Impressive forest domains in the Bruges Ommeland

Just below Bruges you will find beautiful nature. Around Oostkamp, the starting point of your cycling tour, you will find the Valley of the Zuidleie, for example. The excavation of the Ghent-Bruges canal, one of the oldest canals in the country, was started in this valley as early as the 13th century. On both sides of the canal are valuable nature reserves and old meanders of the historic Zuidleie. Suytleye, Leye, Reie are medieval names of the river that once formed the upper course of the Bruges canals, which are now world famous. Further along the route you will pass through Lippensgoed-Bulskampveld, with its extensive deciduous and coniferous forests and imposing avenues. The provincial domain of no less than 232 hectares is part of the largest public green area in West Flanders. Until the 18th century this was a desolate heathland, after which the rugged'Bulnas Campas\\\' was reclaimed. With the pieces of heath, fields and meadows, it is a very varied park, with a 19th century castle in neo-Gothic style as the radiant center. In 1904, the estate came into the possession of the noble Lippens family, who had the surrounding castle park built. Here you will see impressive old trees and a walled vegetable garden, which has been transformed into a unique herb garden with up to 400 species. Around the garden you can also see a wagon workshop with accompanying vehicles. Just past Loca Labora, a social workshop with an educational vegetable garden and organic farm, you can take a detour to the castle that now serves as a visitor center. So definitely get off, it's worth taking a look around here! All kinds of tufts of nature here form a large fragmented nature map. Just behind Maria-Aalter, for example, you cycle through the Blekkerbos, a deciduous forest with many oaks, beech and sweet chestnut. Until the 17th century it was an offshoot of the Bulskampveld, but today it is a beautiful self-contained forest of about 350 hectares. If you happen to come here in the fall, the fall colors are beautiful to see! On the village square of Maria-Aalter are a giant bobbin of lace and a beet harvester with a machete - sculptures that refer to the harsh outdoor life and seasonal work of the past. Furthermore, Blekkervijver Castle, now the St. Stanislas Institute of the Brothers of Charity, is worth mentioning, if only because of its location in a beautiful domain with lanes and a pond. On the way back you will pass through the beautiful Lippensgoed-Bulskampveld with its beautiful forest drives. Unbelievable that you will find such beautifully preserved nature here, a stone's throw from Bruges!