I have now completed my first long-distance hiking trail (LAW): LAW 6 The Great Rivers trail. This trail goes from west to east in the Netherlands (or vice versa) and passes several major rivers in the Netherlands, such as the Nieuwe Waterweg, Oude Maas, Hollandse IJssel, Lek, Linge and the Waal.
Today is the big day: I will complete my first long-distance hiking trail in the Netherlands. Well, the Dutch part, because the Great rivers trail goes even further into Germany towards Kleve. I start in Nijmegen and leave the great rivers behind me. I seek higher ground in the fantastic Berg and Dal region. My finish line is at the Duivelsberg (Devil’s Mountain), where long distance trail 16 the Roman Limespad also ends.
Already a week after my previous hike on the Great rivers trail, I return to Herveld-Zuid. I can almost see the finish line. Unfortunately, the trail takes an unexpected turn. From Herveld, I hike the original trail from the booklet via Slijk-Ewijk, Oosterhout and Lent to Nijmegen. Only halfway along the trail I find out that there is a diversion….
It is once again time for a hike on the Great rivers trail. Moreover, I want to complete all parts of this path on Dutch soil this year (2021). So the upcoming blogs are all about this long-distance trail. This time, I have combined two shorter sections (of about 11 km) into one blog post. Two separate blog posts seemed a bit redundant. These two sections go from Ochten to Hemmen and from Hemmen to Herveld-Zuid. All sorts of towns that mean nothing to me beforehand and which are all located near great river the Waal.
In previous hikes of the Great rivers trail, I often walked along the river Linge. Today, it is the turn of a really big river: the Waal! I travel to Tiel and follow for a large part of the trail this mighty river, up to the town of Ochten.
It is time to continue hiking on the Great rivers trail in the Netherlands. Last time, I ended on the outskirts of Buren. Now I first go through the historical centre of Buren. Next, I hike in the direction of fruit village Erichem and walk via Soelen castle and a town with the same name (but with a Z) to the station of Tiel.
In this blog post, I describe three hikes in one. In other words Under the spell of the blossom part 1, 2 and 3. This is because I have done the same hike three times on the Great rivers trail: from Beesd to Tricht, from Tricht to Beesd and again from Beesd to Tricht and then on to Buren. This is in the Betuwe region of the Netherlands. All sorts of things went wrong with my blossom mania, hence three times the same hike.
It is April 12 (2021) and it is my birthday. What could be more fun than going for a hike on your birthday! This time, I am going to continue my way along the Great rivers trail in the Netherlands. I have now arrived in Leerdam and today, I will mostly walk along the Linge river until the town of Beesd. I will pass through several picturesque villages in the Betuwe region. And will I finally have the chance to see blossoms in the fruit trees?
The Great rivers trail is calling me. I do another checkup to see if the blossoms are already starting to bloom. This time, I am hiking from Vianen to Leerdam and, on the way, I pass through the Bolgerijse grienden woodlands nature reserve and along a number of high-rise tree orchards.
After three times hiking on the Migration birds trail in a row, it is now the turn of the Great rivers trail again. The last time, I ended in Ameide. That is therefore my starting point for today. I walk along the river Lek, through the Zouweboezem nature reserve and via Lexmond through the polder to a suburb of Vianen. I pass several fruit orchards and am curious to see whether there is already some blossoms on the trees.
