Country estates and castles: Walenburg, Sandeburg and Groenestein

Your walk starts in the picturesque Cothen. The silhouette of this village is determined by the tower of the Catholic church and by the Oog in 't Zeil mill. You follow a beautiful route through the Kromme Rijnsteek, a lowland at the bottom of the Utrechtse Heuvelrug. Here you walk through polders and orchards. First you walk to Walenburg Castle. This country house is located on a square island and originally dates from the thirteenth century. A little further on is Sandenburg Castle, which dates from the end of the fourteenth century. The poet Gerrit Achterberg was born in the coach house in 1905. Groenestein Castle was probably built between 1377 and 1414, but was converted into a country house in the eighteenth century. You walk back along the Kromme Rijn.