Beguine dike. About beguines, church builders, fire butterflies and muskrats.

When you walk through Begijnendijk today, you cannot imagine that this area in the ancien régime was a swampy, difficult to exploit site, with a scattered habitation and hardly a village center. Today, the view is determined by concrete roads, ribbon buildings, subdivisions with open buildings and weekend stays. The village center is a busy driving of cars.

But, we are definitely too strict. According to the municipal monitor (2021), the inhabitants of Begijnendijk are happy Flemings. And between brick and asphalt are some fascinating nature reserves where Natuurpunt does a particularly good job. This walk therefore balances between the fascinating of the ordinary such as the pine and the American oak and that which you can only find in Begijnendijk, such as the cradle of the Percy's and the brown fire butterfly.

The walk is almost 8.5 kilometers. It runs on mostly paved roads and threads together pieces of ribbon buildings with quiet nature reserves: the Raam, Papendel, Roogaarden, the Meren and Bieheide. Even this ribbon construction can be fascinating because no municipality seems to have such a diverse palette of styles of houses, ranging from the simplicity of the post-World War II period, the farmhouse style of the 1970s to the modern functionality of today. In the centre, larger stylish new construction projects are 'inbreid'. Outside the very busy Betekomseseteenweg, the other lanes are usually quiet.

In a wet spring, there is a good chance that the connection between the Papendel nature reserve and Hannekensstraat is partly under water. You can then short-circuit the walk by going back to the Peuterstraat from Papendel. This is also the only part that could not be done with a stroller.

Rest benches are scattered throughout the circuit. We have indicated some on this route. Picnics at tables can be found in Bieheide and the park next to De Puzzel. Toys for children can be seen in the center at The House of the Child.

The walk is accessible by public transport. The starting point is about 1.5 kilometers from the church square.

Catering can be found mainly in the center of the municipality, where some typical cafes, restaurants or bistros can be found. But it may be that halfway through the walk in The Lakes the cafeteria for the fishermen is open.