The Ardennes is a forested area primarily in the Wallonia region of southeast Belgium (but also stretches into Luxembourg, France and Germany). It is a frequent holiday destination for those in Brussels looking to get away for a weekend. If you’re visiting Belgium, want to spend time outdoors, and can spare a couple days, the Ardennes is worth considering adding to your itinerary.
For our visit, we drove 1.5 hours from Brussels to the Ardennes for a few days. We stayed at an Airbnb located near the town of Durbuy, and also visited Wéris, a 15-minute drive from Durbuy, for additional hiking trails.
Durbuy
Before I get into the hiking trails in Durbuy, let’s talk about the town itself because I am in love. You’ll see why in a moment, but suffice to say that even if you aren’t going hiking, Durbuy is worth a visit.
When we arrived in Durbuy, we parked at the Parc des Topiaries which is just across the river from town. There is also a metered parking lot downtown, closer to the forest, but I’d guess this fills up fast on busy days (both lots were reasonably priced). From this side of the river, there are great views of the Chateau de Durbuy, which is privately owned and not open to the public.
We then crossed the river and entered the historic downtown. Durbuy is TINY (it claims to be the “smallest city in the world” but that seems disputable). The cobblestone streets, narrow alleys, old brick and stone buildings and historic homes make this medieval town just perfect. It takes no time at all to roam up and down the streets, but you could do it multiple times and the charm wouldn’t fade. We were there in early November, and during COVID-19, so the streets were nearly empty. I imagine many tourists flock to this town in the summer during non-COVID times.
We stopped by the Tourist Office at Place aux Foires 25 to buy maps for the hiking trails. It was less than 1 EUR for a map of 4 different trails of less than 5 km / under an hour. There are different maps available for trails with longer distances. There are also a number of cafes and shops selling waffles, ice cream and frites nearby for a snack before beginning your hike.
We followed the sign markers and headed for the entrance to the trail. On the way, we passed by Falize rock. This more than 300-million-year-old rock is in an inverted U-shape created by layers of lime being pushed up over centuries. There is a nice viewing platform and water feature with fish in front of the rock that the kids loved.
We then entered the forest to take the blue rectangle hiking trail called “la boucle de Durbuy”(the loop of Durbuy), estimated at 1 hour and 4.8 km. It’s an easy walk amongst trees and fields. It never really goes deep into the forest but is still secluded enough to enjoy nature. The kids had fun collecting leaves and sticks for an art project we planned to do later. The forest path leads to a residential road, high above town, that you can follow back down into Durbuy.
There is a lot to do in the Durbuy area in non-COVID times, especially with kids. This includes the Labyrinth, a huge corn maze with plenty of other additional activities, and Adventure Valley, the largest adventure park in Belgium with a mix of indoor and outdoor activities.
Wéris
The village of Wéris is well-known for its megaliths, man-made stone structures built some 5,000 years ago.
When we arrived, we went straight to the La Maison de Megaliths (House of Megaliths) in the center of town. There is parking to the right, and the museum has maps outside for three different hiking paths past different megaliths. The village itself is quite small, and we walked around a bit but there wasn’t too much to see.
We took the green “Circuit des Pierres de Legendes” (Legendary Stone Walk), admittedly doing the loop backwards. It goes down a road along pastures and rolling hills, eventually turning into forest for much of the hike. At the top of a hill is the Pierre Haina (pictured above), a naturally occurring rock. According to one legend, it was believed to be a passage to hell. The devil kept crawling out, so the townspeople painted it white each year to keep him in. The Pierre Haina offers great views of the area, and there was a small clearing that was perfect for our picnic lunch. At the bottom of the hill is the Lit du Diable (the Devil’s bed), where the devil took his nap before going back to hell.
Most of the rest of the hike continued through forest. It went much deeper into the forest than our hike in Durbuy and was longer overall (we spent about 3 hours on the hike), which was really lovely and relaxing.