Hallerbos — Local services in Halle

A beautiful forest, fresh air, flowering hyacinths, just perfect for a sunny weekend visit. This weekend (last weekend of April) there was a free shuttle bus from right in front of the Halle train station to the forest (called Hyacinth bus) and a very friendly person in a small stall also next to the station explaining how to get to the forest and giving a free map of trails. The shuttle takes you near the forest (takes 15 mins to get there) and then it's another 1.5km to get to the trails. The entry to the forest is free, there is also a small museum right in front of the parking where the shuttle stops (free after 2pm open till 5pm). The shuttles depart every 15 mins till 6 pm and afterwards every 30 mins, or more often if full of people. You can easily spend a few hours walking along the trails, I would say a minimum of 1h to take a good look at the flowers. There are a few picnic tables along the trails, you also have dedicated bike and pet-walking paths. Generally it is really worth visiting in the hyacinth flowering period, especially if you love nature and want to see something...

What colour do you normally associate with a forest? Well, in the Hallerbos forest of Belgium, that would be blue, for reasons you can clearly see here. For about 10 days every year, usually in late April or early May, this very old forest floor is transformed as bluebell hyacinths wake up from their winter slumber and carpet the forest floor in blue.

Even though it's a bit early for the fleeting blooms, today would be a good day to visit the 'Blue Forest,' for this is the day that the United Nations recognises the International Day of Forests. The theme of this year's observance is reforestation, another thing that Hallerbos is known for. Large swaths of the ancient forest were destroyed by occupying forces during World War I, which prompted the Belgian government to roll out an extensive reforestation project starting in the 1930s. Within 20 years, Hallerbos was well on its way to being a healthy forest again, as the depleted native beech and oak trees were restocked....

I had visited Hallerbos with alot of expectation on having the fortune of witnessing the blue bells carpet. However to my disappointment, I was late having visited the forest towards the end of may. We took a good ride through the forest and had the rare experience of an unexpected hailstorm which lasted for only few minutes. The ride through the forest amongst the drooping bluebells with it's fragrance well spread all in the air was in itself a very welcoming experience. I would definitely be visiting this place again and would recommend anybody in search of magical views to visit the place well in time...