where the GR16 or Sentier de la Semois, "one of the most beautiful treks one can possibly make in Belgium", passes. Taking into account the available public transports, my only choice was to start in Herbeumont and finish after two days of hiking in Bouillon. The best source of information on the distances between various legs on the trail was in Flemish, but at least I could have an idea of what is feasible in two days.
I took a train from Brussels to Bertrix on Friday afternoon (via Libramont, 2h30min, weekend fare for return ticket only 22 EUR) and then a local bus 163A (30 min, fare 3.20 EUR) from Bertrix to Herbeumont's Champs de Monde camping area.
Camping Champs du Monde.
The camping site was in a great place under an old train bridge over the river Semois. I was welcomed by super relaxed staff, two Flemish slightly drunk brothers-in-law who immediately invited me for beer and French fries, and a thunder storm and lightning. The camping site seemed to be the place to meet real Belgians and I was delighted about this opportunity.
The Belgians seem to love their camper vans, to the extent that they build wall and roofs around them...
It has been a long time since I last stayed in a camping site. This one had a very nice atmosphere, but I still find it weird how the Belgians or the Dutch spend their holidays camping. For me camping is just an alternative way of accommodation, not the content of the holidays as it seems to be for the Dutch especially. Indeed, when I was first afraid that the hiking trail would be full of all the people staying at the campsite, I didn't yet understand that these people mainly enjoy activities at the campsite. They don't hike.
This fundamental difference between me (the Finnish?) and them became clear on the empty hiking trail when I passed through many full camping grounds where people were sitting in their sun chairs in front of their massive camper vans and tents with full equipment. Also, those six naked middle-aged men and a woman (and a dog) probably weren't expecting to bump into anyone on the trail...
Countryside views.
Well, I also enjoyed the cosy camping sites, like the Camping Maka, where I spend my second night. As I arrived in the early afternoon I had nothing else to do than enjoy beer and sun in bikinis by the beautiful river Semois, and I gladly remarked that I'm nowhere close to being a real elitist.
And the hike, I wanted to write down the story, so that anyone else wanting to experience the Ardennes could do it with less pain of organizing and finding information.
Day 1: Herbeumont-Auby (24km)
The start of the hike, of the Herbeumont-Auby (Camping Maka) passage of GR16, should have been in Herbeumont, but I couldn't find it. I had arrived with poor information on the exact location of the trail but I had hoped that at the camping site the staff would know the place or that I would see the signs somewhere. But believe it or not, they didn't know.
At 8 am on Saturday morning I started heading through Herbeumont village towards north and my destination of Auby-sur-Semois and, further along the river, Camping Maka. This decision was, however, a mistake as I later learnt that the GR actually first makes a detour towards south to the other side of the river Semois before heading to north after passing by Le Tombeau du Chevalier in the hills inside the loop that river Semois makes close to Herbeumont.
The quality of the map I was using together with Google Map (and the worry of running out of battery...).
Well, instead I followed a poorly drawn map of which I had taken a photo at the Grand-Place of Herbeumont. The map indicated "Sentier de la Semois", but obviously it wasn't the Sentier de la Semois that I wanted to follow. However, I followed the path marked with red diamonds (even though I knew the GR16 would be marked with red and white stripes) to a nearby hill, La Roche aux Corbeaux at 324m altitude, with good views of river Semois. It wasn't that bad, but afterwards I had to walk along the national road that wasn't that pleasant. However, I soon arrived to the village of Mortehan and finally saw the red-white signs of GR16. From there onwards, having missed probably 2/3 of the correct route, I was on track.
A time for a forest haiku (for a singing wanderer):
Laulaen kulkee /
Vaeltaja metsien /
Karkoittaa villit.
A little chapel before Cugnon.
The trail was now much more pleasant, although it wasn't exactly an escape to the wilderness (I even had a coffee in bar on the route, in the village of Cugnon). Nevertheless, it was refreshing to get a glimpse of the Belgian countryside that I have so far completely overlooked. The scenery of the river Semois was beautiful and altogether my hike of around 5 hours from Herbeumont to Camping Maka was relaxing but also physically demanding enough (but by no means difficult) even though I didn't for sure do the full 24 km, but more like 15 km.
River Semois at Camping Maka. The water was warm but only knee-deep. Should be a good spot to fish some trouts as well.
The wilderness seen during the hike in the Ardennes:
-a very big snail
-two dead mice
-a squashed frog
-a drifted wood that could have been a hippo
-a family trekking with their donkey
-a fox stearing me straight into the eyes, inspiring a haiku:
Kettu loikahti /
Tuijotti suoraan silmiin /
Minä sanoin wau!
-Dutch people floating on the river
Day 2: Auby-Bouillon (25km)
On my second day I left the camping around 7h45 when nobody else seemed to be awake. This time it was much nicer to start the hike since I knew where the correct path was. It continued just outside the camping site following closely the river Semois again. The views were beautiful, and the walk was nice while a bit residential up to Dohan, a little village that I reached after around one hour.
From Dohan there is a 5.5km loop that doesn't take you anywhere closer to Bouillon, the end point of the trail. I didn't know this and I was a bit exasperated when I realized after 1.5 more hours of walking that I hadn't advanced at all (it had started raining in the meantime). The loop by the river, south of Dohan, isn't that bad after all, but if you're tired you might want to skip it and continue from where the loop ends, somewhere around the N816 national road north of Dohan. From there the trail dives into a deeper forest.
I had expected that the forests in the Ardennes are not real forests like in Finland, but they can get pretty dense, green and wild even though they are pierced by many forest roads and the civilization is never very far away.
The loop of Dohan takes you for example to this hill.
At the end of the forest, you cross the N865 and a little pond with birds, and the path leads you to a steep hill through the forest to something maybe called as Col de Buhan, the Buhan hill. This is also a loop and after reaching the top of the hill, you are slightly annoyed to walk back down (next to Les Enclaves road). Well, luckily on the path, you can find a lot of blackberries!
After this loop, there is no more steep hills on the path to Bouillon, but you get to walk through various types of forests and meadows. I recommend you take with you little box that you can pick blackberries, because the path is surrounded by big bushes of them.
At 14h30 I suddenly entered the town of Bouillon bustling with people on holidays. It was a bit unexpected because I didn't know where the route ends. After crossing the big E46 highway (there's a bridge!), you only need to walk a few hundred meters and you arrive to the town. I didn't have time to drink one last Godefroy blanche, but I easily made it to the 15 o'clock bus number 8 heading to Libramont train station (45min, 3.20 EUR).
A good hike all in all despite the little practical troubles with maps etc. Walking alone and having so much time to think makes the time pass so slowly that I felt I had been away for much more than 2.5 days. Recommended!
Practical info:
For information on the local buses, check InfoTEC.
Camping Champs du Monde: price 11.50 EUR per night for one person and a tent.
Camping Le Maka: price 21.50 EUR per night for one person and a tent.
My other hiking and walking escape stories:
And this reminds me that I should definitely write about the hike in Koli, Northern Karelia, in Finland where I did a great 60km trek last summer... Coming soon...
