Forests and estates of the Utrechtse Heuvelrug

Your route starts with a cup of coffee at the Wapen van Elst. From here you can take a bike ride through the Utrechtse Heuvelrug National Park. The surroundings of Langbroek used to consist mainly of swamp forest that changed into a landscape due to reclamation. The characteristic residential towers near Langbroek initially functioned as defense, but later as a status symbol. You cycle past Leeuwenburgh, a country residence dating from 1657. And Sterkenburg Castle, a knight's court town whose history dates back to the thirteenth century. The village of Austerlitz got its name from the French general Marmont, who had Camp Zeist built on the heath in 1804. Austerlitz is a former Czech town where Napoleon won an important battle in 1805. You cycle back past the striking Poorthuis Ruiterberg from 1917.