By Vicky · Published May. 26th, 2025
When you buy through links highlighted with an asterisk (*) on this site, we may earn a small affiliate commission at no cost to you.
This walk leads around Bouillon passing the castle, the other main attractions of town, and with suggestions of longer walks to lovely viewpoints.
Bouillon Castle & Viewpoints Hiking Map
Get the route by downloading the .gpx or .kml file below. For navigation with Maps.me on your mobile phone, simply download the .kml file and open to add it to the Maps.me bookmarks.
Location
This walk starts from a car park at the top of the hill by Bouillion Castle. It’s free but can fill up on busy days, so arrive early on sunny weekends or during school holidays. Another option is Parking Faubourg de France, from where you can walk along the river to the centre of town.
To get to Bouillon on public transport, you can get a direct bus from Libramont, which is on the main train line. The bus journey takes about 45 minutes and drops you right in the centre of Bouillon.
Tips for Visiting Bouillon
- Save your castle ticket as you get a discount if you visit Sedan Castle, just across the border in France.
- With your Bouillon Castle Ticket, you also get entry to two other attractions in town – the Bouillon Medieval Experience and the Musée Ducal. Allow enough time to visit all three – at least a long half day! In summer there’s also a falconry display and lightshow at night so you could easily spend an entire day in Bouillon.
- To discover more of the local scenery, there are two walks from town that lead to viewpoints – one along the river to a view of a meander and valley, and another up to a viewpoint tower with views of the town and surrounding hills.
- There’s a little train that goes around Bouillon town and up to a nearby animal park. It starts from the Le Pont de Liege, though languages are French and Dutch only.
- Find other walks and hikes in Belgium, France or the Netherlands.
Bouillon Castle & Viewpoints Walking Route
From the car park, first head across the drawbridge and into Bouillon Castle, or the Château Fort de Bouillon. See the official website for more details. Note that summer and winter have different tickets; in summer it’s more expensive because it includes a couple more attractions such as the falconry display and a light show (certain evenings only – see here for the schedule).
Both tickets include the Musée Scriptura (inside the castle), the Musée Ducal (just downhill from the castle) and the Bouillon Medieval Experience. You end up walking through the Musée Scriptura while in the castle anyway – it’s mainly interesting if you’re particularly interested in old manuscripts and old writing equipment.
The Musée Ducal is a pretty good museum with several interesting rooms and there are enough English explanations. There are displays about medieval weapons and folklore, several dioramas of town and much more. Since you have free entry, it’s definitely worth exploring.
The Bouillon Medieval Experience is a real highlight and fun for all ages. You get headphones (in many languages) and there’s timed group entry to a series of rooms with short cinematic clips about Bouillon and the Crusades. It’s an immersive experience and you’ll learn quite a lot.
Walking around Bouillon Castle
When you buy your tickets you can also chose an audioguide (€2.50) or a leaflet (€1.50, in French, Dutch, English or German). It’s worth getting one of these as there are no information boards around the castle. There are several points around the castle that you either listen to or read about when you follow along with the map. It takes about 1.5 hours to listen to the entire audioguide, or slightly quicker with a leaflet.
It’s an impressive entrance to the castle, with a whole series of drawbridges and gates leading across the ridge and to the main plateau on which the castle is built. Then there’s lots of little rooms, small staircases and a torture chamber in the dungeons to discover. At the far end it’s more open and there are great views from the walls. A falconry display also takes place here in summer.
Exploring Bouillon Town
After visiting Bouillon Castle, take a left down some steps just before the car park. This will lead you below the castle walls and down to the river, La Semois. For an extended walk, turn left at the bottom to walk along the river to a viewpoint (2.5 km each way). Alternatively, head across the bridge to the right and up the valley sides to a viewpoint tower with great views. Or to keep the walk short, turn right and keep on this side of the river, following the inside of the meander.
At the far end of town you’ll reach the Bastion de Bretagne, a vestige of the old city walls, now just a cute tower. Continue walking onwards and take a right, then left to head through the narrow cobbled streets of the old town. There are several cafes and little shops here, as well as historic houses.
Head upwards, beyond the church, and turn left to reach the Musée Ducal. After visiting this museum, walk downwards to the bridge (Le Pont de Liege). Cross over the river and turn right to walk along the water’s edge. There are great views from here across the river to the town and castle on the other side. You’ll also find the Bouillon Medieval Experience and Tourist Information here.
Aftre visiting the Medieval Experience, head up through the park to the road and turn left back to the bridge. Cross over and take a left along the riverbank. Look out for some steps on the right, signed towards the castle. At the top of the steps turn left then take the path to the right winding upwards. You’ll soon reach the car park by the castle, and the end of this walking tour around Bouillon.
Related Posts
