Tour of Schouwen-Duiveland

Schouwen-Duiveland is home to some gems of nature reserves and cultural-historical treasures. You will discover them with this route. And of course you can also enjoy the terraces and beautiful Zeeland villages along the way.

The first kilometers you can kick your legs loose if you drive east from Renesse. Along the shores of the North Sea and Lake Grevelingen you drive to Brouwershaven, the old town that enjoys the status of a protected cityscape within the former ramparts. On the city wall you can see De Haan, a former flour mill from 1724. On the market is the Town Hall, a monument whose history dates back to the fourteenth century.

On the south coast of Schouwen-Duiveland, there are two beautiful nature reserves around the village of Serooskerke. First you cycle along the edges of the Prunje, the oldest polder on the island. In the seventeenth century, this swampy wilderness was a true bird paradise. In the period that followed, however, the area was drained. After the flood disaster of 1953, the farmers even cultivated it. With the'Tureluur\\\' Plan, however, the Prunje has been returned to nature. In spring and autumn thousands of redshanks, black-tailed godwits, geese and plovers rest here. The area is a breeding ground for avocets, sandwich terns and terns. Bird lovers can have fun here: Zeeland's bird boulevard is located along the Delingsdijk and the Inlaagweg.

On the other side of Serooskerke you drive through Schelpenhoek, a creek area that arose from one of the largest dike breaches during the flood disaster. Schelpenhoek is also rich in birds, with more than sixty species breeding here, such as nightingales, great spotted woodpeckers and owls. A little further on you will pass the Plompe Toren, the last remnant of the Schouwen village of Koudekerke that disappeared into the waves at the end of the sixteenth century. At the top of the tower you have a beautiful view of the Oosterschelde National Park.

The old village of Burgh originated around a ring rampart. This castle was supposed to provide protection against the Normans who made the region unsafe at the end of the ninth century. From the Kerkstraat a footpath leads you to the burg. The courtyard has been raised and the earthen wall, including the wooden palisades, has been partially restored. A reconstruction of an entrance gate has also been made. It gives you a wonderful impression of what the castle must have looked like ten centuries ago!