Travel Guide Bouillon

Bouillon is the most important town in the Semois valley, and impresses with its castle and high wooded hills, giving it a gentle austerity in all seasons. The town makes full use of its marvellous natural and historical setting - the fabulous (and somewhat legendary) story of the knight Godefroid de Bouillon - to fill up with summer tourists. Nearby are a number of towns well worth a visit:Corbion. The remains of the Maison des Couleuvres can be found at Le Bojahan, a stone's throw from the Ruisseau Joly that demarcates the Belgian-French border. Paul Verlaine is said to have stayed here around 1885. Also worth a visit is the 16th-century Joly mill and the Saint-Jean-Baptiste church in Corbion, which features a painting by Jijé (Joseph Gillain), a comic strip artist, notably of Spirou in his early days. Don't miss the exceptional views over the Semois from the Rocher du Pendu, the Chaire à prêcher and the Roche des Fées. For the record, in 1520, a certain Sébastien de Corbion, known as Sébastien Pistolet, was born here... inventor of the firearm that bears his name.Cugnon. Here you can discover the old classified cemeteries of Mortehan and Cugnon, and a number of old houses. In Cugnon, the Saint-Remacle oratory features three caves dug into the rock face. Legend and popular tradition attribute their creation to Remacle. On the Le Fayet site, an arboretum deserves more than a cursory glance. In all likelihood, the site was once a Gallic camp, occupied by the Romans after the conquest of Gaul in 57 BC. Also worth a visit is the site of the Château des Fées, on the Bertrix-Mortehan road, a "barred spur" fort built in the Late Empire, probably in the 9th century.Paliseul. This village is located some fifteen kilometers from Bouillon. Paul Verlaine stayed here with his aunt, Louise-Henriette. Local gems include listed monuments such as the 18th-century chapel of Saint-Roch and the church in Opont, the church in Our, the château des Frères de Carlsbourg and the neo-Gothic church in Paliseul, built in the early 20th century. In Maissin, you'll find the Marie-Thérèse bridge over the Lesse, or the memory of the fighting of 1914 with the military cemetery and its Breton calvary. The shale stone houses with their slate roofs have retained their character.Botassart. This village overlooks the Tombeau du Géant, a hill formed in the hollow of a meander of the Semois. It's one of the country's most beautiful natural sites, classified as an Outstanding Natural Heritage Site. The walks known as "Les Echelles", "Les Corbeaux" and "Crêtes de Frahan" are ideal for wearing out your shoes! They take you past exceptional viewpoints and through the former tobacco plantations of the Semois. The former is reserved for the more athletic, as it requires the use of ladders set into the rock and steep paths. The villages of Ucimont and Botassart form a remarkable ensemble overlooking the Semois.Ucimont. This hamlet is of architectural, aesthetic and historical interest, with its former farm-castle, outbuildings, park, early 17th-century chapel and simple Ardennes houses. The Musée de plein air (open-air museum), devoted to "trades of yesteryear" (forestry, washerwomen, tools of yesteryear and popular Ardennes beliefs), gives a clearer idea of life in days gone by.Rochehaut. This commune was merged with Bouillon in 1977. It is home to the Agri-musée, which takes visitors on a journey back in time to discover rural life at the beginning of the last century, thanks to fun and instructive guided tours and audio guides. There's also a famous viewpoint: the panorama overlooking Frahan and its tobacco plantations, nestled in a loop of the Semois river, which has also been classified as an exceptional Walloon heritage site.