Hiking at Limburgs Baarlo

Just outside Baarlo in Limburg you can take a nice detour through the countryside. You walk through the forest of the Kesselse Bergen and past meadows and fields.

Kessel mountains
The Kesselse Bergen originally consisted of heathland and shifting dunes. Scots pines were planted in this gently sloping area a century ago, so that you now step between fragrant conifers. It is wonderfully quiet walking here. In 1944, the Limburg resistance held some thirty German soldiers in a camp a little deeper in the forest. And that while this part of the Netherlands was not yet liberated at the time. After ten weeks, the forest partisans were able to hand over their prisoners to the Allies at the end of 1944.

Castle de Raay
The route starts and ends at Kasteel de Raay. Originally, this former knight's heritage dates back to the mid-thirteenth century. The current white-painted house still stands on the cellars of the former castle. It was renovated in the nineteenth century, when the roof was added in Swiss chalet style. After a major renovation, the building was renamed Fletcher Hotel Château De Raay at the beginning of this century, a comfortable and historic place to stay.