Visiting the Hallerbos

Hi guys,

Yesterday I went to the Hallerbos near Brussels. It's a new tradition in our family to go hiking there each year at the end of april. At that time, the forest turns into a purple fairytale. The hyacints in the forest are in bloom and the entire forest turns purple. It's so lovely! This year, we went a bit late (because life has gotten in the way), but we still found some pretty purple spots left.

The flowers are in full bloom around mid april until the last days of april. So you have to go visit the forest around that time if you're interested in the stunning purple color. At the beginning of may, the flowers loose their color and the forest turns grey again. And grey is basically the color of Belgium....

People from all over the world are interested in the forest and the past few years, it's been more and more populated to visit this place. I know some famous bloggers who travelled around the globe to visit the Hallerbos. So cool, right? On instagram, the forest has been featured a couple of times and it's been all over the news here too.

A bit of a macro-shot. I'm not the best at macro photography, since my focus is on landscaping and models, but I gave it a shot. Here's a dying hyacinth! Bit dramatic though.

This is a non-retouched shot from the Hallerbos. I took the shot in the full shadow, since these flowers were still super purple because they haven't seen much sun for the last couple of days, which is better to keep their color.

On the tourist-website of the Hallerbos you can find some more information about the forest.

You have maps to download to find out where exactly you can find the best places in the forest to spot the flowers, where to eat, where children can play,...

Also important: because of the tourism, you now have different parkings to park your car. A couple of years ago, it wasn't that crowded yet and you were able to park everywhere... But now it's a must to plan extra some time in your schedule, to find a parking-space.

In the forest, on the outside, you have this cute little pond with frogs in it. In springtime, the water is full with tadpoles, super cute!

Now why I'd recommend a visit to the forest. The forest is near Brussels, a large, busy, big city. And Halle is a small town next to Brussels. It's like an oasis of peace, right next to our capital city. If you plan on hikng there, you might even spot some wild animals. We saw a deer yesterday!

More info on the website: https://www.hallerbos.be/bezoekersinfo/

It's free to visit and you have spaces to park the car. The parking is also for free. At the main entrances of the forest you can get maps and more information. You can also come to the forest by public transport (more on the website).

On the website you can also find places to stay near the forest, if you're not interested in staying in the city. I'd recommend that, it's not far from Brussels, so you can still visit it, but it is way more peaceful there!

Do you want to know anything more? Just ask!

X Steph

Thanks for reading this blog, see you next year, Hallerbos!