Slenaken, Schoppen and Eijsden

Through the rolling Limburg area of Altembroek you cycle to the Veursbos, which lies east of the Belgian Veurs. The forest is partly a hillside forest, so prepare yourself for a steep climb and the reward that you no longer have to pedal when you go to lower ground. The Veursbos lies on top of an extension of the Plateau of Margraten. The streams Gulp, Veurs and Noor flow around the ridge. The Veursbos is a woodrush and beech forest. The trees grow here on nutrient-poor, loamy and stony soil. Deciduous trees rise high to the sky and dwarf shrubs stay a little closer to the ground. It is a rare forest type in the Netherlands and Flanders, because the trees can only grow well when the climate is cool and humid. The trees do well in the Veursbos, but the shrubs and mosses have a hard time. Herbs are common there. Plant lovers will especially recognise the white woodrush and the medlar in the vegetation, in addition to the obvious beech trees and summer oaks. You cycle to Sint-Pieters-Voeren, where you will see a beautiful castle in the Maasland Renaissance style. The Commanderie is a former commandery of the Teutonic Order, which was donated by Daniël van Voeren in 1242 when he took up residence there. The castle was the commandery of Alden Bielden, where the commander stayed. The complex consists of a main building, a farm, stables and a gatehouse. The oldest part of the fortress is the L-shaped wing, which is adorned with a tower. A number of ponds were added to the original moats around the castle in 1885. Trout, sturgeon and eel were, and still are, bred here. You cycle to Eijsden, where you will see the beautiful old Graanmolen van Eijsden, which was built in 1788. This undershot watermill ground corn, but has not been used since about the 1950s. As a result, the mill and the waterworks fell into poor condition. Although the mill was completely restored in 1980, it is no longer used for its original purpose. Eijsden Castle looms up five hundred metres further on. This castle is also called 'de Borg' or 'Laag Caestertburg' and is a national monument. The current castle was built in 1636, rebuilt in 1767 and then restored. It consists of two wings at right angles to each other, both with a heavy corner tower on the outside. The whole is surrounded by a moat and there is a gatehouse with a forecourt at the castle. The park, which was laid out in 1900, is freely accessible. For the next castle, you have to cycle to the next village. Oost Castle in Oost-Maarland was originally a moated residential tower, but it was expanded and adapted over time. Today, the tower is the core of a stately mansion. The oldest masonry probably dates from the twelfth or thirteenth century and can be found in one of the side walls. However, the residential tower was only built in 1548. Not much of the old structure of the castle can be seen anymore since it was drastically changed in the fifties. Also get off your bike in Libeek. Until 2011, Libeek, or Liebik as the Limburgers call it, was part of Margraten. The place was founded in the thirteenth century and in the village is the Libeek farm, the oldest parts of which also date from the thirteenth century. There used to be a knightly house on this site, but after the castle changed owners in the sixteenth century, the fortress was gradually converted into a leasehold farm. Libeek has the largest Limburg farm that stands around a square courtyard and the house, which is built of marlstone, was built and improved in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The last historical castle complex that you can visit is in Mheer and bears the same name. It is a castle with four wings and a U-shaped lower courtyard. The small inner courtyard within the four wings is accessible via a footbridge over a dry moat. The west wing is the oldest part of the castle; this part of the castle was built at the beginning of the fourteenth century. At the end of the same century, the north wing was built and the east wing, on which a robust round tower stands, dates from the fifteenth century. Incidentally, the tower was built on foundations from the late eleventh century. Around 1570, the south wing was built and the current castle was complete. Above the entrance gate to the outer bailey, you can see a bluestone machicolation. Mheer Castle is the only castle in the Netherlands with a so-called pekneus.