Along streams and canals

When you think of North Brabant, you don't immediately think of streams and canals. Yet here too, you can drive for miles along the green banks of waterways.

Royal waterways
Between Haghorst and Best you cycle along the Wilhelmina Canal for a long time. It is wonderful to cycle along the rippling water and under the green canopy. On warm days you can enjoy the cooling here even more. You also follow the course of the Beatrix Canal. This waterway of over eight kilometers connects the south of Eindhoven with the Wilhelmina Canal. At the end of the Second World War, both canals were dry for a while due to war actions.

The Beerze
Not only life, but also the landscape is good in the Brabant country. You drive in meadows and fields, but also through the forests and fields of the Oostelbeerse Heide. Along the deciduous forest of Landgoed Baest you drive a bit along the stream the Beerze, to which a place like Middelbeers owes its name. In this village you see the Himbergen, a striking remnant of a corn mill from 1884.

Batadorp
The route also takes you through the surprising Batadorp. Many Dutch people probably only know Batadorp as a hub on the way to the sunny south. However, the name also refers to the nearby district and factory that was built here in 1934 for the originally Czechoslovak shoe factory Bata. This allowed the employees to live close to the factory. In addition to houses, Bata also had schools, a hairdressing salon and a medical service built. Bata also built similar villages in other places in the world, so that the company could avoid customs duties. The original buildings of Batadorp are now considered industrial heritage and are a real historical attraction.