By bike
North Brabant is the perfect destination to discover by bike. A colourful and varied landscape with heathlands and extensive forests. Countryside with charming villages and yet always around the corner from one of the unique cities. Don't forget to take a break and look at the sights along the way!
Welcoming (forest) cafes with beautiful cafe gardens - often heated so that you can still enjoy the outdoors in the early evening, spring and autumn - and delightful restaurants invite you to get off the saddle. To enjoy the view while enjoying a drink or some delicious food prepared by passionate chefs. But there are also cosy B&Bs, shops with the most delicious regional products, beautiful gardens and impressive views. With the cycle route network, which has been mapped out all over the province, you can easily determine the route and distance of your cycle tour yourself. What could be easier?
Black Kaat, legend of the Kempen region
Of course, a bike ride is extra fun if you are following the trail of an exciting past! The bicycle route 'Zwarte Kaat' lets you hunt a legend. Feel her breath in the wind, hear her squeaky voice in the woods, get to know her character and immerse yourself in her conquests!
Perhaps the most important stop along the route is the Witch’s Tree in Bladel. The place where Black Kaat lies buried. Black Kaat was a menace to the Kempen region for many years. Together with her husband Bruno and her gang she robbed, murdered and looted. This woman had to be caught. Eventually she was led, screaming, to the scaffold to be beheaded. She was buried well away from the consecrated ground in the village; without a cross but under a branch. This branch has grown into a capricious tree: the Witch’s Tree (in reality it is a beech planted around 1890). Fun fact: this tree was voted tree of the year in 2019!
The route, which makes use of the numbered junction network, is 36 km long in total and passes through the village of Bladel. You will also encounter the villages of Reusel, and Postel in Belgium. The route starts at Recreatiepark Achterste Hoef where you can park your car and get a bite to eat or go to the toilet if needed.
Van Gogh
Cycle through the Brabant landscape that inspired Van Gogh and visit the many unique Van Gogh locations in North Brabant. Brabant life and its landscape formed the basis of Vincent van Gogh’s works (1853-1890). Vincent was born in Brabant; this is where he grew up, found inspiration, put his first sketches on paper, developed into a painter and made his first masterpiece: The Potato Eaters. The Van Gogh Cycle Route invites cycling enthusiasts to be inspired by the landscape that won Vincent's heart.
The Van Gogh cycle route in Brabant consists of 435 km of pleasurable cycle paths, divided into ten unique routes. Enjoy the varied Brabant landscape and visit the places that shaped Van Gogh. The picturesque village of Nuenen alone has 23 locations reminiscent of Van Gogh! The Opwetten Watermill, for example, with its beautiful café garden - you’ll be enjoying your meal at a location that Van Gogh depicted on one of his works!
Liberation Route
Cycling through a beautiful landscape and viewing WWII locations in North Brabant The Liberation Route Brabant tells the story of the liberation and also what the entire Second World War meant for the people of North Brabant. No fewer than eight cycling routes, spread across North Brabant, will lead you past personal, impressive and often life-changing war stories, collected by the Brabant Remembers Foundation. And also past Liberation Route Europe audio information points, monuments and museums that together make the war’s impact on North Brabant visible.
Top Scenic Routes
Cycling route Biesbosch
23 kilometres
Cycle through a maze of rivers, islets with willows and streams with crystal clear water. National Park De Biesbosch is the largest freshwater tidal area in Europe and this unique landscape is easily traversed by bike, via a simple network of numbered junctions!
There is plenty to discover along the route, which includes countless photogenic spots. One of the things you will encounter is the unique Biesbosch Museum Island. A beautiful building that blends into the landscape and has various architectural awards to its name, with a beautiful permanent exhibition where the past, present and future of National Park De Biesbosch are highlighted in an illustrative manner. With on the far point of the island a beautiful work of art by alaa minawi, 'waiting for it to end...' . Enjoy the water landscape along the way and who knows, you might spot a beaver or a white-tailed eagle!
The route over the junction network is 23 km long and can be cycled in both directions.
Cycle route Maashorst
45 kilometres
The Maashorst is a real primeval area, in the sense that it has a rich natural past. With an area spanning more than 3,500 hectares, De Maashorst is the largest contiguous natural landscape region in North Brabant. It contains hundreds of plant species, almost 150 bird species and more than 25 kinds of mammals. With a bit of luck you might spot the primal inhabitants of this area: the European Bison, the Tauros aurochs or the Exmoor pony.
With this Maashorst route you are assured of an adventurous bike ride. Spectacular archaeological finds have been made here, such as an urn field from the early Iron Age and the largest and richest burial mound of the Netherlands: the King’s Grave in Oss. So don't forget to stop cycling and look around every now and then!
The route over the junction network is 45 km long.
Cycle route Groote Heide
25 kilometres
De Groote Heide (large heath) lives up to its name: with its more than 6000 hectares, the area spreads out over North Brabant and Belgian Limburg. It also borders cities such as Eindhoven and Valkenswaard, and Neerpelt and Achel in Belgium.
The area itself includes walking area De Malpie, to which Valkenswaard owes the title 'Walking Municipality of 2016'. Marvel at the purple heath, the green forests, the many streams and meres, and the lovely cultural-historical sights. And if you are a bird lover, bring your binoculars and keep an eye out for the kingfisher, bittern, honey buzzard and nightjar.
The route over the junction network is 25 km long.
Cycle route Strabrechtse Heide
28 kilometres
To the northeast of Heeze you will find the Strabrechtse Heide, the largest continuous heathland area in Brabant with numerous meres, woods and sand drift areas. Here, nature lovers can enjoy a varied landscape with beautiful views.
You will pass the Beuven, the largest mere in the Netherlands. Here you will find unusual plants such as the water purslane and the carnivorous sundew. The fens are teeming with dragonflies and if you look closely you can spot the moor frog or maybe even a natterjack toad.
At Natuurpoort De Plaetse, the starting point of your cycling tour, there is a sheepfold that houses a herd of 350 Kempisch heath sheep. You can enjoy a drink or lunch at the nearby cafe De Strabrechtse Heide.
The route over the junction network is 28 km long.