You may recognise the castle as the home of ‘De Rode Ridder’ (The Red Knight), a cartoon character created by Willy Vandersteen. This fabulous moated castle lies in the green valley of the Wingebeek. A visitor's centre and heritage shop can be found in the coach house. You can sit back and relax in a cosy local café.
This 500-hectare nature reserve is relatively young as reserves go. The forest is home to the largest alder forest in Flanders, and its slopes are covered with oak, birch, rowan, maple, hazel and glossy buckthorn.
Because of its unique shape, this staircase has become one of the most important architectural constructions of the Hageland, reinforcing its regional identity. The concept of a floating staircase, with its colour referring to the oxidized sandstone of the regional Diestiaan hills, creates a unique monument.
Explore the hamlets of Alsberg and Optielt. A large stretch of this walk takes you over the crest of a hill, providing you with a majestic vista of the area. Roundabouts halfway, the fields give way to a part of Walen Forest.
Tielt's two main residential centres developed on and along a hill and gave birth to two parishes: Sint-Martinus and Onze-Lieve-Vrouw. It is at the church of the latter, built on 'de Berg' ('the hill'), that this walk starts.
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780 km wandelplezier
Price publication: 9,0 euro (Postage for publication: not included)