Hiking trip: Walking from Pieterburen to Vorden - 15 days

Travel to Baflo station on your own. From there, a transfer will be arranged to Pieterburen (about 10 minutes). Upon arrival in Pieterburen, check in at your accommodation. If you arrive early and have some energy left after your journey, take our 10 km 'County Hike' prologue! This pleasant extra loop lets you explore the area north of Pieterburen and admire the expansive bird-rich Wadden Sea from the dike.

After breakfast, start your first stage of the Pieterpad. Begin at the 'Pieterpad wall', take a selfie, and start walking! Along the way, pass through the charming mound village of Eenrum with its late Romanesque church from the 13th century. Enjoy the vast, sometimes windy Groningen countryside with its wide green pastures. In the village of Mensingeweer, admire the beautiful windmill from 1855. Finally, reach your destination, Winsum, voted the most beautiful village in the Netherlands in 2020.

After your overnight stay in cozy Winsum, continue through the Hogeland with its meadows, grain fields, and cloudscapes to the village of Garnwerd, a great place for a coffee or tea near the Reitdiep canal. Walk further through the polder, over narrow bridges, and past red brick farms. In Oostum, admire the village church on a mound. Follow numerous small paths along the water on your way to the historic city of Groningen. Once there, you will pass through the Northern Park, along the picturesque harbor, the A-church, and the Groninger Museum.

Start the day at Groningen's monumental train station and take your first steps through this delightful city. Just outside the city bustle, you will pass two lakes, before you walk into the Drentsche Aa National Park. Stroll through the village of Haren, then through the Appèlbergen, and later through the Noordlaarder Forest. Shortly after the forest, near the path, you will see your first dolmen. You are now in the province of Drenthe! This first dolmen won't be the last, as there is another one at Midlaren, a short distance before your day's destination, Zuidlaren.

From Zuidlaren, head to Westlaren after breakfast. Then continue through the Schipborg estate to the Gasteren Dunes. In addition to the high sand drifts, you will find a dolmen here, not fully intact due to stone theft in the distant past. In the village of Gasteren, admire the beautiful, characteristic Saxon farms. As you walk through the beautiful Balloër field, enjoy the expansive heath, where ancient burial mounds can be found. Part of this stage is on the so-called Hondsrug (Dog’s back), designated a UNESCO Global Geopark in 2015.

Near the start of this stage in Rolde, you'll see two of the most famous dolmens in Drenthe. After admiring these megalithic tombs, continue through the beautiful Drentsche Aa National Park, an ancient landscape created by human and natural collaboration. Walk through the Drouwener field, a stunning area with heaths, forests, and fens. Here, Drenthe's characteristic sheep graze, and you might even encounter imposing Highland cattle! The last stretch goes through a lovely forest area, eventually arriving in the village of Schoonloo.

Leaving the Drentsche Aa via the Schoonloo forestry, you enter the Sleenerzand forests. During a delightful walk, you will find a nearly 26-ton erratic boulder from the last ice age, just off the route. Further in the beautiful Sleenerzand, you'll pass the 'Pieterpad monument', erected in honor of its creators, and other historical sites like the 'Celtic Fields' and the burial mound field the 'Galgenberg'. If you deviate from the route slightly, you can visit Dolmen 49 before heading to picturesque Sleen.

Before leaving Sleen, one of the most authentic brink villages in Drenthe, visit the restored village pump and windmill ‘De Hoop’. Continue through the beautiful Drenthe landscape with its typical farms and green pastures. Stop in the 'whisky' hamlet Den Hool or the nearby peat village Dalerveen for a coffee break. If you have energy left, visit the castle in Coevorden, which has a tumultuous history due to its location between the Hanseatic cities of Münster and Groningen.

Leaving 'goose city' Coevorden, you enter the beautiful nature of the ‘Poort van Drenthe’, marked by a stone artwork of the same name. You exit Drenthe and enter the province of Overijssel, following the valley of the Overijsselse Vecht river. In Gramsbergen, admire the picturesque old town with beautifully restored houses and the bronze statue of 'Pieterpad' walkers. Continue the route, passing the hamlet of Ane and through the England forest, located in an old meander of the river Vecht. Finally, end the day in Hardenberg.

On the trail, first walk along the 'Molengoot', an old course of the river Vecht. Enjoy the subsequent natural beauty in the Rheezermaten, a protected nature reserve. Then visit the beautiful village of Rheeze, with its history dating back to the Middle Ages. This protected village has plenty to see. Enjoy walking through the Hardenberg forest and along the banks of the rivers Vecht and Beneden-Regge. The route continues over the Junne estate, eventually ending in the lively town of Ommen.

The Pieterpad continues through the Vecht and Beneden-Regge basins, a hilly part of Overijssel. This is evident from the Ommerland watchtower at the top the Besthemerberg (112 ft). Climb the tower and enjoy the beautiful view over the Vecht valley! Other Dutch 'mountains' on the route include the Archemerberg (256 ft) and the adjacent Lemelerberg (144 ft). In this undulating landscape, pass the 'Fat Stone' boulder and walk along the juniper bushes on the Lemelerberg. Admire the monumental 'Lion' in Park 1813 and reach Hellendoorn via the wooded Eelerberg estate.

Today, traverse the Sallandse Heuvelrug, a moraine stretching from Ommen to Holten. This is Overijssel at its highest, where soft hills are covered by forests and heaths. Via the Hellendoornse Berg, walk towards 't Ravijn. View the 'Stardust' artwork here, installed after a brief gold rush in the past. Pause at the poignant monument commemorating the Twilhaar forced labor camp. Enjoy the nice panoramas atop the Haarlerberg and Holterberg and walk through the Noetselenberg estate to finally enter Holten.

Leave Holten via the hamlet Beuseberg, located on the outskirts of the Overijsselse moraine. Follow a stately beech lane near the Schipbeek brook, cross the water, and enter the region of the province of Gelderland called the Achterhoek with his typical farms. Be sure to visit the beautiful Verwolde manor with its pleasant tea garden. This estate also houses the so-called 'Dikke Boom' (Fat Tree), the largest oak tree in the Netherlands. Further along the route, before reaching Laren, you will pass De Binnenhof, an 18th-century rectory expanded into a beautiful villa in the 19th century.

This day starts with a walk-through Groot Dochteren, a unique hamlet with scattered farms. Cross the Twente canal and the Berkel river on your way to the Velthorst estate, with its magnificent viewpoint over the Kienveen area. Then stroll through an extensive heathland where conifer forests were planted after 1920. Arrive at the stately manor Het Enzerinck, built in neoclassical style in 1826. If you have time and energy left upon reaching Vorden, consider visiting the nearby beautiful Hanseatic city of Zutphen, just 9 minutes away by train!

After breakfast, the first part of the Pieterpad comes to an end. Congratulations!