Green bicycle tour through the east of the Achterhoek region

Bredevoort is the focus of this fascinating tour through the beautiful Achterhoek countryside with its rarely seen diversity of natural beauty. The town is reached via Aalten and is a striking place to stop for a moment. The old fortified town was formerly known as a book town and today still houses several antiquarian bookshops and bookstores. Bredevoort was an important fortress town at the time of the 80-year war and this history runs like a thread through the history, not least because of the role of Prince Maurits and the great Kruittoren disaster of 1646. The tour then continues towards Winterswijk, one of the most beautiful municipalities in the Netherlands with countless variations when it comes to natural beauty and with a National Landscape of no less than 22,000 hectares. In addition, Winterswijk has an attractive center with several museums, such as Villa Mondriaan. Winterswijk has nine hamlets, each with its own characteristic environment. After this the route runs to the Vragenderveen, a protected moor near Vragender, which is closely connected to the Korenburgerveen of Vereniging Natuurmonumenten and where hikers can enjoy the flora and fauna. The route continues through the church village of Lievelde to Lichtenvoorde, whose central attraction is a colossal boulder weighing 20,000 kilograms topped by a stone lion. Lichtenvoorde was burned to the ground in 1735 and therefore has relatively few historic buildings. We then cycle back through De Vennebulten forest area, along the Romienendiek, which points to a long-forgotten, illustrious period.