Explore the Netherlands and Belgium by bike

People may set boundaries, but nature doesn't care about that. The Kempen, for example, is spread across Belgian Limburg and North Brabant. This route lets you enjoy the beautiful Kempen nature with its stream valleys, quiet forests and vast heathlands.

Soon after boarding you cycle into the Dommel Valley. The Dommel rises in the Belgian Kempen and flows over a distance of 120 kilometers to Den Bosch, where it merges with the river Aa and continues under the name of the Dieze. You drive for miles through a picturesque landscape of flowing meadows, fields with hedgerows, alder forests and poplar plantations. Because you drive almost continuously through nature, you would almost forget that you cross the border after a few kilometers.

Just past Borkel you see the heathland of the Malpie nature reserve. You will pass a number of fens: some were once constructed as a fish pond, others were created naturally as stream valley fens of the Dommel. Time seems to have stood still in this beautiful area.

After a short shortcut you drive over De Groote Heide and through the Leenderbos. This typical Kempen landscape with its small height differences was created during the last ice age by deposits of sand. Heathland, forests, fens: this vast nature reserve is never boring. Just past Heeze you cycle through another gem of Kempen nature: the Strabrechtse Heide. There are several beautiful and quiet fens in this vast plain of shrubs and heather. You have beautiful views, especially when the heather is in bloom. You may encounter the shepherd with his flock of Kempense Heath sheep while cycling.

In the hamlet of Leenderstrijp you will see many centuries-old long-facade farms. Don't pedal too fast and enjoy the glimpse back into Kempen times that you get here. After cycling for miles through the Leenderbossen, you will pass another location with great cultural-historical value: the Achelse Kluis, a Trappist abbey on the border of Belgium and the Netherlands. In 1656, a border chapel was built nearby: Catholics from the Protestant Netherlands were allowed to hold their worship services here, just across the border. The abbey still exists, although the number of monks is no longer as large as in its heyday around the beginning of the twentieth century.