Along the Waterloo Battlefield

June 18, 2015, was the bicentennial of the Battle of Waterloo. On this occasion, a new visitor centre will be opened at the Lion of Waterloo. The area is also perfect for beautiful walks. Appointment to the Lion of Waterloo (V). To get there by car, follow the signs Butte du Lion from the E19 or from the Brussels-East Ring. Head with your back to the Panorama building and the Lion on the left along the Chemin des Vertes Bornes. The path first runs along a high hedge, then sinks into the open field. You will see several memorial stones and some information panels and you will have a beautiful view of the hill with the Lion. Walk after 800 meters and to the second information panel on the left. The wide dirt road takes you after 1.4 km to the busy N5 and the Ferme de la Belle-Alliance 1. The farm does not owe its name to the historic meeting between the Duke of Wellington and General von Blücher, the two victors of Waterloo, but to the marriage of the owner with her farm worker. • Cross the stone road (carefully) via the pedestrian crossing and walk straight towards the Prussian monument. Take 50 meters further immediately left the wide dirt road (sign Chemin n° 9 du Smohain). To the left and right, you have a beautiful view of what was two hundred years ago a battlefield where nearly fifty thousand dead and wounded remained. The country road takes you past a forest after a kilometre and plunges 500 metres further into a deep hollow road. The dirt road has now become a paved road. • At the T-junction, turn right. After 300 meters you leave the hollow road and suddenly you have a hilly landscape open in front of you at an intersection. Walk straight ahead and go down Babeau Street. Soon you will be walking in the forest again. You will find a mass of snowdrop at the end of winter. Go up the paved road out of the forest and continue straight at the crossroads, still slightly up. Cross the asphalt track 100 meters further and continue straight through the field. The field may have been ploughed or sown, but the path is there. By the way, there are arrows and a sign indicates that runners and cyclists are also allowed to pass through here.• After 500 meters you walk next to a hedge and a beautiful white farm. Cross the paved road and walk to the left as you pass the building on a paved gravel road. The gravel road becomes a muddy hollow road and after 600 meters takes you to a wide asphalt track. Turn left and cross the Route de la Marache a little further. To the right of the utility building begins the Trail No. 93 of the Holbiet. Along this and more. The narrow path climbs considerably and soon passes behind a low fence and along a paved track. Once fully at the top, walk to the left on another paved track. The pavement becomes asphalt and where the track turns right, you go straight on the narrower asphalt track. You are now walking between the grounds of the Royal Waterloo Golf Club and a little further you can see clubhouse 2 on the right. The Royal Waterloo Golf Club is the largest in Belgium with 3 courses and 45 holes.•100 meters after the buildings, the asphalt course turns right. Walk here on the left in the Old Way of Wavre. Now walk straight for two kilometers and ignore all exits. First you walk between the golf club grounds, then you have a chapel and the large open field with beautiful views. The Old Way of Wavre is now called Rue de la Croix and takes you to the Monastery of Fichermont 3. This is the monastery that became world famous when Sister Smile sang her megahit Dominique in 1963. At the monastery, the dirt road becomes paved and joins the rue du Dimont. Walk straight. In front of you you can see the hill with the Lion for a while. Before crossing the busy Chaussée de Charleroi at the traffic light, you have a picnic area on the left. Another 450 meters and you are back in the hamlet of Lion. You can visit the visitor center, the panorama of the battle or you can climb the 226 steps of Lion Hill.