You can cycle or walk almost endlessly through the vast Sonian Forest. With an area of 4421 hectares, it is the largest beech forest in the country and yet barely ten kilometres from the Grote Markt in Brussels. Beech trees that are more than 200 years old are no exception there. The long lanes afford it a noble character. The forest has a rich history as a hunting ground for princes, but also as a hiding place for soldiers and a source of firewood for the entire region. The best protected parts of the Sonian Forest are UNESCO World Heritage sites, as part of a group of centuries-old European beech forests that have remained largely unaltered by man.
