Through the outskirts of Brussels

This route takes you through the surprisingly green area east of Brussels, the so-called Dijleland. You ride through a slightly rolling landscape that is dotted with fields, meadows, streams and rivers, sunken roads and forests.
The route takes you through places such as Zaventem, Kortenberg and Veltem-Beisem. The landscape around Kortenberg is flat and is characterised by wide, shallow valleys of the Weesbeek, the Zuurbeek and part of the Molenbeek. These three streams belong to the drainage area of the river Dijle. In Beisem you will pass the Kerkstraat: it is worth driving into this street, as the area around the old Sint-Michielskerk is a protected village view.

Kampenhout, together with Kortenberg, is considered the epicentre of Flemish chicory cultivation. In and around the old village you will see various monuments, such as chapels, mansions and regional farms. Just past Kampenhout you cycle through the Hellebos. In this almost twelve hectare large forest, centuries-old oaks and beeches still grow. They are a feast for the eyes, but also for the beaks of the woodpeckers that regularly make themselves heard.

Between the villages of Perk and Melsbroek you drive through the Floordambos. This relatively small forest consists largely of swamp forests with alders, birches and ash trees. The lower plants have a high botanical value: spotted arum, slender primrose and large populations of wood anemone grow there.