De omgeving
Bij Leila is in Leenderstrijp, in the middle of the De Groote Heide cross-border nature park. We are an official host of that park: we live here, we cycle here, and we are glad to tell you where to go.
De Groote Heide cross-border nature park
De Groote Heide is more than ten thousand hectares of nature on both sides of the Dutch-Belgian border. Six municipalities share it: Heeze-Leende, Valkenswaard, Cranendonck and Eindhoven on this side, Hamont-Achel and Pelt on the Belgian side. You walk across the border without noticing.
It is not one unbroken forest but more than twenty nature areas strung together: heath, pine forest, broadleaf woods, fens, drift sands and the brook valleys in between. The best known are the Strabrechtse Heide, the Leenderbos, De Malpie and, just across the border, Hageven-De Plateaux. The walking network adds up to some 685 kilometres.
The park has seven gateways: places to leave the car, usually with coffee to be had, where the routes begin. In the Netherlands they are De Plaetse near Heeze, De Baronie van Cranendonck near Soerendonk, De Venbergse Watermolen near Valkenswaard and Genneper Parken in Eindhoven; in Belgium De Achelse Kluis and Domein de Bever near Hamont-Achel and De Wulp near Pelt. The nearest one, De Baronie van Cranendonck, is 5.4 kilometres away.
Walking and cycling here work with junction numbers: you plot your own round on a signpost and follow the numbers. Junction 54 is right outside our door, so you are on the network straight away. There are also themed routes about the nature, the heritage and the smuggling history of this border country.
What being a host means
Bij Leila is an official host of De Groote Heide. That means we know the areas, that the maps and the routes are here in the house, and that you can simply ask us. Which route works with a pushchair, which fen is at its best after rain, where the flock of sheep is grazing: those are things you settle at the kitchen table, not on a website.
Leenderstrijp
A hamlet of long-gabled farmhouses on the sand ridge between the brook valleys of the Strijper Aa and the Buulder Aa, right between the old trade roads from 's-Hertogenbosch to Liege and from Antwerp to Cologne. From the seventeenth century on, falconers and teuten lived here. The falconers trained peregrines on the heath and delivered them to the courts of Europe; around 1645 Philips van Leefdael called Leende a place famous for its falconers. The teuten were travelling traders who left in spring with copper, textiles and even human hair for Germany and Denmark and came back in winter. Both trades died out in the nineteenth century, but the wealth they brought is still standing: the long-gabled farmhouses along the Strijperstraat, one of them with the year 1610 cut into a beam.
Around 1900 painters came here for the rural life, more than twenty of them in this region, Jan Sluijters the best known. Much of what they saw is still standing.
St John’s Chapel at the edge of the village dates from 1843, built from the remains of a fifteenth-century chapel. Every year on 24 June the St John’s bunches are blessed there, a custom on the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The Heimolen windmill is a rebuild at two thirds of the size of the mill a storm destroyed in 1940; its sails have been turning again since 2012. And Coöp Sint Jan, the village shop, was founded by the villagers themselves in 1916 to pay for a school of their own: until that year the children walked to Leende four times a day over the sand path, two and a half kilometres each way.
The village café is two hundred metres away. The forest starts at the front door. You need not go further than that.
Find what suits you
Below is what there is to do, more than a hundred places in all: walking and cycling, but also swimming, theme parks, playgrounds, saunas, museums, shopping and the old town centres of Den Bosch, Maastricht, Roermond and Antwerp. Within half an hour's drive you can ski indoors, hang in a climbing forest, play a carillon, see the lithograph Van Gogh made of The Potato Eaters or hear how goods were smuggled across this border for generations.
Each one gives the distance from our front door, measured along the road and not estimated. And nearly every place carries a link to Google Maps rather than to a website: from there you get the route straight away, choose the car or the bike, and find the site if there is one. Click a chapter to see just that part: walking, cycling, swimming and wellness, eating and drinking, and everything in between.
The village of Leenderstrijp
Leenderstrijp
A hamlet of long-gabled farmhouses on the sand ridge between the brook valleys of the Strijper Aa and the Buulder Aa, right between the old trade roads from 's-Hertogenbosch to Liege and from Antwerp to Cologne. That is where the wealth you can see in the farmhouses came from: from the seventeenth century on, falconers and teuten lived here. The falconers trained peregrines on the heath for the courts of Europe, from Prince Maurits to Madrid, Paris and Berlin, and around 1645 Philips van Leefdael called Leende a place famous for its falconers. The teuten were travelling traders: they left in spring with copper, textiles and even human hair for Germany and Denmark and came back in winter. Both trades died out in the nineteenth century. Around 1900 painters came here for the rural life, more than twenty of them in this region, Jan Sluijters the best known.
The village through Erik van Asten’s eyes
Erik van Asten photographs Leende and the Leenderbos, and nothing else. Ask him to shoot in another village and he simply will not. He is out before dawn and comes back every time with mist over the heath, light between the trees or a deer you have just missed. Have a look at his Instagram before you set out and you will know what to watch for. You do need an Instagram account for that: without logging in, Instagram will not show the photographs.
Gasterij de Hospes
The village café of Leenderstrijp, 150 metres from our front door. In 2024, 52 villagers put their money together and founded Coöperatie de Hospes to keep the building for the village. It was demolished down to a single wall, given a basement and rebuilt. The terrace is open already; it opens fully in December 2026.
Coöp Sint Jan
The village shop was founded by the villagers themselves in 1916, to pay for a primary school of their own. Until that year the children of Strijp walked to school in Leende four times a day over the sand path: there in the morning, home at midday, back again and home at the end of the afternoon, two and a half kilometres each way. The municipality and the parish priest would not have a school in Strijp, so the villagers set up a school and shop association and paid for the school out of the shop’s profits. The shop has been in this building since 1920. It is known as the oldest still-independent grocer in the Netherlands, it sells bread from the baker in Leende, and there is a terrace in front of the door.
Open: October to March Wed-Fri 9.00-17.00, Sat 8.30-16.00; April to September also Tue 9.00-17.00 and Sun 9.00-16.00. Closed on Monday.
St John’s Chapel
The chapel at the edge of the village dates from 1843 and was built from the remains of a fifteenth-century one. Every year on 24 June the St John’s bunches are blessed here, a custom on the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The Heimolen windmill
The mill of Leenderstrijp is not a copy but a rebuild at two thirds of the size of the original: the post mill of Leende, destroyed by a heavy storm on 14 November 1940. Parts of that mill went into it, among them some of the oak shingles. Building started in 2003, the sails have been turning since September 2012 and it has been able to grind again since 2018. Inside is by appointment only.
Open: always there to look at from outside, inside by appointment only
Nature & heathland
Leenderbos & De Groote Heide
This cross-border nature park covers more than ten thousand hectares of forest, heathland and ponds on both sides of the Dutch-Belgian border; the Leenderbos is the part that starts just behind the village. On the Valkenswaardseweg in Leende is the starting point for walking and cycling routes through the Leenderbos, the Groote Heide and the Beverbeekse Heide.
The heath in bloom
In August the heathland turns purple, both on the Groote Heide and on the Strabrechtse Heide. Go early in the morning: it is quiet then, and mist often hangs over the ponds.
Natuurpoort De Baronie van Cranendonck
The nearest gateway into De Groote Heide, near Soerendonk. A starting point for walks and bike rides through the estate and the woods around it.
The Herbertusbossen, Heeze
Woodland between Heeze and the Strabrechtse Heide, quieter than the heath itself and shaded on a warm day. Like the Leenderbos it is part of De Groote Heide. The finest approach: park in the centre of Heeze by Tapperij De Zwaan and walk from there past Heeze Castle into the woods.
Natuurpoort De Plaetse
One of the seven gateways into De Groote Heide, on the edge of the Strabrechtse Heide near Heeze. Park, have a coffee at the heath café and walk straight onto the heath. Most of the waymarked walks across the Strabrechtse Heide start here.
Strabrechtse Heide
The largest connected heathland in Brabant, north-east of Heeze. At the De Plaetse gateway you will find the sheepfold with a flock of more than 350 Kempen heath sheep, and a heath café. The gnome trail starts there too.
The Dommel valley and the Venbergse watermill
The old watermill on the river Dommel near Valkenswaard is itself a gateway to the park. From the valley you can canoe down the Dommel. Book ahead with one of the rental companies.
De Malpie
Six hundred hectares of heath, ponds and drifting sand near Valkenswaard, with the valley of the river Dommel running through it. A loop of about thirteen kilometres runs around it. You go in at the Venbergse watermill, or you park on the Monseigneur Kuijpersplein in Borkel, where there are two cafés on the square; it starts there too.
Genneper Parken, Eindhoven
The gateway into De Groote Heide that sits inside the city: the green belt on the south side of Eindhoven, with Museumpark VONK, the city farm and the river Dommel running through it. Handy if you want nature and city on the same day.
De Achelse Kluis park gateway
The park gateway at the abbey, recognisable by the enormous key standing there. Since 2023 the gatehouse has held the inspiration point of De Groote Heide: walk in free of charge for information about the area and about the abbey itself. Four walking routes of two to fourteen kilometres start here, and the brewery terraces are a few steps away. To see the monastery from the inside, book a guided tour in advance.
Open: the inspiration point is open Wednesday to Sunday, shorter in winter
The Beuven
The largest heath pond in the Netherlands, at the edge of the Strabrechtse Heide near Someren. Do note: after the drought of 2026 it is largely dry, and one rain shower will not bring it back. For now you see the bed of a pond rather than the water. Somewhere to cycle or walk to, rather than to park beside.
Domein de Bever, Achel
A gateway on the Belgian side, in the valley of the Warmbeek. You cross the border without noticing. Starting point for several walks through the brook valley.
Hageven "De Wulp" visitor centre
The gateway on the Belgian side near Pelt, at the cross-border nature reserve Hageven-De Plateaux. The walking network on the other side of the border starts here.
Hageven en De Plateaux
A cross-border reserve in Pelt, Belgium, with marshland, ponds and the valley of the Dommel. The Hageven path is a 6.5-kilometre walk that starts at the De Wulp visitor centre.
Walking
On foot to the Achelse Kluis
The abbey is within walking distance of the front door: 5.8 kilometres, a little over an hour, through the woods and across the border. At the Kluis there is enough to fill a couple of hours, with the brewery, the shop, the tasting room and the visitor centre of De Groote Heide. Then you walk the same way back, again a little over an hour. A full day, and no car needed.
The authentic Kempen: 6.7 km
A marked walk of 6.7 kilometres that ties the village to the woods: past the long-gabled farmhouses and St John’s Chapel, into the edge of the Leenderbos and across the heath with its ponds. If the smallest round is too small and the thirteen kilometres of De Malpie too much, this is the size in between.
The shortest loop: 3.5 km
You do not have to go far. The shortest loop from the front door is 3.5 kilometres, under an hour, and it already shows you a good part of Leenderstrijp and the land around it. If you would rather have it mapped out: the Strijperroute is 3.2 kilometres and leads past the long-gabled farmhouses into the Leenderbos. Junction 54 of the route network is right outside the door as well, so you can walk from junction to junction and make the loop as long as you like. Ask us and we will point the way.
Savour the poem: poetry tables
At twenty places in Heeze-Leende there is a table with two poems that belong to the spot: one by an adult and one by a child. Two of them are in the village itself, at Coöp Sint Jan and at St John’s Chapel. The walking routes are 6.5 to 10.3 kilometres and start at the Brouwershuis in Leende, the town hall in Heeze or the Spar in Sterksel; the cycling route is 28 kilometres. It all follows the junction network, so you can join anywhere.
The land of the Baronie and the Buulder Aa: 11.7 km
An 11.7-kilometre walk from the Van Hornelaan in Soerendonk, through the Buulderbroek and the Cranendonck woods, past Cranendonck castle, a teuten farmhouse and Oud-Maarheeze. A hand-pulled raft takes you across the Buulder Aa. That is the brook that also runs past our village, further upstream.
From castle to heathland
A 10.7-kilometre walk linking Heeze Castle with the Strabrechtse Heide. The best-known walk in the municipality.
Short loops of 3 to 5 km
Waymarked loops of three to five kilometres start at the De Plaetse gateway, including a path suitable for people with limited mobility.
The gnome trail
A one-kilometre gnome trail across the Strabrechtse Heide, starting at the heath café by De Plaetse. Suitable for small children and for anyone unsteady on their feet.
Discover the Achelse Kluis
A 7.4-kilometre route around the abbey, crossing the Dutch-Belgian border. You literally walk from one country into the other.
The Wire of Death heritage walk
A walk along the line of the electric fence that the German occupier put up along the Belgian-Dutch border in the First World War. Along the way stand three rebuilt sections of the wire and nine information boards; one of those sections is at the Achelse Kluis. There is a short loop of 3.2 kilometres and a long one of 8.8, both marked with a poppy. The long one starts at De Ezel on the Ruiterstraat or at the Kluis.
Cycling
From Leenderstrijp to the Strabrechtse Heide: 45.2 km
A cycling route that starts in Leenderstrijp itself and comes back 45.2 kilometres later: through the woods, across the open heath, past the ponds and through the villages of south-east Brabant, with the Strabrechtse Heide as the furthest point. A day on the bike, and you never touch the car.
The cycle node network
Junction 54 is right outside the door, so you are on the cycle network at once: across the Belgian border or along the Brabant villages. You put your own route together out of numbered points, and getting lost is almost impossible. On foot it works the same way. Bicycles can be hired from us.
The ‘Natuurlijk!’ cycle route
A 48.4-kilometre loop through Heeze-Leende and the surrounding nature reserves. A full day of cycling, with stops.
Of beers, cheeses and teuten: 54 km
A 54-kilometre cycling route through Hamont-Achel and Pelt, starting and finishing at the inspiration point by the Achelse Kluis. Along the way come the cheese, the chocolate and the beer of the region, and the teuten houses: the merchant houses of the travelling traders who grew rich here and in Leenderstrijp. The Ursuline convent in Hamont even has a teuten room. The start is a short half-hour by bike.
Room for Masterpieces
A 42.5-kilometre cycling route past the masterpieces of this region, starting and finishing on the Kapelstraat in Heeze. Along the way: the narrow-gauge railway monument in Sterksel, the Strijper tunnel, the long-gabled farmhouses on the Zaalstraat in Leende, the Leenderheide and our own Heimolen. Allow a couple of hours of pedalling.
Strabrechtse Heide cycling route: 20 km
Twenty kilometres across the heath and past the ponds, starting and finishing at the heath café by the De Plaetse gateway. The route also runs through the Herbertusbossen and past Kasteel Heeze, over paved and unpaved paths by turns. It is nine kilometres to the start, seventeen minutes by car and three quarters of an hour by bike.
Gravel route Groote Heide and Leenderbos
Long unpaved stretches run through the Leenderbos and across the Groote Heide, all the way to the Achelse Kluis and the Belgian border. You put together a gravel ride of whatever length you like; the Kluis is 5.8 kilometres by bike, so the car can stay on the drive. For those who come here to pedal rather than to look.
Cycling Through the Trees
In Hechtel-Eksel in Belgium a cycle bridge climbs in a double circle to about ten metres, between the trunks of the Pijnven forest. The gradient is gentle; the path is about seven hundred metres long.
Cycling Through Water
At Bokrijk you cycle two hundred metres straight through a pond, with the water at eye level on both sides. The path is level and fenced. Easily combined with the open-air museum.
Swimming & wellness
De Wedert swimming pool, Valkenswaard
The municipal indoor pool of Valkenswaard, the closest one to us. Check the opening hours and lane schedules in advance; they change with the season.
Open: the timetable changes weekly; Saturday 12.00-16.00 and Sunday 9.00-14.00 are fixed, Wednesday 14.00-16.00 is the children’s session
SpaSense, Geldrop
A sauna complex with several saunas, baths and a restaurant, and with a real garden to lie in. It is half the distance of BLUE in Helmond and in no way inferior. For when you want a whole day of it, on top of the wellness here.
Open: daily 10.00-22.30; check-in until 19.30
De Tongelreep pool, Eindhoven
The national swimming centre in the Genneper Parken: a subtropical pool with slides next to the competition pool where Olympians train. The ice rink and the city farm are on the same grounds. Tickets go per time slot, so book ahead.
Open: different per pool and per activity, with time slots; check the schedule
Aqua Mundo, De Kempervennen
A subtropical water park just outside Valkenswaard, with a wave pool, slides, a wild river and a children’s pool. Open to day visitors, but book your day ticket in advance.
Open: Monday to Thursday and Sunday 11.00-20.00, Friday and Saturday 11.00-21.00; book a day ticket in advance
De IJzeren Man lake, Weert
A sand quarry that became a swimming lake, with a beach, woods around it and a nature centre. Outdoor swimming in summer without driving to the coast.
Open: always open; supervised only in the summer season
LAGO Pelt Dommelslag
The tropical pool just over the border in Pelt: a wild-water channel, slides, a wave pool, a warm lagoon and children’s pools, with an outdoor pool and sunbathing lawn for the summer. The water sits at around thirty degrees. There is a separate 25-metre pool for lane swimming.
Open: different per activity, check the schedule
BLUE Wellnessresort, Helmond
A wellness resort on the Scheepsboulevard, at the same address as the Fletcher hotel. Saunas, a hammam, baths, an indoor and an outdoor pool, a restaurant and a terrace. Two things to know: booking is compulsory, and swimwear is not allowed. SpaSense in Geldrop is half the distance away and in no way inferior; it has a garden where this one has a terrace.
Open: daily 10.00-22.30
Active
Haviksoord golf club, Leende
The nearest golf course is in Leende, on the Maarheezerweg Noord: eighteen holes, par 72, partly laid out through existing woodland. The first nine holes came in 1976, the second nine in 2006. Call or mail ahead to ask whether you can play as a visitor and what handicap proof you need.
Eight more golf courses within half an hour
If you want to play more than one course, this is a good place to be. Nine holes: the Valkenswaardse Golfclub on the Pastoor Heerkensdreef (10.4 km), De Tongelreep in Eindhoven and Golfclub Riel on the Gijzenrooiseweg in Geldrop (13.5 km on the back roads). Eighteen holes: the Eindhovensche Golf on the Eindhovenseweg in Valkenswaard (11.3 km), a heathland course by Harry Colt from 1930 with a covered driving range, Crossmoor in Weert (17.1 km), BurgGolf Gendersteyn near Veldhoven (20.4 km), De Gulbergen near Nuenen (21.7 km) and Welschap in Eindhoven. Club courses usually ask for handicap proof and a booking.
Montana Snowcenter, Westerhoven
Skiing and snowboarding on real snow, indoors, all year round. There is a practice slope and a longer descent; skis, boots, boards and helmets are for hire. Lessons too. It stands right beside De Kempervennen, so you can pair it with an afternoon in the pool.
Bottle Distillery, Eindhoven
A distillery on De Caai, the old Campina site, making gin, rum, vodka, beer brandy and liqueurs by hand. The tour takes an hour and the master distiller leads it himself; afterwards you taste three of the spirits. Eighteen and over, by reservation.
With children
The little playground at the Sint Jan school
Behind the village school on the Sint Jan Baptistastraat there is a small playground. It does not get any closer: a few minutes on foot, without crossing a road with any traffic on it.
Open: always open
Obelisk playground, Leende
The nearest playground, on the Lindenlaan in Leende. A climbing frame with a slide, swings, spring riders and a covered seat for whoever is watching. Freely accessible, and an easy ride by bike.
Open: freely accessible during the day; there is no gate, but playing there in the evening is not done, out of consideration for the neighbours
De Kleine Meer children’s farm
Goats, chickens, rabbits and pigs to stroke and feed, on the Bosstraat in Valkenswaard. With a terrace for the parents.
Open: Mon, Tue, Thu and Fri 9.00-12.00, Wed 9.00-17.00, Sat and Sun 10.00-13.00
Bowling Valkenswaard
Eight lanes with a restaurant beside them, a quarter of an hour away. A good answer to a rainy evening with a group.
Open: varies by day; book a lane in advance
Geenhoven playground
A large, easily supervised playground in Valkenswaard with climbing frames, slides, a cable ride and water and sand play.
Open: April to September Wed, Fri, Sat and Sun 10.00-17.30; March and October 12.00-17.00. Closed in bad weather.
Eindhoven ice rink
Skating on an indoor rink, even when it is not freezing outside. In the Genneper Parken, next to the swimming pool.
Open: public skating is set out in the weekly schedule, do check it
De Klimbim playground, Waalre
An outdoor playground of more than six thousand square metres in the woods of Waalre. Not open every day, so check the opening days in advance.
Open: Wednesday and Friday 13.00-17.30, Saturday and Sunday 10.30-17.30; daily during the southern school holidays. Closed Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.
De Genneper Hoeve city farm
An organic city farm in the middle of the Genneper Parken. You walk freely around the yard, watch the cows being milked and cheese being made. There is a farm shop, and you can have lunch there too: everything they cook is organic and much of it comes out of their own garden.
Open: the farm shop and the ProefLokaal daily 10.00-17.00; the yard and the stables are always open
Weert climbing forest
Climbing from tree to tree by the IJzeren Man lakes, with courses at different heights. There is no age limit but a height one: from 1.30 metres you may climb on your own. You get two and a half hours, and you book online beforehand.
Klimrijk Brabant, Veldhoven
A climbing park on the Turfweg where one ticket gets you in for the whole day: climbing courses in the trees, a junior course for smaller children, nets to climb through, a bouldering wall, a play tower and a water playground. For a group there is also laser gaming and archery tag. Parking costs five euros.
Open: varies by day, check the calendar before you go
De Splinter play park, Eindhoven
A playground the size of seven football pitches in the Henri Dunantpark, with a pirate island, a fort, farm animals and a paddling pool for the little ones in the warm season. Meant for children up to about twelve. Entry is free on part of the year and a small charge applies on other days, so check what applies before you go.
Open: Mon-Fri 9.00-18.00, Sat 10.00-18.00, Sun 12.00-18.00; closed on Sundays in autumn and winter
Eindhoven Zoo, Mierlo
A zoo in Mierlo with more than sixty species and several playgrounds, including a water playground. It was called Dierenrijk until 2024.
Open: times vary by season, check before you go
You Jump, Eersel
A trampoline park with thirteen attractions: a jump tower, an airbag to land in, a ninja course against the clock and lanes for jumping head to head. It is indoors, so it works in the rain as well. The youngest children have a session of their own, and the busy times fill up quickly, so book ahead.
Open: the times vary by day and by school holiday, check the calendar. Mini Jump for ages 2 to 5: Wed and Fri 10.00-13.00, Thu 10.00-12.00, Sat and Sun 10.00-11.00.
Gnome wood at the Bosschuur, Wintelre
A play wood with a gnome trail running through it: little houses among the trees, a water pump whose water runs along hollowed-out tree trunks, and branches enough to build a den. During the autumn half term the gnomes come to stay. The wood is not open every day, so check ahead when you can go.
Open: always open
DippieDoe amusement park, Best
An amusement park next to Aquabest, fully fenced and easy to take in at a glance, so you are not chasing anyone around. Indoors and out: two roller coasters, a swing carousel, a storm tower, an adventure golf course with a pirate theme, and playgrounds meant for toddlers and small children. Easy-going and nothing like the size of the Efteling, which is exactly the point.
Open: varies by day; the times are in the ticket shop
Toverland
A theme park in Sevenum, divided into six worlds. More compact and easier to take in than the Efteling, and closer by.
Open: times vary by day, check the calendar
Beekse Bergen safari park and Speelland
You drive through the safari park in your own car or by bus among the animals; next to it is Speelland, with a water playground and slides. Together a full day.
Open: times vary by season, check before you go
Plopsa Indoor Hasselt
An indoor amusement park for young children, so also an option when it rains. Can be combined with the centre of Hasselt on the same trip.
Open: varies by day, check the calendar before you go
The Efteling
The fairy-tale park in Kaatsheuvel. A day trip: just under an hour each way, so leave early.
Open: times vary by day and season, check the calendar
Bobbejaanland, Belgium
An amusement park in the Kempen with roller coasters for the brave and gentler rides for the smallest. Quieter than the Efteling.
Open: times vary by day, check the calendar
Towns & shopping
Valkenswaard
The nearest town with a proper shopping centre and supermarkets, so this is where you get what the village shop does not stock. It is also simply a good place to go: the heart of the village is full of terraces and the weekly market is handsomely dressed.
Eindhoven: shopping and Strijp-S
The nearest big city. Shopping in the centre, and at Strijp-S, the former Philips factory grounds, there are design studios, bars and a market hall. Dutch Design Week is held in October.
Weert
A compact town centre with shops around the Markt, close by and quieter than Eindhoven. Market days are Wednesday and Saturday. There is a cinema and plenty to eat, and the parking is kinder: free in the evening and a good deal cheaper than Eindhoven during the day.
Designer Outlet Roermond
The largest outlet centre in the Netherlands, laid out as a little town of streets and squares. Allow half a day. Busy on Saturdays and in holidays.
The old centre of Roermond
Next to the outlet lies a real old town: the Romanesque Munsterkerk, the Christoffel cathedral and a centre full of terraces. Easy to combine with the outlet on the same day.
's-Hertogenbosch
The Sint-Jan cathedral, a boat trip through the Binnendieze underneath the city, and a Bossche bol at the patisserie. The city of Hieronymus Bosch.
Hasselt, Belgium
A shopping city just across the border, with the Japanese Garden and the Jenever Museum. Pleasant for anyone who wants to walk around another country without driving far.
Maastricht
The Vrijthof, the Onze Lieve Vrouweplein, the bookshop inside the Dominican church and the marl caves of the Sint-Pietersberg. A day that feels unlike any other Dutch city.
Antwerp
A city for a full day: the Grote Markt, the Meir for shopping, the MAS museum on the quays and a railway station that is a sight in itself.
Culture & sights
KunstSmullen: art in the landscape
The art trail of Heeze-Leende, held every two years, this time from 3 to 25 October on the theme of spatial exploration. Art walks run through all four villages and a cycling route passes every work. In Leenderstrijp itself there is work by Mettsje de Boer, Erikjan Roodbol and Peter Huibers; at Landgoed Kapellerput and the Schoorsveld natural burial ground sixteen works stand along one route. Indoors there is work at De Schammert village hall and at Hotel Kapellerput.
Open: the walks every day, the galleries at weekends
St Peter’s Church, Leende
The church of neighbouring Leende, with its fountain sculpture in front. Leende has the shops, the baker and more choice for eating out. Strijp has two terraces of its own: the one at the Hospes for a beer and the one in front of the Coöp for a coffee on the way.
Open: services are on Saturday at 16.30 and Sunday at 10.00
The shortest stretch of railway in the Netherlands, Sterksel
On the Kloosterlaan lies a short stretch of track with an information board: what remains of the narrow-gauge line laid after 1900 to reclaim the heath. A small monument with a good story.
Open: always there to see, it is outdoors
The Heeze-Leende calendar
There is something on all year round: concerts at the Perron and in the church, evening walks with the IVN nature society, the three-day cycling event in Leende, the horse show, the four-day walking event, a drag hunt and the village weekends. The Visit Heeze-Leende calendar shows what is on during your week. The two big ones have their own entries below: the Brabantsedag and KunstSmullen.
D’n Os, Sterksel
A statue of an ox by the church, designed and built by the villagers themselves in honour of the oxen that cleared the heath around Sterksel.
Open: always there to see, it stands outdoors
Heeze Castle
A castle that is still lived in, with guided tours of the salons, the Roman bath and the bedrooms. There are seventeenth-century tapestries, an eighteenth-century bathroom and a secret room. By the moat stands the old ice cellar, where ice cut from the moat was once stored. Check the days and times on the castle’s own website before you go.
Open: by guided tour only, 1 May to 30 September: Wednesday 14.00, Sunday 14.00 and 15.00; in July and August also Wednesday 15.00
Smuggling and Border Museum Cranendonck
Living this close to the border, you hear the stories. Butter, tobacco, cattle and coffee went back and forth here, with the customs men in pursuit. The museum in Budel tells it from both sides, with an audio tour in Dutch, English, German, French and the local Buuls dialect. The entrance is on the Capucijnerplein.
Open: October to March Wed-Sat 13.00-16.30; from April to September also on Monday
De Kapellerput, Heeze
The name comes from an old story about a chapel that is said to have sunk into the ground here. Today a hotel stands on the Somerenseweg, in the middle of the woods on an estate of some 26 hectares; the name and the story have stayed.
Open: the estate is freely accessible; the restaurant lunch 12.00-17.00 and dinner 17.00-20.45
De Hofnar theatre
Valkenswaard’s theatre, big enough for nationally known names and small enough for the year-six school musical. The library is in the same building. Check the programme: there is something on almost every weekend.
Open: the theatre café on weekdays from 9.00, at weekends an hour before the performance
Prikkels & Tintelingen art route, Sterksel
A permanent art route of almost two kilometres across the former Providentia grounds, made by three artists. The free route booklet is available at Galerie Kempro, where more than twenty artisans and artists work.
Open: the route is always walkable; the booklet is at the gallery
Dutch Museum of Lithography
The only museum in the world devoted entirely to lithography. In the workshop stand six-tonne presses that still print, and a three-metre replica of the first wooden press built by its inventor Aloys Senefelder. On the wall hangs the lithograph Vincent van Gogh made of The Potato Eaters, with work by Mucha, Van Dongen and Sluijters beside it.
Open: Tue-Sun 13.00-17.00
Falconry and Cigar Making Museum
Valkenswaard owes its name to the falconers who caught wild falcons here, trained them and sold them to almost every royal house in Europe. The village’s last falconer died in 1935; since 2010 falconry has been on the Unesco list of intangible heritage. This museum tells that story, alongside that of the cigar making which kept the village at work from 1865 on. It shares the Carolus building with the lithography museum, so you can do both in one visit.
Open: Wednesday to Saturday 13.00-17.00; groups of ten or more also outside those hours
Carriage Museum Valkenswaard
One man, Christiaan van den Heuvel, spent thirty years assembling this collection of antique carriages, mostly Dutch, Belgian and French. A small place with high marks from its visitors. Do call or write ahead, as it is not open every day.
Open: by appointment only
Weaving Museum Geldrop
A working textile museum: the looms clatter away and the people running them worked in the trade themselves. Geldrop lived off weaving for centuries, and here you see how. Easy to combine with Geldrop Castle, a few minutes away.
Open: Wed-Sun 13.00-17.00
Museumpark VONK
What used to be called the Prehistoric Village, and since July 2026 Museumpark VONK, with the collection of the Eindhoven Museum added to it. Outside you can throw a spear, paddle a dugout canoe and try old techniques and crafts; in the new building at the entrance on the Boutenslaan the exhibitions cover ten thousand years of Eindhoven and its surroundings. It is all on one site in the middle of the Genneper Parken, so you can add a walk. Allow half a day.
Open: daily 10.00-17.00
Geldrop Castle
A castle in the middle of the village, with an English landscape garden around it that is open to all. On the estate are a petting farm, a flower garden and a sensory garden built around smell and touch. The estate also has the Kasteelhoeve, where you can have lunch; book that ahead.
Open: Sunday 14.00-17.00 and free; in July and August daily except Monday. The door closes at 16.45.
Van Abbemuseum
Modern and contemporary art on the river Dommel, with a permanent collection that includes Picasso, Chagall and Kandinsky, and changing exhibitions that are often decidedly idiosyncratic. The building itself is worth the look.
Open: Tue-Sun 11.00-17.00; free entry on Tuesday between 15.00 and 17.00
DAF Museum
From the Van Doorne brothers’ first trailers to the Daffodil with its variomatic gearbox and the trucks of today. Good even if cars mean nothing to you: it is just as much the story of a family firm that grew into a global marque.
Open: Tue-Sun 10.00-17.00; closed on Monday
Valkenswaard War Cemetery
In the woods along the Luikerweg lie more than two hundred British servicemen, nearly all of whom fell in the autumn of 1944. Valkenswaard was the first village liberated on the main axis of the British advance, at the start of Operation Market Garden. A quiet place, carefully kept, open to all.
Open: always open
Philips Museum
In the factory on the Emmasingel where Gerard Philips began making light bulbs in 1891. You see how those bulbs were made by hand and how machines took over around 1920, and the story runs on from there to the present. This is where Eindhoven comes from. Allow an hour and a half to two hours.
Open: Tue-Sun 11.00-17.00
Munttheater, Weert
The theatre of Weert, on the Collegeplein in the town centre: music, dance, cabaret and drama, and a children’s theatre week when children up to twelve get in free. Easy to combine with an evening in Weert, where parking is free after six.
Open: the box office Tue-Fri 13.00-16.00 and an hour before the performance
De Achelse Kluis
An abbey on the Belgian-Dutch border, with a brewery, a shop, a tasting room and the terraces of the inn. You can walk there from the front door: 6 kilometres on footpaths, a good hour. The gatehouse is also one of the seven gateways into De Groote Heide. The abbey has been in private hands since 2023 and the beer is no longer called trappist.
Open: closed Monday; the inn Tue-Sun 10.00-20.00 and the shop 10.00-18.00, shorter from 10 November. The kitchen closes an hour before closing time.
Museum W, Weert
Weert’s old town hall, a listed monument, with a gold-coloured extension designed by Maurice Mentjens. Inside, the history of Weert: paintings, sculpture, household objects and religious art.
Open: Tue-Sun 11.00-17.00
The Evoluon, Eindhoven
The flying-saucer building Philips had built in 1966, now an exhibition space. A sight already from the motorway.
Open: Wed-Sun 11.00-17.00; closed Monday and Tuesday
Grevenbroek Museum, Achel
A local museum in Achel running from prehistory to after the Second World War, with excavations, models and documents. It is housed in the Simonshuis, which from October 1944 to April 1945 was the headquarters of General Dempsey, commander of the Second British Army. Small, and a quarter of an hour from the Achelse Kluis abbey.
Open: October to April Mon 13.00-16.30, Tue-Fri 9.00-12.00 and 13.00-16.30, Sat 9.30-12.00; May to September Mon 13.00-16.30, Tue-Fri 9.00-16.30, Sat 9.30-15.30. Closed on public holidays.
De Ploeg, Bergeijk
The weaving mill Gerrit Rietveld designed in the late nineteen-fifties, set in a landscape park by Mien Ruys: two great names in one place, and both listed monuments. The showroom is free to walk into on weekdays. To see the park, the Rietveld bus shelter and the clock as well, there is the guided Rietveld safari, by reservation through the Cultuurhuis in Bergeijk.
Open: Thu-Sun 13.00-17.00
Museum Klok & Peel
Two museums under one roof in Asten. One holds the largest collection of church bells and carillons in the world, and you may ring a bell and play a carillon yourself. The other is about the Peel moorland, with fossils and a mammoth skeleton. It is all on one floor, garden included, so it works well with a wheelchair, walker or pushchair. Book a guided tour in advance and you hear far more about it.
Open: Tue-Fri 9.30-17.00, Sat-Mon 13.00-17.00
Van Gogh Village Nuenen
Vincent van Gogh lived in Nuenen from 1883 to 1885 and made hundreds of works there, among them The Potato Eaters. The museum in the old town hall shows him as a man as much as a painter, and is the starting point of a walk past the Van Gogh church, the weaver’s cottage, the Roosdonck mill and the Opwetten water mill. That route is ten kilometres; at weekends there are guided walks as well.
Open: Tue-Sun 10.00-17.00, Monday from 13.00
Kempen Bakery Museum De Grenswachter, Luyksgestel
A working bakery museum with an 1850 wood-fired oven that is still lit, a mill and an old-fashioned baker’s shop with the sweets of a century ago. You smell the bread before you are inside. There are baking workshops too, for Brabant sausage rolls or crumble flan. Guided tours run on a few fixed days a week, so check ahead and book a place.
Open: Wednesday and Saturday 10.00-16.00, other days by arrangement
Bokrijk open-air museum, Belgium
A whole village of relocated historic farmhouses and workshops, with craftspeople at work. Cycling Through Water is on the same grounds.
Open: in season daily 10.00-18.00; limited outside the season, do check
Food & drink
The Hospes terrace
€€The village café of Leenderstrijp, owned by a cooperative of 52 villagers. Within walking distance, so nobody has to drive. The terrace is open already; it opens fully in December 2026.
Open: Friday and Saturday 14.00-21.00, Sunday 10.00-21.00
Cafetaria Klumpke, Leende
€The snack bar of Leende, on the Dorpstraat and closer than the church. You can take chips and snacks away, but you can just as well sit down and be served properly at your own pace. The easiest answer to a day when nobody feels like cooking.
Open: closed Monday and Tuesday, Wed and Thu 16.00-21.00, Fri and Sat 11.30-21.00, Sun 14.00-21.00
De Schammert village hall
€The village hall of Leende, with a grand café and a terrace on the Dorpstraat. The kitchen is there for lunch and an early bite, as it closes at six, so dinner is somewhere else. The library of Leende is in the same building, and there is often work by someone from the region on the walls.
Open: Mon-Thu 9.00-23.00, Fri 9.00-19.00, Sat and Sun 10.00-19.00; the kitchen 12.00-18.00
Terraces in Leende and Valkenswaard
€€Leende has village terraces 2.5 kilometres away; Valkenswaard, ten kilometres off, has a lively centre with more choice, including for an evening out.
Brouwershuis, Leende
€€On the Oostrikkerdijk, three kilometres away. One of the twenty places in Heeze-Leende with a poetry table, so you can tie a walk to it.
Open: closed Mon and Tue, Wed and Thu 11.00-21.00, Fri and Sat 11.00-22.00, Sun 11.00-21.00
Brasserie Gezellig, Leende
€€A brasserie on the Langstraat with a terrace, a playground and a mini-golf course. That makes it the easiest place nearby to eat with children: they play or putt while you stay in your seat. A quarter of an hour by bike.
Open: closed Monday and Tuesday
Brasserie Jagershorst, Leende
€€The brasserie of the hotel on the Valkenswaardseweg, for lunch and for dinner, with a broad menu. You can usually walk in without booking, and it is seven minutes away.
Open: daily 10.00-23.00; the kitchen 12.00-21.30, lunch until 17.00 and dinner after that
Grand Café de Molenberg, Leende
€€The grand café of the riding school on the Valkenswaardseweg, looking out over the rings. Children watch the horses while you sit on the terrace. There are lessons and rides going on, so there is always something to see.
Open: the grand café Tue-Fri 12.00-00.00, Sat and Sun 10.00-22.00
Boscafé Ons Leen, Leende
€€A forest café on the Valkenswaardseweg, in the building that used to hold the De Clown pancake house. It opened in May 2026 and its speciality is the stews that simmer for hours, with meat, fish or vegetarian. Outside there is a terrace with a small playground and a petting meadow; inside there is an open fire. Walking and cycling routes through the Leenderbos start here, and you can walk to it: a good hour through the woods, a drink on the terrace, and the same way back.
Open: closed Monday, Tuesday to Sunday from 10.00
Restaurant De Bout, Soerendonk
€€A restaurant on the Dorpsstraat in Soerendonk, for lunch and for dinner, with a terrace and a hall for parties. You can also drop in just for a coffee. Of the four villages around us, this is the nearest place for a proper dinner out.
Open: Mon and Tue 11.30-14.30, Thu-Sat 11.30-14.30 and 17.30-21.00, Sun 11.30-14.30 and 17.30-20.00; closed Wednesday
China Garden, Heeze
€One of the few Chinese restaurants still around, on the Nieuwendijk in Heeze. Not the cosiest place to sit down, but excellent for takeaway. Ring, drive over and eat at the long table at home.
Open: closed Tuesday; Monday and Wed-Fri 16.00-21.00, Saturday and Sunday 12.00-21.00
Bij van Aerle, Heeze
€€On the Kapelstraat in Heeze, with an open kitchen you can look into. From morning coffee to dinner in the evening, with lunch and drinks in between. Open every day from ten to nine, so it fits in somewhere.
Open: daily 10.00-21.00
Tapperij De Zwaan, Heeze
€€On the Kapelstraat in the centre of Heeze, with a large terrace and right beside Heeze Castle. A good place to set off from: leave the car here, have something to eat, then walk past the castle into the Herbertusbossen. You come back to the same terrace.
Open: Mon-Thu 11.00-00.00, Fri 11.00-02.00, Sat 10.00-02.00, Sun 10.00-00.00
KikkerOp drinks bar, Maarheeze
€A drinks bar on the Kerkstraat in Maarheeze, among the monumental houses of the finest street in the village. A terrace at the front, a garden half hidden behind the building, and inside a bright garden room with a corner for children. It is a cycling café too, so you can ride there.
Open: closed Monday and Tuesday, Wed and Thu 10.00-18.00, Fri to Sun 10.00-20.00
’t Hof van Máres, Maarheeze
€€A tavern and restaurant on the Oranje Nassaulaan in Maarheeze, for lunch and for dinner, with a terrace, a bar and an open fire. The menu runs from a single quick main course to a five-course surprise menu, which suits an evening where one of you wants to eat at length and the other does not. There are two rooms for a group.
Open: closed Monday and Tuesday
De Boschwachter, Heeze
€€A café-restaurant in a long-fronted farmhouse in the hamlet of Heezerenbosch, on the edge of the woods. Made for walkers and cyclists: plenty of parking, a terrace for the good days and a fireplace for the others. The menu changes every six to eight weeks.
Open: Mon, Tue and Fri-Sun 12.00-22.00; closed Wednesday and Thursday
La Fortuna, Sterksel
€€An Italian in Sterksel, the best-rated place in the village and a fixture in the area. Pizza, pasta, and children are at ease. Handy if you are going to Sterksel anyway for the art route or the shortest railway line.
Open: Wednesday to Saturday 17.00-22.00, closed Sunday to Tuesday
Restaurant Cambium, Heeze
€€€The restaurant of the Kapellerput hotel, in the middle of the woods on the Somerenseweg. The large terrace looks out over the pond. You do not have to stay the night to eat there: a table can simply be booked in advance, which is not true of every hotel restaurant.
Open: lunch 12.00-17.00, dinner 17.00-20.45; closed most Sunday evenings. Book ahead.
Etenswaard, Valkenswaard
€€World cuisine on the Frans van Beststraat: all you can eat, cooked in front of you at the stations, with a play corner for children and their own menu and price. On Friday and Saturday they work with time slots, so book.
Open: closed Tue, Mon, Wed and Thu 17.00-22.00, Fri 17.00-22.30, Sat and Sun 16.00-22.30
Sirtaki, Valkenswaard
€€A Greek restaurant on the Promenade in Valkenswaard, well reviewed for years and generous with its portions. A safe choice when you are eating out with a mixed group and nobody can agree.
Open: Monday to Saturday from 16.30, closed Sunday
Café de Bel, Valkenswaard
€A café on the Markt in Valkenswaard, in the middle of the terraces. On Wednesday from eight it is speciality beer night. Open late, until three at weekends.
Open: Mon-Thu 9.00-01.00, Fri 9.00-02.00, Sat 9.00-03.00, Sun 9.00-01.00
Markt 14, Valkenswaard
€€A grand café on the Markt, from morning coffee to the last glass. On Thursday they open at half past nine, so it works for breakfast or a late lunch when you are out shopping.
Open: closed Mon, Tue and Wed 10.30-23.30, Thu 9.30-23.30, Fri and Sat 10.30-00.00, Sun 10.30-23.30
Wandelpark, Valkenswaard
€€A restaurant with a large terrace in the green on the Eindhovenseweg, with a hall for a party. Food and drink in the park, open all day.
Open: closed Mon, Tue-Thu 10.00-22.00, Fri and Sat 10.00-23.00, Sun 10.00-22.00
Malpiehoeve farm
€A farm on the edge of the Malpie nature reserve, known locally for the ice cream they make themselves from their own produce. There is a farm vending machine and a playground outside, which makes it the obvious stop after a walk across the Malpie.
Open: Wed-Mon 10.00-19.00; closed on Tuesday, holidays included
Irodion, Geldrop
€€The Greek place in Geldrop, on the Bogardeind: the whole table covered in small dishes, and then a main course on top. Good for an evening with a group, when nobody has to choose.
Open: closed Tuesday, otherwise daily from 16.30
Smaek, Geldrop
€€€A restaurant without a menu on the Nieuwendijk: in the evening the kitchen cooks a multi-course dinner from whatever the day brought, and you eat indoors or in the garden. You do not choose, you let it be put in front of you. Evenings only, by reservation.
Open: evenings only, by reservation
When it rains
The kitchen
And otherwise you simply stay in. The cooking studio is the best rainy-day programme we have: a day of cooking together and an evening with twelve at the table.
Open: all day, it is your own kitchen
Monkey Town Valkenswaard
An indoor play centre with trampolines, slides and a corner for the smallest children. The answer to a rainy day with children.
Open: times vary by day, check before you go
A museum day in Eindhoven
If it rains all day, Eindhoven is a quarter of an hour away: the Van Abbemuseum, the Philips Museum and the covered shopping streets.