Day tripper Guînes to Colonne Blanchard

A rural and forest walk in the region of Trois Pays

20.9 km
From Guînes, an agricultural municipality with a prestigious past, you slowly climb southward through farmland out of the coastal plain to the first wooded ridge, the Forêt de Guînes, perfect for a sturdy forest run on the GR128. The walking path crosses the woods from west to east. In the forest, Blanchard and Jeffries landed, the first to cross the Channel in a hot air balloon. A pillar, the Colonne Blanchard, commemorates this feat. You walk the local forest path Sentier du Bois de Ballon as a lasting reminder of these balloonists. You leave the forest and descend to Campagne-lès-Guînes, an alternative starting point if you want to sit on a terrace in Guînes in the afternoon. From here, you can enjoy a refreshing return through the nearly flat and treeless farmland of 'Les Trois Pays', the rural area surrounding the agricultural villages of Guînes, Hardinghen, and Licques.