Historic green villages, fens and forests

A wonderful cycling route through central Drenthe where heathland and fields alternate. You will pass through a number of typical Drenthe ash or green villages. The most important feature of this architectural style is a green'square\\\', usually grassland, where trees were planted. The farms were built around this green heart. The green square had a connecting function: the animals were gathered on it in the evening and the trees were used as building material.

After you have boarded, you soon pass two so-called ash or brink villages. The small Zwiggelte and the more famous Westerbork. You naturally associate this last place with Camp Westerbork. However, this is quite a few kilometers outside the village, almost against Hooghalen. You will not cycle past it today, but you may be able to visit the so-called memorial camp where you will find the famous monument of the rails on your own. Almost all authentic buildings of the former Westerbork camp have been removed, symbolic reconstructions on the site refer to former camp buildings and barracks.

From Westerbork you cycle through the green heart of Drenthe. It is a nice quiet area with expansive views. The moors you encounter are the remnants of what used to be a vast moorland. Cultivation and cutting have fragmented the areas. New forests have been planted in a few places, such as at Meppen and Witteveen. You can see from the upright position of the thin trees that these forests are still young. The fields mostly grow tuberous crops such as potatoes and sugar beets, which thrive on the lower peaty soil. At about three quarters of the route you arrive in the nice museum village of Orvelte. This is really worth a longer stop. It is not big in itself, you can visit the center in a good hour. The historic center is simply inhabited, although the people here focus on visitors and engage in all kinds of authentic crafts. You will find village shops with craft items. For example, there is a sawmill and blacksmith shop that still produce. The nice thing is that you can watch their work. The cheese dairy and bakery also make products on site that are sold directly to the doorstep.

You will also find various studios and galleries in the village. Of course also the necessary tourist knick-knacks, but you just have to look through that.

From Orvelte, the landscape continues to alternate between heathland, forest and arable land. With this you actually also have Drenthe in a nutshell. This in combination with another green village, Elp, gives you a striking picture of this beautiful province.