Belgium is a pretty weird country. It’s known mostly for beer, waffles, chocolate, fries and being the undisputed world leader when it comes to not being able to form a proper government. It’s almost like the people living there just want to have a good time, enjoy life and not care too much about politics. But this newest initiative might put them on the map when it comes to bike tourism as well. Behold: Bosland.
As a part of their Visit Limburg touristic initiative, which is trying to get people to visit Limburg in case that wasn’t abundantly obvious, a circular path was made through the trees and goes up to about 10 meters above the ground. It was only finished last year, so it’s relatively new, and is just one of the many projects the Limburg region has in the pipeline to increase tourism to the area.
Any bike enthousiast will tell you that Belgium already had a rich history when it comes to competitive cycling. Their province of East-Flanders has some of the most iconic races in the sport, among which the well-known Tour of Flanders, but this Cycling Through the Trees initiative has a whole different approach to bike tourism. This is aimed at people that don’t feel like riding a bike for 150+ kilometers on end. This is for people like you and me, that just want to ride their bikes for an hour and be surrounded by nature.
The Limburg region of Belgium is the eastern-most part of Flanders, which is the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium. It is geographically right next to the Netherlands and Germany, which this project blends perfectly. On the one hand, you have the encouragement of riding a bike that is usually associated with the Netherlands. On the other hand, the western part of Germany is mostly known for its magnificent woods. Now you can have both these things, at the same time, and finish off your ride with a well-earned pack of Belgian fries.
And don’t worry about being a tourist in Limburg – their people are among the most friendly and open of all the Belgians. In fact, they have more of a Dutch mentality than they do a Belgian one. They’ll welcome you with open arms, and might even show you a good local spot or two where you can take your friends, have a nice fresh Belgian beer and hopefully score a local pastry called Limburgse Vlaai. Just try it – you won’t regret it.
