Border shopping in the Kempen

This route takes you through the vast forests of the Brabantse Kempen. You only pass through Hooge Mierde and the Belgian Arendonk, so you really spend a long day in nature.

Peelse Heide
You leave from the edge of the Peelse Heide. Between the conifers you pass the Kleine and Groote Cirkel. The Great Circle is said to correspond in size to the Place de l\\\'Étoile in Paris. The circles were an important landmark for pilots during the Second World War. A little further on you drive through the Turnhoutse Heide, a forest and heath area that flows into the Regional Forests of Ravels in Belgium.

Full lumps
After your visit to the characteristic Arendonk, you drive into the Reuselse Moeren where heather, conifers and gale shrubs grow. Until the 1960s, many kilos of butter and cigarettes were transported across the border in pungels (a large backpack). Here you will experience how deafeningly quiet it can be in the Kempen forests.

Heemmuseum Arendonk
The Kempen is extensively discussed in the Heem Museum. Of course, attention is paid to the history of Arendonk, but attention is also paid to painter Jan Van Eyck, whose cradle may have been in Arendonk. You will also find information about falconry and the cigar industry that came across the border from Bladel.