Tour Bels Line from Baarle-Nassau

This cycling tour runs through the green border area below Breda and Tilburg. The vast and dense forests here used to offer sufficient opportunities to cross the border unnoticed. You immediately cross the border between the Netherlands and Belgium several times, in the enclave village of Baarle-Nassau. The Bels Lijntje, a former railway line, takes you to Gilze and the Chaamse Bossen. This was once a rough area with sand drifts and wet heathland, but between 1900 and 1935 the area was reclaimed. The fens were drained and where the area was too wet, grasslands were allowed to grow. Many Scots pines were also planted. The result is a surprisingly varied forest.