When people think of visiting Belgium, they always think about Brussels, Gent, or Brugges but Belgium has much more to offer than these beautiful cities. In the southern part of the country, you can find the Belgian Ardennes where you’ll be surprised with the beauty of this region. If you’re looking to spend a day or two in nature, to disconnect from the buzzing cities, I recommend that you consider spending a day hiking the Giant’s Tomb in the Belgian Ardennes.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
THE ARDENNES & THE GIANT'S TOMB
The Ardennes is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills, and ridges located primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, extending into Germany and France. It is the perfect area to enjoy nature while you hike, cycle or even go kayaking in its rivers.
The Giant's Tomb
The Giant’s Tomb (Le Tombeau du Géant in French) is a panoramic lookout point overlooking a loop of the Semois River near Bouillon. This site is considered a “natural heritage of landscape interest.
The name of this place comes from a legend of a Gallic hero, Treviso, who was really tall and strong. He refused to get captured by Roman soldiers and die in the arena of the Colosseum. Instead, he threw himself off the cliffs of Rocher des Gattes. When the villagers of Botassart found his body, they buried him on the top of the hill.
GETTING TO THE GIANTS TOMB
To reach The Giant’s Tomb you will need to drive a car. It is approximately a 2h drive from Brussels. You will have to drive the E411 towards Namur and Dinant until Libramont, where you will take N89 in the direction to Botassart. There is a big parking lot next to the viewpoint but during the summer months, it can get busy.
ACCOMMODATION NEAR THE GIANT'S TOMB
I did this hike as a one-day trip from Brussels but it is also possible to book a hotel and spend a beautiful weekend in the Ardennes. You can spend one day hiking this trail and the next morning, visit the charming village of Bouillon.
Here are some recommendations in Bouillon.
OUR EXPERIENCE HIKING THE GIANT'S TOMB IN THE BELGIAN ARDENNES
Hike Summary
- Trail Start/End: Parking Viewpoint “Le Tombeau du Géant” à Botassart (see map above)
- Distance: 8 km
- Elevation Gain: 300 m
- Route Type: Linear Route
- Estimated Time Needed: 4 hours (This includes plenty of time to rest and enjoy the different viewpoints).
Equipment needed
This hike is not particularly demanding but the following things will become handy:
- Hiking shoes.
- A backpack with water and snacks to stay hydrated and energized.
- Sandals that can get wet. If like us, you go crazy and decide to cross the Semois, you’ll need some shoes that you don’t mind that they get wet.
- A light towel to dry your feet after this adventure.
The Giant's Tomb Viewpoint
The hike begins at The Giant’s Tomb Viewpoint, so of course, we spent some time admiring the view. The view is really magnificent. We could have easily spent an hour just soaking it all in. It is so impressive how the river bents perfectly in the shape of a horse shoe.
Once we were done admiring the view, we started our descent into the Semois River. You just need to take the small trail that is right to the viewpoint that goes down. Not very far after, the trail divided into two and we took the left path (steep descent). After approximately 15 minutes, we arrived at the border of the Semois. Here there was a small sign, saying Moulin de Rivage.
Crossing the Semois River
At the Semois, we took the left trail to border The Giant’s Tomb on the left. According to the app, we were supposed to cross the river but there were no bridges available. Since we had our sandals and it was summer, we decided to go crazy and cross the river even if there was no bridge. This was a bit trickier than we thought since it was quite slippery. I almost fell into the water and almost lost my water bottle in the attempt but we managed to do it!
The issue was that once we were on the other side, the trail had disappeared with all the plants so we had to cross back again. It was a fun experience though!
We followed the trail for approximately one kilometer and found a small hanging bridge where we crossed the river this time without getting wet!
Admiring the different viewpoints
Once we crossed the river, it was time to hike up the hill in which you have The Giant’s Tomb and admire endless viewpoints. The most impressive were:
- Pine’s Viewpoint (Point de vue de l’Epine)
- The Devil’s Peak (Le pic du Diable)
- Augustine’s Viewpoint (Le Point de Vue des Augustines)
- Clerneau’s View Point (Le Point de Vue de Clerneau)
The return
After some time, we realized it was time to go back to the car. Since we were not sure if there was going to be a second crossing of the river, we decided to just undo the path we had done. Since we already knew the way, we were much faster going back than in the morning, so we took some extra time to rest near the Semois before returning to the car.
And that’s it for my blog about hiking the Giant’s Tomb in the Belgian Ardennes. I hope you liked it and found it useful. Let me know what you thought in the comments!
Happy hiking!
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