Hike at Chateau de Veves and Furfooz (15 km)

A wonderful rather easy hike at chateau de veves that passes through the quaint little villages of Veves and Furfooz. Later into the hike you will witness some beautiful rock formations from ‘Parc de Furfooz’ along the Lesse river.

Hike description:

Distance: The total distance for this hike is 15 kilometers (loop hike)
Elevation gain: The total incline was 310 meters
Moving time: According to Strava my moving time was 3 hours and 32 minutes.
Difficulty: I would rate this as a rather easy hike. Most paths are easily accessible and except for the beginning there are no real steep climbs. Some parts of the hike are on asphalted roads as well.
Address parking: Rue du Pirli, 5561 Dinant – Best is to use my pinned location below or enter Auberge de la Lesse in your navigation. The parking is just behind the train station  gare de Gendron-Celles. Capacity of the parking is limited so during high season you might have to look in the neighborhood for another parking spot. We went on a sunny Sunday in the end of April and didn’t have much difficulty finding a parking spot.

I pinned the location on Google Maps for your convenience. Just click the pin and navigate straight to the trailhead.

How to get to Gendron-Celles?

The starting point is on the left side of the hotel/bar/restaurant Auberge de la Lesse, the trail goes up immediately behind the parking. 

This beautiful hike is only 15 minutes by train or car from Dinant Station which makes it a perfect day trip when you’re already staying in the region of Dinant.

From Brussels you can reach the starting point of this hike in 1 hour with the car and with the train it will take approximately 2 hours 35 minutes. So if you have a car this could be a perfect day trip from Brussels, you could even combine it with a visit to the beautiful city of Dinant.

Hike Description?

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).

I wouldn’t advise to hike this trail without using the .gpx file or at least a print of the route. Click here to see my tracked route on Wikiloc. or alternatively check out my Strava route.

Download the GPX file right here: chateau-veves-furfooz.gpx

If you enjoy seeing castles while hiking, this article might be for you as well: Stunning hike in Stoumont along the Ambleve river and Chateau de froidcour (17 km)

How was hiking at Chateau de Veves, Furfooz and the Lesse river?

The starting point of the hike is next to Auberge de la Lesse where you could have a drink or eat something as a reward for finishing this hike. Or you could start off with a drink / some food there. Or both, as you wish!

Immediately the hike starts off with a climb, do not worry however, this is the steepest climb you’ll do during the whole hike. So with some fresh energy and motivation this shouldn’t be a problem.

After about 1,5 kilometers you reach the village of Gendron where you can witness the typical Ardennes houses built from rocks locally sourced. For a few minutes you’ll walk on asphalted roads until you turn left to get back on the hiking trail. When we did this hike it was very muddy there, so definitely wear some hiking boots!

Again you will be walking through the beautiful green fields covered with dandelions during Spring time. A while later, back on the asphalted road, you’ll do a huge descent right before reaching the picturesque little village of Vêves. These houses are all built in traditional Ardennes style which I absolutely love. 

From a distance you can spot Château de Vêves already which we will pass in a few minutes. This part of the hike is on asphalted roads for the next 2 kilometers pretty much.

Now you reached the Vêves Castle (Château de Vêves) which can be visited. All info about visiting times and ticket prices for Château de Vêves can be found here. It was originally built in the 7th century but over the years it was rebuilt several times with the last renovations done from 1969 to 1979. The castle has been owned by the Beaufort family since the 12th century.

If you started this hike early enough you probably can spare 1-2h to visit the castle before continuing.

After the castle the asphalted road continues uphill until you see on your left a hiking trail that goes up, follow this trail and keep right, you’ll be rewarded with open views into the valley. When we did this walk we had some amazing views because of the fields that were covered in yellow rapeseed flowers.

After passing through this beautiful area you will reach the medieval looking little village called Furfooz, again here most of the houses are built in traditional Ardennes style which definitely gives the village a medieval fairytale feel.

After passing through Furfooz you will reach open fields again and as this is pretty much halfway of the hike we had our packed lunch here while taking in the beautiful surroundings.

At around 8 kilometers we saw that the trail was marked as private, now I double checked several maps and nowhere it said that these were actually private so we continued our way. We also saw some other hikers and there were several picnic spots in this so-called private domain. 

Slowly you will make your way to the valley of the Lesse which introduces another beautiful area of this hike. Also good to know is that you reached the 10 kilometer mark and the next and last 5 kilometers of this hike will be pretty much flat all the time. As you reach the Lesse river you will walk for a while on the ‘Promenade du Walzin’. Walzin is actually another castle a bit further down the Lesse which. And actually if you feel courageous enough you could extend this hike with a few kilometers and also pass that castle, which is a Belgian Instagram hotspot. I’ve done several other hikes that pass there and indeed Chateau de Walzin is pretty amazing as it sits on top of a rock next to the Lesse. There’s also a kayak route that passes there which makes for an incredible view.

After hiking for a while next to the Lesse you will have to cross the river using a railway bridge. Do not worry this is next to the train tracks and it’s completely safe! You can get some cool photos of kayakers that are floating on the Lesse from up there as well.

To cross the second bridge you have to look a bit closer to find the path that goes towards the bridge.

Soon after crossing that bridge the hiking trail became the GR126 and was one of my favorite parts of the trail. You will be walking closely to the Lesse for a few kilometers. As you walk about 3-5 meters higher than the river there is a bit of a dropoff but nothing spectacular or dangerous.

A bit further down you’ll reach the entrance to the Furfooz national reserve (Réserve naturelle de Furfooz). Also there is a very cool looking toilet that can be used at this point. 

Furfooz is a national reserve that consists of beautiful rocky landscapes and caves. There is a walk that you can do within the park of 4 kilometers. So if you left really really early you could add this to the hike you are already doing. For information about Furfooz visit their official website.

A perfect day trip from Dinant could be:

• This hike at chateau de veves itself = +/- 4h
• Visit the Veves castle during the hike = +/- 1,5h
• Lunch break on the way = +/- 1h
• Other breaks on the way = +/- 1h
• Visit Furfooz national park = +/- 1,5h

If you leave between 8 – 9 o’clock in the morning you would still finish this hike before 18h. In my opinion a perfect day trip from Dinant with lots of variation.

After passing the entrance to the Furfooz reserve there’s about 2 kilometers left of hiking next to the Lesse river before you finish the hike.

Congratulations, you reached the parking!

Should you hike along Chateau de Veves, Furfooz and the Lesse river?

In my opinion this hike at Chateau De Veves has everything what makes a nature walk interesting: beautiful scenery, picturesque villages, a fairytale castle, the Lesse valley and its beautiful rock formations. So yes, I would recommend this hike to anyone who loves hikes with lots of variation and doesn’t like to do very long distances. Even for families with children this could be suitable.