From Liège, the route first climbs out of the Meuse valley into the Pays de Herve. The city drops away below the hills; after that, pastures, hedges, farms and small villages carry the road through eastern Wallonia. Around Herve, Battice and Henri-Chapelle, Belgium feels more rural, more open and far less urban than at the start. Near Kelmis and Raeren, the route reaches the border area with Germany. The next section crosses the Aachen hinterland, with woodland, villages and old industrial towns around Stolberg and Eschweiler. Farther east, the terrain flattens out: Düren, the Rur, fields and broad roads lead into the Cologne Basin. The final kilometres approach Cologne from the west, ending with the Rhine corridor and the cathedral as the main landmarks.
