Bois de Lauzelle Louvain-la-Neuve

At more than 200 hectares, the Bois de Lauzelle is the largest university forest in Belgium and adjoins the Louvain-la-Neuve campus directly. This old beech forest is managed by UCLouvain for research, education and gentle recreation. Walkers will find a network of waymarked loops running beneath a cathedral of tall trees, past ponds and marshy areas where herons and waterfowl forage.

Accessibility is partial: from the main entrance at the Lac de Louvain-la-Neuve a wide, levelled track runs into the forest that is easy to follow with a wheelchair or rolling walker for several hundred metres. Further on the paths become narrower and more wooded, with roots and soft ground. Parking with PMR spaces is available at the edge of the forest at the Cour des Coquelicots and at Louvain-la-Neuve station. Adapted toilets are available in the nearby Esplanade shopping gallery.

A visit combines perfectly with a loop around the Lac de Louvain-la-Neuve, which is fully paved and wheelchair accessible, and with the Musee L on campus. In autumn the Bois de Lauzelle takes on beautiful colours, and in spring a carpet of wild hyacinths blooms in the open clearings.