Routes (49)

Back Map

• In the footsteps of Vincent Van Gogh in the Borinage

  From the “Maison du Marais” in Cuesmes to the former “Marcasse” coalmine in Colfontaine, explore Mons-Borinage and the sites visited by Van Gogh during his time in the region.

  • 
    03 h 00 m

    hard

  Longueur du parcours: 48.57 km

• Sirault, the chapels route

  The Sirault region is certainly one of the most pleasant to explore on foot, with its peaceful rural side. Leaving Sirault, the consolidation path meanders across the fields. Facing us, on the ridges, stands the bell tower of the church of Neufmaison. The village collects around it the typical elements of the villages in the region – long farms and magnificent wood barn doors are all elements that charm us throughout this route, bathed in the ambience of yesteryear... Moving away from the village, the road makes beautiful arabesques in the middle of the meadows. Discoveries continue – at each turn we discover a new panorama, a new broad landscape, through the paths crossing through groves or enclosing a chapel, such as that at Ifs, dedicated to Saint Hubert. Back to Sirault where a friendly local bistro, the Noir Bonnet, is waiting for us...

  • 
    03 h 00 m

    easy

  Longueur du parcours: 8.9 km

• Colfontaine route

  Here’s a bike tour that explores the many facets of Colfontaine. Its narrow streets, its history with Van Gogh, the coal mine of Marcasse, its forest and its heritage... You start by coming from Mons via the Ravel!

  • 
    01 h 30 m

    medium

  Longueur du parcours: 14.65 km

• Shopping - The fashion accessories walk

  Take this shopping tour and you will certainly find accessory ideas to treat yourself and even your faithful four-legged friend!

  • 
    01 h 30 m

    easy

  Longueur du parcours: 2.97 km

• Montignies-sur-roc, the Epicurean's Route

  Crossing the Haut-Pays by bike where we enjoy stopping at renowned producers. From the square, let’s go down into the picturesque valley formed by the Petite Honnelle. A small hill and here comes the pretty square of Audregnies. It’s an opportunity to stop at the Dufrasnes artisanal bakery and taste the delicious breads, cooked on stone. The Flavours Route goes on, towards Wihéries. There, another bakery is worth the detour. At Chez Joël et Christine, at the ball game square, we take away a small homemade pie – the cyclist remains an Epicurean… The RAVeL, this pretty green channel, takes us quickly to Quiévrain. We get something to eat at ®Bistrot de Terroir, Estaminet, before continuing towards Angreau where one of the taste masters, the chocolatier Druart is located. From Roisin a short detour towards Meaurain, bee country. Just after Autreppe the route follows the ridges that lead us to Onnezies, illuminated by the soft light of late afternoon.

  • 
    04 h 00 m

    hard

  Longueur du parcours: 43.31 km

• Mons, Green Routes

  Join the MAC'S by taking the former railway lines, which have become green routes at the heart of the former collieries. Follow the steep fall from the Grand Place to join the suburbs surrounding the ancient city. Your wheels will lead you to the heart of the Borinage. The old railway lines which once transported coal have become wonderful escape routes in an urban landscape marked by its industrial past. From Cuesmes ride along line 98 as far as Flénu where a signal box leading to Quiévrain was once located. Ride alongside the Pâturages station where a young man put down his bag in 1878. Van Gogh stayed in the Borinage almost two years to find artistic expression. Continue along this line, which at the time was full of noise and smoke from the continued cartage of trains carrying coal from the mining sites. You are finally in the Grand-Hornu, testifying to the start of the Industrial Revolution. It is an exceptional structure designated as a UnEsCo World Heritage site which includes the MAC Musée des Arts Contemporains and the CID Centre d’Innovation et de Design, one of the poles of artistic creation in Belgium.

  • 
    03 h 00 m

    medium

  Longueur du parcours: 27.63 km

• Moneuse route: miller’s son - Quiévrain

  This route takes you in the footsteps of Antoine-Joseph Moneuse, the famous bandit and Captain of the Chauffeurs du Nord. You’ll go back to the figure’s origins, from his childhood in Saint-Vaast up to his arrival in our region. This will also be an opportunity to talk about the mills. Indeed, himself a miller’s son, Moneuse lived at a time when mills dotted our rural landscapes. Along the way, you’ll find some remnants of them but others have unfortunately completely disappeared. So you’ll sometimes have to close your eyes and use your imagination. Have a good walk and watch out... bandits are about. Route created and put together by Hauts Pays natural park Illustrations Claude Renard

  • 
    01 h 30 m

    medium
  • 
    45 m

    medium

  Longueur du parcours: 5.9 km

• Mons, a bouquet of flavours

  Paradise is for real at Mons and everyone can get there! Discover the hidden charms of these small local shops... From the Town Square, our steps quickly lead us to the Mons bakery Chez Marine. Down the street Rue des Droits de l’Homme, what a surprise to discover, like in the cities of the South, the Halles du Manège. Let’s continue this route of flavours... At the bottom of the Cité, the Mille Saveurs boutique tells us about all the wealth of Walloon products. In the pedestrian district, the shops Ode à la Bière, Ô Bar’Hik or the Cellier des Fripiers amaze us with the choice of wines and beers that our country offers. At the end of the street, we return to the Town Square, this space of warmth which brings together, like a Mediterranean plaza, inhabitants and tourists, around the friendly terrace of a brewery. Mons, the “charmer”, has struck again.

  • 
    01 h 30 m

    easy

  Longueur du parcours: 2.97 km

• Moneuse route: the Houlette massacre - Honnelles

  This route takes you in the footsteps of Antoine-Joseph Moneuse, the famous bandit and Captain of the Chauffeurs du Nord. During this walk, you’ll relive this dark day of 22 November 1795. At that date, one of the most bloody events to have hit our region took place: the Houlette massacre. Moneuse was soon suspected of being the perpetrator of this heinous crime that killed nine people. But the truth is never simple ... Through the fields and paths of Roisin and Meaurain and the French village of La Flamangrie, you’ll have to cross the Franco-Belgian border several times where our region was torn between Austria and France, recalling a troubled period of history. Have a good walk and watch out... Bandits are about. Route created and put together by Hauts-Pays natural park Illustrations Claude Renard

  • 
    02 h 00 m

    medium
  • 
    01 h 00 m

    medium

  Longueur du parcours: 9.76 km

• Honnelles - In the Footsteps of a Poet

  The poet Emile Verhaeren liked relaxing in the Hauts-Pays, a bucolic land which is very pleasant for walking or cycling. To the southwest of Mons is a rural area that opens its heart to whoever cycles across it: welcome to the Hauts-Pays! The gentle terrain and peacefulness of this sparsely populated region bring serenity. Departure in Audregnies and its beautiful square where the road joins the RAVeL, which is interrupted shortly after Onnezies. Here a more forested track begins, towards Caillou-qui-Bique. In summer, the path causes little problems but in winter the often muddy roads is a challenge to cyclists. Just after the Emile Verhaeren space, beautiful villages dot the route. Roisin, Meaurain and Autreppe are all names that sing of the Hauts-Pays, a little-known region but one with some magnificent romantic landscapes. From Montignies¬sur-Roc, the narrow road joins the castle and the pond which are in harmony with the landscape. You will comb through groves and meadows, an idyllic picture of a country landscape where all is harmony and tranquility: an atmosphere that Verhaeren has so well described.

  • 
    02 h 20 m

    medium

  Longueur du parcours: 20.83 km

• L' Art habite la Ville (Art lives in the city)

  Discover also: "Mobilier urbain revisité" In the city centre In collaboration with graphic arts schools in the region, urban furniture elements were decorated for the project. Across the city, tightrope walkers will balance between two posts, and ORES and PROXIMUS terminals will burst with colours. Pierre Liebaert - "Je crois aux nuits" From May 2019 Pierre Liebaert, a young photographer from Mons who regularly exhibits in museums and festivals, has produced four photographs about folklore related to the renewal of the body and nature.

  • 
    02 h 00 m

    easy

  Longueur du parcours: 5.95 km

• Moneuse route: attack of the Populaire farm in Frameries

  This route takes you in the footsteps of Antoine-Joseph Moneuse, the famous bandit and Captain of the Chauffeurs du Nord. Here we will focus on the attack on the Populaire farm in Wasmes. On 3 December 1795, this farm was the target of a gang of bandits in search of wealth. Follow in the footsteps of this terrible episode in Moneuse’s tumultuous life along this route, which takes you through the towns of Colfontaine and Frameries. During this walk, you’ll have the opportunity to go through the state-owned forest of Colfontaine and the village of Eugies, including “La Belle Maison” which is a known point of reference for the bandits. Have a good walk and watch out ... bandits are about. Route created and put together by Hauts Pays natural park Illustrations Claude Renard

  • 
    02 h 00 m

    medium
  • 
    01 h 00 m

    medium

  Longueur du parcours: 6.69 km

• Quaregnon, a rich heritage

  A route through urban territory but which for which there is no lack of charm when it comes to climbing the La Flache slag heap. On Monday, Quaregnon is adorned with thousands of colours and fragrances – it’s market day! The stalls are filled with Italian, Moroccan and Turkish products that scent the air. Here beats a bit or the heart of the South. From the Town Square, where the old outline of the church is reproduced, let us go along these streets that have an interesting architectural heritage. An example is the community hall, built in 1939 adjacent to the tower of the Gothic church, dating from the 15th century. We climb or rather clamber up the La Flache slag heap, ending up at an altitude of over 100 m. At the peak, the view takes in a 360° panorama and you can see over 30 km! It also lets you see the size of the Grand-Hornu site. On our return, we go along the imposing Louis Pierard Stadium, erected in 1946. Return to the centre of Quaregnon where we delight in taking in a small Craquegnon (cheese).

  • 
    01 h 30 m

    easy

  Longueur du parcours: 7.29 km

• Blaugies, between two worlds

  A route that runs between fields and woods, to the discovery of a lovely valley and an industrial heritage. Far from the stereotypes, the Borinage is a green country. Blaugies is a village that lives with the rhythm of hay-making. We move along the country paths, towards the Saint-Ghislain woods which from the 19th century had been the border between two worlds, less than a kilometre apart. On the hand, that of small-scale farmers, on the other, the mine. We are aware of it treading through the woods, here on clay soil, there on coal dust... In the woods, the stream plunges us into a wild world – we even surprise a deer. And yet, going up the path, on the right are found the ruins of the Sauwartan mine, witness of an era when dust, pollution and noise invaded the woods. So things justly return – near the ruins, daffodils appear in season. The black of Borinage is no more...

  • 
    02 h 30 m

    medium

  Longueur du parcours: 7.28 km

• Discovering the sanctuaries of abbeys

  Starting at Grand-Place, come and discover the former refuges (see the definition below): of the French Hasnon Abbey, a large building in the classic Mons style from the first half of the 18th Century; of Liessies Abbey, which dates back to 1633 and which was re-arranged in the 18th Century; of Bélian Abbey, a rich building erected circa 1775 according to plans drawn up by Charles-Emmanuel Fonson; of Aulne Abbey, established in the private mansion of the knights of the Order of Malta, in the second half of the 18th Century; of Bonne Espérance Abbey, a vast building featuring 18 spans on two coated levels from the middle of the 18th Century; of the Saint-Denis-en-Brocqueroie Abbey, a listed monument and a large Louis XIV of France-era building

  • 
    03 h 00 m

    easy

  Longueur du parcours: 3.36 km

• Cycle route: Mons – SILEX'S – Mons

  This route designed by ProVélo and Mons’ Maison des Cyclistes cycling centre connects Mons’ Grand-Place to SILEX’S, the interpretation centre of the archaeological site of the Neolithic Mines of Spiennes, which are UNESCO classified. An exceptional site where going down a mine is the highlight of a trip (advance bookings is required, on 0032 65 39 59 39). The outward trip between Mons and SILEX’S is as direct as possible; the return offers you a slight detour through the low-traffic roads of villages in the immediate vicinity of Mons. A route designed by not-for-profit organisation PRO VÉLO Maison des Cyclistes du Hainaut (bike point) in Mons. Source: http://www.provelo.org/fr/tour/idees-balades/minieres-neolithiques-spiennes

  • 
    02 h 00 m

    medium

  Longueur du parcours: 17.89 km

• Quiévrain, at the country's edge

  A route that takes in the traces of a rich history, unique to these cross-border regions. Leave Quiévrain by taking the RAVeL, a former railway line, which in the 19th and early 20th centuries was the economic artery of Borinage where coal transited. At the wind farm, the route forks and descends down to the Hauts-Pays. The flags in the landscape mark the memorial of the terrible Battle of Audregnies, in August 1914. Here is Audregnies and its magnificent treed square, the largest in Belgium. And the Dufrasnes bakery fits perfectly in this little village. Having slipped a loaf of delicious artisan bread into the backpack for a picnic, we return to the frontier, following the age-old path, one of seven Chaussées de Brunehaut which crisscrossed a whole section of Europe in the Middle Ages. Roads that united people before letters... And Quiévrain, at the gates of France, is at their crossroads.

  • 
    04 h 00 m

    medium

  Longueur du parcours: 10.15 km

• Le top 15 de l’architecture contemporaine

  Come and discover the top 15 of contemporary architecture in Mons and in the Borinage, and change your view of the 20th century heritage. From a selection of projects included in the “Guide to modern and contemporary architecture in Mons & Cœur du Hainaut 1885-2015”, tour a city with a heritage that bets on contemporary architecture as an engine of local and regional development, through the construction and renovation of many public facilities, especially as part of Mons 2015: Mons 2015 Foundation, Mons Memorial Museum, Artothèque, Maison du Design, BAM, Silex, Arsonic, Mundaneum, ... All the projects unveiled here (and many others) are taken from the “Guide to modern and contemporary architecture in Mons & Cœur du Hainaut 1885-2015”, under the direction of Lamya Ben Djaffar and Isabelle De Smet and illustrated with photographs by Olivier Cornil. The book, from a partnership with the UMONS Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, was published in 2015 by the Cellule Architectural Publishers of the Wallonia-Brussels – Mardaga Federation. It is available from the Tourism Office and in all the good bookshops in Belgium and France.

  • 
    02 h 00 m

    medium

  Longueur du parcours: 7.22 km

• Discover the historic centre of Mons

  A city on a human scale with a thousand treasures waiting to be discovered. For those who want to see the main features, this walk will take you through the medieval lanes in the historic heart of Mons ... just follow the guide!

  • 
    02 h 00 m

    easy

  Longueur du parcours: 1.5 km

• Parcours-découverte de Saint-Symphorien

  Venez découvrir le village dans ses coins les plus inattendus

  • 
    02 h 00 m

    easy

  Longueur du parcours: 6.42 km

fr nl