GR 571 Stage 1: Comblain-au-Pont to Aywaille

Details and a map for GR 571 Stage 1 which starts in Comblain-au-Pont and finishes in Aywaille. UPDATED APRIL 2026

Route at a glance

• Distance: Approx. 17 km (official amended route); allow for 19-20 km with station access walks
• Elevation gain: Approx. 480 m; a challenging start with a steep climb immediately out of Comblain
• Duration: 5-6.5 hours walking time
• Difficulty: Moderate to hard; steep initial ascent, mixed terrain throughout
• Start: Rivage railway station (1 km walk to GR 571 start at Pont-de-Sçay, Comblain-au-Pont)
• End: Aywaille railway station (500 m walk from trail end)
• Train line: Liège-Rivage
• Key landmarks: Grand Fawe ridge, Oneux, Martinrive, Château d’Amblève ruins, Aywaille
• Best season: March to October
• GPX / map: RouteYou and Wikiloc (search: GR 571 Stage 1)

Map of the route for GR 571 Stage 1

Below is the map of the route. Note that this is the new, amended route, not the (incorrect) one I took above. So if you want to follow the correct route of the GR 571 from Comblain-au-Pont to Aywaille, follow this route:

You can download it as a PDF here. And you can get the GPX track from my RouteYou page.

First steps: Where the GR 571 begins

Every long journey has to start somewhere. For the GR 571 (what I now consider Belgium’s most rewarding long-distance footpath through the Ardennes), that somewhere is a quiet crossing over the railway line at Pont-de-Sçay, on the edge of Comblain-au-Pont. Here, the Ourthe and Amblève rivers meet in a confluence that has been significant since Roman times. I walked Stage 1 on a cold Sunday in early March. The word ‘cold’ doesn’t quite cover it. But more on that later.

Getting there

The GR 571 is highly accessible by train on its opening stages. From Brussels, take a train to Liège-Guillemins, then change to the local service towards Rivage. The changeover at Liège can be tight. Allow extra time and check your connection before you travel. For train timetables, check belgiantrain.be; search Brussels (or your city) to Rivage.

One practical note about Rivage station that caught me by surprise: to exit from the far platform, you simply walk across the tracks. There’s no underpass or bridge. Once out of the station, it’s about a 1 km walk down to the river and across the bridge into Comblain-au-Pont proper. There’s a baker’s on the way. It’s worth a stop if you want something extra for lunch on the hill.

GR 571 Stage 1: Comblain-au-Pont to Aywaille

Finding the start

The GR 571 begins without fanfare. No signboard, no visitor centre, no dramatic arch. It starts on the Rue de la Gare in Comblain-au-Pont with a small red-and-white marker on a wall. These are the same markers that will guide you for the next 185 km of this circular route through the Ardennes. The official starting point is technically Pont-de-Sçay, at the level crossing near the Ourthe-Amblève confluence. Look for the waymarkers and you’re off.

The climb, and the views from the Grand Fawe

The GR 571 Stage 1 wastes no time. Within ten minutes of leaving Comblain, I was heading along a path that goes almost vertically upward through the woods. This is not a gradual warm-up. It’s an immediate, leg-burning, heart-rate-spiking statement of intent. Stop at the top to let your pulse return to something reasonable, and look back: the view over the confluence of the Ourthe and Amblève is magnificent.

The route then continues up through the first village, Oneux (pictures below).

It then climbs to the high ridge of the Grand Fawe. This is open, exposed country at altitude, with panoramic views across the Ardennes on a clear day. It is also, in early March, extraordinarily cold. The day I walked it the thermometer was sitting at 1°C, but with a ferocious easterly wind it felt like something considerably more Arctic. Iced-over puddles, numb fingers, the distant smell of Murmansk. Or so it seemed at the time.

But the views are extraordinary, and the ridge walk is one of the highlights of Stage 1. On a warmer day in spring or autumn, this would be among the finest walking in Belgium.

A word about the route diversion at Oneux

When I walked this stage in 2016, I discovered the hard way that the GR 571 had been amended in July 2015. At a crossroads in Oneux, a waymarker pointed east while my printed Topo-Guide pointed south. I followed the map (south), which took me along the Grand Fawe. It was spectacular, as it turned out, but not the current official route.

The current route diverges east from Oneux and rejoins the Amblève valley at Septroux by a different path. Always check the GRSentiers.org website for route updates before you walk, and use a recently downloaded GPX track rather than relying solely on a printed guide. The organisation is responsive to queries and will advise on any changes.

The section along the Grand Fawe that I accidentally walked is shared with mountain bikers. Maybe this is the reason the GR route was rerouted away from it. If you walk the amended route, you’ll miss the Grand Fawe ridge but gain a more reliably waymarked path.

Septroux and the return to the Amblève

Whether you follow the current route or the original one, both paths descend through the hamlet of Septroux and then into the Amblève valley. From the Croix de Septroux (a large wooden cross on the ridge) you get a first glimpse down to Aywaille and the river valley, though the route still has several kilometres of graceful detour ahead before it gets there.

The descent into Martinrive follows. This is a handsome little village straddling the Amblève, with a stone bridge, a lovely church, and the quiet unhurried character that typifies this part of the Ardennes. Cross the river here and the path moves into the nature reserve of Les Coteaux de Martinrive. Here you can enjoy wooded hillside and pretty streams: a welcome change of pace after the exposed ridge.

The castle in the woods: Château d’Amblève

Somewhere between Martinrive and Aywaille, rounding a corner among the trees, I came across something unexpected: an old photograph in a frame, attached to a tree trunk. Framed. Hanging in the forest. Not vandalised, not graffitied, simply hanging there in the quiet. It’s a photograph of what lies just beyond. This is the ruined towers of the Château d’Amblève, rising from granite cliffs above the river.

Seen from the valley below after the path descends, the ruins look exactly as a medieval castle should: perched on their granite cliff, commanding the river valley, utterly improbable and rather magnificent. The strategic logic of the location is immediately obvious.

Note for families: the path to the castle from the valley road (Rue des Remparts) is about 500 metres, with a steep and sometimes slippery approach. Accessible with children if everyone is cautious about the edges.

Into Aywaille

From the castle, the GR 571 descends gently to follow the Amblève valley towards Aywaille. The final stretch is the most straightforward of the day. It’s a level path along the river, then into town. Even on a Sunday afternoon, Aywaille is a lively enough small town with open shops, a café or two, and a park by the river if you want to sit down before the train.

The railway station is about 500 metres from where the trail meets the town. Trains back to Liège run regularly, and connections to Brussels, Leuven, and Namur are easy from there.

The history along the way

Comblain-au-Pont: Where two rivers meet

The town gets its name from the Latin Confluentes, referring to the meeting of the Ourthe and Amblève rivers. That confluence has drawn people here since at least the Mesolithic period; the Musée du Pays d’Ourthe-Amblève in the town holds archaeological finds stretching back thousands of years. The Romans called the settlement Aqualia (‘the watery, boggy place’), a name that gradually evolved into Aywaille, through the Walloon words for ‘water’ and ‘ford’. Both towns share an origin in this river landscape.

The limestone geology of the area is dramatic and visible throughout. The valley walls are dolomitic rock formations, some reaching 60 metres in height. Comblain has an outdoor sculpture museum along the riverbank, and a geological trail that traces the visible rock strata. It’s worth a look if you have time before or after your walk.

Château d’Amblève and the Spanish fury

The castle’s destruction in 1578 was part of a wider pattern of religious and political violence that swept through the Low Countries in the late sixteenth century. William of Orange (aka  William the Silent) was leading the revolt of the Protestant northern provinces against Spanish Habsburg rule. The Ardennes, sitting between the Protestant north and the Catholic south, became contested ground. When a garrison at the Château d’Amblève declared for Orange, it was only a matter of time before the Spanish response came. The castle was demolished the following year and never rebuilt.

The ruins today are protected and are considered among the most atmospheric medieval remnants in the province of Liège. Free access, no opening times, no guides: just you, the forest, and the stones.

Aywaille: The town at the ford

The name Aywaille almost certainly derives from the Walloon for ‘passing water by ford’ — a reminder that before the bridges, this was a crossing point on the Amblève. The Romans used it. Medieval traders used it. Today the town is a pleasant base for exploring the surrounding Ardennes, with the Ninglinspo valley (one of the most beautiful short walks in Belgium, following a torrent through a rocky gorge) nearby and the famous Grottes de Remouchamps just down the valley.

Where to stay in Aywaille

Aywaille has guesthouses and small hotels and makes a practical base for the next stage. Alternatively, Comblain-au-Pont itself has accommodation if you prefer to start fresh from the beginning in the morning. Possibilities in Aywaille include Douce Mathilde, Le Coin Cocoon, K-Jol et Vous and 1001 Nuits Aywaille.

The other stages of the GR 571

Stage 1 is the beginning of a 185 km circular route through the Belgian Ardennes. Here are the other stages I have completed:

• Stage 2: Aywaille to Stoumont
• Stage 3: Stoumont to Trois-Ponts
• Stage 4: Trois-Ponts to Vielsalm
• Stage 5: Vielsalm to Gouvy
• Stage 6: Gouvy to Verleumont

A final note

I set off on Stage 1 of the GR 571 on a Sunday morning in early March, intent on proving to myself that I’d actually do what I’d written about in the previous week’s post. A day walk to ease in gently. What greeted me at the top of the Grand Fawe was not gentle. It was a wind that seemed to have come directly from Siberia, passing through Murmansk on the way, with temperature and chill factor combining into something that felt genuinely hostile.

And yet. Those views from the ridge. The castle appearing around the corner in the trees. The walk along the Amblève into Aywaille in the afternoon calm. An apple in the park before the train home. It was a very good day.

Stage 1 is not the most dramatic of the GR 571 stages. That comes later, deeper into the Ardennes. But it sets the tone: varied terrain, more history than I expected, and a persistent habit of producing something beautiful just when you’re beginning to feel the cold in your bones.

Denzil Walton

I created Discovering Belgium in 2011 to share the country’s hidden stories, fascinating places, and remarkable people. Through articles, photography, and audio walks, I share discoveries that reveal Belgium beyond the obvious. Hope you enjoy this site.