Sart Tilman Historic Walk.

Historic walks to the Seraing Science Park and Sart Tilman.

Sart Tilman Walk. A beautiful walk that may one day become a "City Walk". Why? A Liège-based association has created a walking trail around the city of Liege covering over 42 km. One section passes through Sart Tilman and down to the bottom of Ougrée towards the bridge and the Standard stadium.  An innovative idea would be to connect Belle Ile to the bottom of the Meuse valley to the lock of Pont Barrage d'Ivoz-Ramet. This could also be part of a walk between railway stations.

From Angleur station, near Belle Ile and the Ourthe Canal. Reach the top of Sart Tilman, through the buildings of Angleur, then take the path for pedestrians and cyclists to get to the Rue Belle Jardinière. This was one of the first roads built in the early 20th century. We follow it in its entirety and as we do, before we reach the Route du Condroz, we can see cobblestones from a bygone era.

Follow the Rue Belle Jardinière to the crossroads at Sart Tilman where the church stands. This route of the Belle Jardinière was used by the Belgian soldiers who came to defend the Sart Tilman plateau in 1914. From here, walkers can head to the University of Sart Tilman, going underneath the Route du Condroz to reach the cemetery of the Cense Rouge.

There, going towards the centre of Sart Tilman, near the houses, we discover a plaque commemorating the famous battle on 5 to 6 August 1914 at the Cense Rouge farm. Our walk will take us through the Seraing science park and Liege, passing by the remains of old slag heaps which have been reclaimed by nature. Next the route heads towards the Gros Hêtre, the stop for bus 25, formerly known as the Croix de Saint Hubert where there is an old military cemetery. The Rue du Beau Vivier was once called the Rue des Tombes. Well before the Gros Hêtre, there is a lake called "le Beau Vivier" where people come to relax or picnic on the grass.

Through the Bois Saint Jean, along the cycle path, we reach the village of Boncelles passing near a military cemetery. Through the centre of Boncelles, in the direction of Boncelles Poteau via the Rue de Fraigneux. We go straight on in the direction of Rue Ernest Solvay, towards Bê Bon Diu and then take the wide paths on the right as far as the Mare aux Joncs.

We take the paths once called the Tourist Paths, two of which started from the Monument Gramme in Liege, the Château Péralta, its Théâtre de Verdure, then through the bottom of the woods of Kinkempois... We do not know the exact direction taken towards the Croix de Saint Hubert at Ougrée Haut. From there, one of the waymarked paths heads towards Chatqueue, Boverie, Val Saint Lambert, Ivoz-Ramet and Namur. The other goes through the Bois de Boncelles, the road climbing towards Boncelles and Tilff... At Boncelles, the route passed in front of the church and the Rue Ernest Solvay. We take the cycle path along an old country railway line that once travelled from Ougrée to Warzée.

Heading to the splendid Seraing forest, the Vecquée woods, the Croix Bê Bon Diu. This tourist trail went to the village of Neuville en Condroz, passing along the Ry de Chera, the Pont des Cosaques, towards the Château de Neuville en Condroz, known as "Tornaco". We do not know any more about the waypoints on this tourist trail from Liège to the Monument Gramme in the direction of Dinant. From the Poteau de Boncelles, the walker heads to the Mare aux Joncs, at the top of Seraing, level with the Athénée Royal Air Pur and the Bois de l'Abbaye. There, by following the winding Meuse having discovered the old crystal factory of Val Saint Lambert, its château and the lakes surrounding a small, relatively unknown village, we head for the Pont-barrage d'Ivoz-Ramet where we can take the right bank of the Meuse. The scenery changes from the industrial Meuse into a more natural Meuse with magnificent landscapes and the chateaux on the hills near the village of Chockier.

The walker can head to the Flémalle railway station to get back on a train.

A suggested discovery walk between railway stations. There is a way to design this walk by taking paths similar to the description. We hope that we have convinced you to discover our wonderful Liege region. Paris has a "Metropolitan Paths" project in the great capital, which will be unveiled in 2024 for the Olympic Games. Another suggested walk for a short city break in Liège appears on the rtbf website: Walk starting from the Sart Tilman Church or the Cense Rouge cemetery. Here we discover an ancient perspective with a bunker, a redeveloped slag heap with a spectacular view over the entire Meuse valley, a plaque commemorating the famous battle of Sart Tilman during the First World War. We head into the woods passing through the Sart Tilman science park and the new developments in Seraing... designed to attract new companies. We could then describe to you what we see... A description to help you explore this beautiful, little-known region close to the city of Liege. We hope you all enjoy some unique walks in the Liege region. Jean-Pierre Englebert.