Best hike in Bouillon Belgium is the 14 Panorama route (28 km)

This might be the best hike in Bouillon, Belgium. A 28 kilometer long hike with an elevation gain of over 1200m will take you along some of the most beautiful viewpoints over the Semois valley. I didn’t count them but supposedly there are 14 in total. The last viewpoint is over the medieval castle of Bouillon which is a great end to this beautiful but quite challenging hike.

Hike description of the 14 Panorama route in Bouillon

Distance: The total distance for this hike is 28 kilometers (loop hike)
Elevation gain: The total incline was 1200 meters
Moving time: According to Strava my moving time was 6 hours and 5 minutes.
Difficulty: I would rate this as a rather hard hike. There are no very technical parts to this trail but because of the distance combined with the elevation gain of 1200 meters it is quite demanding, especially according to Belgian standards.
Address parking: The parking is just after the tunnel to leave the center of Bouillon close to the intersection of the streets Porte de France and Boulevard Vauban. Parking is rather small there but I’m sure you can find some other spots in the neighborhood. As you’re likely to start off pretty early it should be possible to find a spot.

Easier is to use the pinned location on the Google map below as there’s not really a street number. 

How to get to Bouillon?

The best way to get to Bouillon is by using your own car. As this is a small town in the countryside of the Ardennes. Getting there with public transportation is rather difficult. You would have to take a train to Libramont station and from there get on a bus to Bouillon. If you’re planning to come with public transportation I would recommend staying in Bouillon for a few days so you have the whole day for this hike.

With the car it is about 2 hours to get from Brussels to Bouillon.

To get to Bouillon from Brussels with the train and bus it takes about 3 hours and 30 minutes depending on the transfer times.

What is the easiest way to hike the 14 Panorama route in Bouillon?

Generally speaking for all hikes, the easiest way is to download a .gpx file that you can view on a gps device, a smartphone or smartwatch. It will tell you step-by-step how to walk. It also includes an elevation profile of the hike which can help you to decide if this hike is for you or not. All the hikes on this blog are being tracked on Strava (sports tracking smartphone application) and Wikiloc (community based hiking smartphone application).

For this route in particular I would definitely recommend to use a gpx viewer because it can be tricky to find the way sometimes.

Download the GPX file right here: 14-panorama-route-bouillon-belgium.gpx

Another hike that is a bit shorter but also with beautiful viewpoints in the region: How to hike around the Nisramont lake in the Ardennes (16 km) ?

How was hiking in Bouillon Belgium?

The town of Bouillon is especially known for its medieval castle and the river Semois that winds through the region. Because of the Semois valley there are lots of beautiful viewpoints and other outdoor activities that you can do there. As a kid I visited this region lots of times with my parents and one thing we always did was kayaking down the Semois. To this day I still go kayaking almost every year. As I have years of exploring experience I might have to write a blog article about everything you can do in Bouillon. Maybe later.

As I love outdoor exploring I’m constantly on the lookout for new and original hikes and while doing so I found out about the 14 Panorama route which might be my favourite hike in Bouillon so far. It starts at the foot of the Bouillon castle and takes you along the Semois river. It’s always interesting to have some nice viewpoints along the way and this hike did not disappoint! Supposedly there are 14 viewpoints, I’ll have to count them on my pictures to see if that was the case but I think it might be at least 10! If you’re using Wikiloc to navigate this trail you can check out my tracked hike and I marked all viewpoints + some other POI as waypoints with photos.

The starting point of this route is at the parking close to the Porte de France tunnel. Right across the parking flows the Semois and you’ll be walking next to it from the very start.

Not much into the hike you will pass by a camping called ‘Camping Halliru’, it felt like I was trespassing a bit but in fact the route is shared by the camping and the hikers, so no problem at all.

At around 2 kilometer you will be treated with the first viewpoint, it is called ‘Point de vue du Rocher du Pendu’. To reach this point you will have to climb a quite steep hill. This first climb definitely made me catch my breath for the first time of the day. If you don’t really care about the view points, which honestly doesn’t make sense to me, you could just continue the path next to the Semois without taking the left turn. It will probably save you about 1 kilometers and a half liter of sweat.

Just a few minutes after getting back on the path next to the Semois you’ll see on your right side the Abbey of Notre-Dame de Clairefontaine or the Abbey of Cordemois. There is not a lot of information to be found about this Abbey, all I know is that it is not in use anymore since 2017 but nothing regarding opening hours or tickets, I’m not even sure if it can be visited. This is the link that I found but sadly enough there is no english translation.

Around 5 kilometer into the hike there’s quite a climb to reach a few more viewpoints called ‘Point de Vue des Augustin’ and ‘Le Pic du Diable’. In this area there are actually quite a few more but I’m going to name them all. Better is to go and explore them by yourself! There’s also a route called ‘Sentiers des Point de Vue’ which you could follow if you’re only interested in these few views. This area was by far the most popular that I saw the whole day. At each viewpoint there were already a few people. Most viewpoints later into this hike I had all for myself. So it pays off to hike a bit further!

For about a kilometer the path is a bit less interesting until you reach the viewpoint of ‘L’Ecaillere’ which is a pretty cool spot, just next to it there’s also a picnic spot with barbecue facilities which looks like an awesome place to spend a summer afternoon. This spot can be reached by car also so I’m not too sure how crowded it might get during high season. I also pinned this place as a waypoint in my Wikiloc recording.

If you’re following my tracked hike on Wikiloc you’ll notice that I took a wrong turn (the first of a few) around 8,5 kilometers so make sure to keep left and follow the sign for Poupehan.

At about 9,5 kilometers you’ll see on the map that I go straight and then take the same way back. When I was following the route myself I was doubting if I should do this because it seemed a big detour and I thought it might not be worth it but boy was I wrong! This ended up to be my favorite part of the hike. To my knowledge there is only one official viewpoint in this section called ‘Rocher des Eperviers’, I had my lunch here and didn’t see anyone the whole time. I wandered around a bit more and found lots of beautiful viewpoints there. Also I spotted a little cabin next to the river which looked like the perfect place to spend a few days or my whole life? Such an idyllic place with nobody else around for a few kilometers. 

When I started going back (the same lush green path) I heard a very loud noise, I wasn’t too sure what it was until I saw just above the treeline 2 belgian army helicopters, quite impressive to see them from up close. I tried to get a few photos but the trees were in the way.

Just over half at around 15 kilometer you reach the town called Poupehan which lies in the Semois Valley as well. As there are some shops, bars and restaurants there it could be a perfect lunch spot, although I prefer to not waste too much time while hiking and grab a packed lunch somewhere at a picnic spot along the way but just so you know the possibility is there. And you might need the energy because right after reaching the street in Poupehan you will have to endure a very steep climb towards the Jesus cross that you can see on top of the hill. Not much later there’s also a viewpoint conveniently called ‘Pic du Midi’ which translates to ‘noon peak’, there’s a bench with a view so in my opinion a perfect lunch spot!

A bit later you will cross a road and start walking parallel to the road direction ‘Moulin Joly’ which is a former watermill converted into a home. Continuing the way I took the wrong way again here. It is important to keep right at the sign saying ‘Roche des fees’. I noticed on my Google satellite map that it was marked with red so I thought maybe it was a private way, afterwards I found out the red line was actually the border between Belgium and France. This mistake added about a kilometer to the hike.

When finally on the right track again I soon reached the picnic spot called ‘Roche des Fees’ which is similar to ‘L’Ecaillere’ and also has barbecue facilities. This one seemed a bit harder to get to by car but there were car tracks nonetheless. It was a very beautiful place with a small river streaming next to it.

A few kilometers and quite a climb later you’ll reach the village Corbion where there are a few shops, bars and restaurants so if you need some well deserved refreshment, this is the place before starting the last few kilometers to reach Bouillon again.

After leaving the village Corbion behind you’ll hike for a few kilometers in the forest again to then reach the same camping ‘Camping Halliru’ again as at the start of the hike. I know it could be tempting to just cut off the last part and just go back to the parking but believe me the last 5 kilometers are worth it! 

During the last 5 kilometers you will pass by the ‘Arboretum Botanique de Bouillon’ which is a botanical garden with mostly exotic trees. Soon after this you will reach the final viewpoint of the day called ‘Point de Vue de La Ramonette’ als called ‘Le Rocher de Baimont’ which gives you a beautiful view over the city of Bouillon and its medieval castle. All the time during the hike I was thinking it was sad that we didn’t see any castles along the way and then as the cherry on top of the cake I was blessed with an amazing view over the epic castle of Bouillon. 

Enjoy these last views before descending and reaching the parking again.

Congratulations you just did one of the most beautiful hikes in Bouillon Belgium!

Should you hike the 14 Panorama route in Bouillon Belgium?

Euh, Are you still doubting after reading this and seeing all these beautiful photos?

I visited the region of Bouillon many times and I must say after doing this hike I appreciate it even more! I would however only recommend this to experienced hikers because it is quite challenging because of the distance and the elevation gain. 

Start early, come back late and leave nothing but your footsteps behind!