Cycling along castles cycling route

You can park in the car park of the sports hall.

More or less where checkpoint 7 is, a ferry once crossed between the two banks of the Scheldt. The ferry house, with its memorial stone in the facade, is still standing. A swing bridge was built here in 1869, but was demolished in 1959 for the current Heusden Bridge.

Once you're away from the Scheldt, you dive into the greenery of Heusden, where you will see numerous castles popping up among the trees. Most of the castles, like the one in Destelbergen, were built in the 19th century, commissioned by the Ghent bourgeoisie who came here to spend weekends.

Bistro Céline has stayed true to the menu of the former eel house Stapsteen, with contemporary versions of Flemish classics and eels prepared in six different styles. In the afternoon, you can stop off for a pancake or other sweet treat here.

The ideal stopping point is this cozy eatery near the castle. The dining menu features appetising snacks, salads, pastas and meat dishes, plus tasty sweets. The drinks menu features a selection of trappist beers and more than 20 varieties of gin for your favourite G&T.

Between the village centres of Wetteren, Schellebelle, Kalken and Uitbergen, 1,000 hectares of water meadows nestle snugly in a corner of the Scheldt. These are the Kalkense Meersen, a protected natural area with picturesque streams, canals and biking and hiking trails meandering through. In this Sigma area, you can enjoy a broad landscape with endless vistas, interspersed with rows of trees and small woods.

Bergenmeersen, Wijmeers, Scheldebroeken ... Highly diverse biotopes flourish in each of the water meadows, each with their own characteristic flora and fauna. To date, 170 bird species have been spotted on the largest reed pond.

Between nodes 27 and 26, be sure to make the small diversions to De Petrushoeve. During the months of July and August, you can get delicious ice cream here on weekends, made from fresh farm milk from its own cows.

In this protected classical castle with white plastered facades from 1840, Charles Vuylsteke set up his internationally renowned horticultural company around 1870. This marked the start of azalea and begonia cultivation in Lochristi. As early as the 13th century, there was a castle here that served as a country residence for the abbots of Sint-Baafs Abbey in Ghent. They also had green fingers: their walled estate included a vineyard, an orchard and an extensive vegetable and herb garden. The castle is visible from the monumental Kasteeldreef, but it is not open to the public.

In this open-air museum, a rural settlement from the Late Iron Age/early Gallo-Roman period has been reconstructed, baseed on the latest scientific advances. Every Saturday afternoon (or by appointment) you can relive the past here during demos of crafts and martial arts, or at educational stands focusing on Celtic culture, and historical cooking including Celtic and Roman food, among other things.