Olne: Hiking Trails, Bocage and Living Cultural Heritage

Olne combines bocage landscapes, orchards and an unusually multi-layered village history. Between historic mills, former craft workshops and signposted hiking trails, you will find different ways to discover the area. This allows you to combine short and longer days of hiking, while the landscape between the village, wooded heights and valleys opens up new perspectives time and again.

Hiking between the village, ridges and bocage

The hiking map of the municipality of Olne, published in July 2019, includes 11 signposted hikes. The routes are between 4.2 and 25 kilometres long. This means you can plan according to the desired length of the day without having to commit to just one type of hiking. The 1.3-kilometre circular walk “Olne: destination de goût” leads to historic treasures and sights in the village with its distinctive character.

The “Olne: les crêtes par Vaux & le Bois d’Olne” route begins in the village, passes through Petit Vaux and then climbs Bois-d’Olne hill. The ridge offers a panoramic view of the village. To the north, the view extends across the Hazienne valley and Olne; to the south, across the Vesdre valley and the wooded foothills of the Ardennes. Another footpath on the “Olne: En passant par Olne” hike offers a view of the village and Château d’Olne.

The orchards and bocage landscapes around Olne are part of the scenery. Here, the Bocage des Pays de Herve includes remarkable hedgerow areas surrounding the village. The surroundings also feature a special geological detail: on Rue Falise, a stream disappears into a chantoir and re-emerges in Vaux-sous-Olne, 760 metres away and 60 metres lower. Three picnic shelters provide additional opportunities for a break during an outing.

Discovering local history on walking tours

A free multilingual audio guide on IZI.TRAVEL is entitled “Petit patrimoine au centre du village”. In Saint-Hadelin, seven explanatory panels have been installed at notable local heritage sites. In Vaux-sous-Olne, two educational panels provide information about the “Vallée des moulins”. Such stops give an exploration of the area specific themes without requiring you to focus on a single museum.

Historical points of interest include the former seigneurial mill in La Neuville near Olne, with structural elements dating from the 18th century, and the former seigneurial brewery of Olne. The latter is an elongated building made of limestone rubble masonry dating from the 18th and 19th centuries. The Moulin Lochet in Vaux-sous-Olne was a former seigneurial mill belonging to Soiron and has been mentioned since 1243. The Ancienne clouterie recalls the artisanal production of nails in small underground forges during the 18th century.

The area’s seigneurial history is also present in the village landscape. The manor house of Olne was built around 1703 on the ruins of the former castle of the lords of Olne and served as the seat of the former bailiwick. The entrance pavilion of the former Château d’Olne is the only surviving remnant of the castle built for Guillaume d’Olne in 1703. Before this castle was built, the Cense seigneuriale de Froidbermont was the residence of the Barons of Olne de Froidbermont.

Traditions and a special travel idea

A local tradition is Lèv'Gos, a sweet blood sausage with currants that has been prepared for generations. This tradition gave rise to the Confrérie du Lèv'Gos. In even-numbered years, it holds a formal chapter, and in odd-numbered years, the “Olne autrefois” festival. The “Olne – Entre bocages et traditions” route combines country lanes and village streets with a search for a totem. For this route, you can travel from Verviers railway station and then take bus 69, or travel exclusively by bus 105.

When looking for a holiday apartment or holiday home in Olne, you can therefore first decide which type of trip suits you: a short village and cultural heritage tour, a longer route across the heights, or an exploration of the bocage landscape with regional tradition.

Further destination pages

For your further search, you can also visit the destination pages for Esneux, Marchin, Blegny, Büllingen, Weywertz, Lierneux, Vieuxville and Amay.

To the higher-level travel overview: Liège.