The mill route along water and nature

This route takes you along the beautiful and natural Zeeland-Flemish west coast. You drive through the green dune strip between Nieuwvliet-Bad and Cadzand-Bad, the westernmost seaside resort in the Netherlands. It is nice and quiet to cycle here with the sound of the surf in the background. The route also takes you through the cross-border nature reserve Het Zwin, the former arm of the sea that connected Bruges with the North Sea. Over the centuries, this estuary, which originally had an estuary more than six kilometers wide, has silted up. The current beach channel now forms the border between the Netherlands and Belgium. The associated border marker number 369 is located entirely on Dutch territory, because it kept being washed away at its original location. In the slufter area you drive through, there is an active creek system of salt marshes, mudflats, beaches and dunes, which is rare by Dutch standards. It is a well-known site of 40 million year old shark teeth. So feel free to dismount if you want to test your success! Part of the route takes you through the Oudelandse Polder, an area that was already mentioned in the twelfth century. What started as a sandbank has grown over the centuries through human intervention and flooding into a special polder landscape and cycling area. The former Island of Cadzand is one of the oldest polder landscapes in Europe and is still recognizable as such. You drive through the old fortified town of Sluis and the former garrison town of Retranchement. You will also visit Cadzand-Dorp, a medieval ring village with the Gothic Maria Church from the early fourteenth century in the middle. The church and the picturesque old houses are reminiscent of times gone by. On the route you pass a number of old mills or their remains. None of these mills were used for reclaiming the land: they all served as flour mills. The Aalbrechtse Mill from 1848 was dismantled in 1931, and the striking hull later served as a holiday home. The Retranchementse Mill dates from 1818 and replaced its fallen predecessor from 1643. De Brak Mill in Sluis dates from 1739 and can be visited almost daily from Easter to the end of October, tickets are available in the adjacent souvenir shop. The hull of De Meermin, a former mill from 1896, is located in the town of Terhofstede. The mill was dismantled in 1948. On top of the hull is a weather vane in the shape of a mermaid. According to a local legend, some residents of Damme, Belgium, once found a mermaid near Terhofstede. When they took her back to their city, the mermaid is said to have died of grief. Near the village of Zuidzande you will pass the Zuidzandse Mill dating from 1874.