Cycling through the Uitkerkse Polder and around Zuienkerke

You leave at the church of Zuienkerke in the Kerkstraat (V) and enter the Nieuwe Steenweg. With the church on your left you cycle between the municipal school and the Polderhoeve to junction 81. Turn left here towards junction 29 and cycle over the Blankenbergse Dijk Noord into the open landscape. You bolt past Het Thiendehof and further through the former hamlet Sint-Jans-opden- Dijk with farm De Laatste Stuiver on the right and the Sint-Jobskapelletje on the left. After a sign with information about the Uitkerkse Polder you will arrive at junction 29. Turn left, direction junction 89. You cycle past the parking lot of the visitor center of the Uitkerkse Polder nature reserve and continue along reed collars and a beautiful large lake.

At the fork, turn right. If you feel like it, you can take a look at birdwatching hut De Grutto via the boardwalk, highly recommended! It continues winding between reed collars with the skyline of Blankenberge in the background to junction 89. Cycle left towards junction 2, past the dilapidated historic farm Blauwe Duivekeet (eighteenth century) and cross the canal of Blankenberge via the Schare bridge. This will get you to junction 2. Continue straight on into Koeistraat, direction junction 15. In the first bend you pass B&B Over d'Eede and then you continue cycling between the reeds of the Uitkerkse Polder to junction 15.

Turn right, direction junction 95. At the fork with a Nieuwmunster name sign in front of you, follow the Smisjestraat to the left until you can turn right into the Doelhofstraat. You meander between the fields to the charming village center of Nieuwmunster. Cycle past the church and some picturesque houses to junction 95 on the busy N307 (Bruges - Wenduine). Turn left, direction junction 22. Fortunately, you can ride on a separate bike path, separated from the roadway by a wide grass strip, a moat, trees and even a guardrail. Ignore the road to De Haan on the right and all side roads until you reach junction 22 after 1.5 km. Cross the busy road and continue cycling towards junction 20. You bump over the cobblestones of the Oosternieuwweg Noord and past farm De Grote Madeleine, one of the oldest preserved historic farms in Houtkerke, whose history dates back to the Middle Ages.

Further on you will pass the farms 't Wilgenhof, Poldergalm and the Kleine Madeleine. Then you cross the Noordede and the N9. entrum of Nieuwmunster. On the other side, continue cycling along Oosternieuwweg Zuid to junction 20. Turn right, direction junction 28. Via the Kerkhofstraat, with a beautiful picnic area in the bend, you cycle past houtave church, inn De Drie Koningen and tavern 't Muzikantje to the T-junction. Turn left there, turn right further along the road and cycle between reed collars to a T-junction with a chapel. Turn left on a wide concrete road and then the first road on the right, the Langedorpweg. You cycle past farm de Moerbeiboom with sun terrace and farm ice and past a farm from 1776 to junction 28. Turn left, direction junction 23. Follow Spanjaardstraat to the N377. Cross it and continue cycling past farm De Roode Poort with farm ice to the T-junction with the church of Stalhille and café 't Hoekske on the right. Turn left until junction 23 and then right into Kalsijdeweg, direction junction 33.

You cycle next to the church and the cemetery, in the direction of the hull of the Grote Molen (1861). At the fork in front of it, choose diagonally left and follow the winding Paddegatstraat to the T-junction with junction 33. Turn left, direction junction 25. You cycle along farm ice Marcarel to junction 25. From here, follow the towpath next to the Ghent - Ostend canal towards Bruges and junction 9. At junction 9 you cycle straight ahead and continue following the canal, towards junction 93. You can reach that at the beautiful Stalhille bridge. This bridge for cyclists and pedestrians dates from 2008 and replaces an emergency bridge that had been here for 26 years. When ships arrive, the bridge goes up with a tilting system. Leave the bridge on the right and follow the towpath, towards junction 56. You bolt under the bridge of the N377 and continue cycling to the Nieuwegebrug with junction 56. On the left is the cozy Bistro Nieuwege with chapel Te Nieuwege from 1873 next to it. The chapel with a bell tower was integrated into the row of houses.

Leave the bridge on the right and continue cycling towards junctions 39 and 64. At the fork, keep left, towards junction 39, and no longer follow the towpath. On the right you have a beautiful picnic area. It now continues along reed collars and canals and past the white house Poldergal and farm Schapenstal until you reach junction 39. Turn right through the Mareweg, direction junction 52. You cycle around a grove and past the idyllic nineteenth-century farm De Blauwe Reiger with a beautiful pond in front of it. At 't Benedicten Colaertshof (already mentioned in the fourteenth century), you come to junction 52 and turn right with the Mareweg and before farm De Roode Poorte turn left, direction junction 58. Hoeve De Roode Poorte is a seventeenth century classified farm, in which a caterer is now located and where you can go for all kinds of parties. A little further on is a white field chapel (ca. 1900) at the junction with the Molenweg. Keep cycling straight until you reach the church of Meetkerke.

There you turn right, onto the path for cyclists and pedestrians, along the Blankenbergse vaart. That sounds impressive, but in fact it looks no more than a wide stream. At a lonely house, with a loud barking dog, the path narrows and you cycle towards the white field chapel (late eighteenth century) and the white Poldermolen (1811). It is the only remaining polder mill with paddle wheel in Belgium. Until 1928 he carried excess water from the Meetkerkse Moeren to the Blankenbergse vaart. At the white chapel and the Kapellebrug you are at junction 58. Turn left over the bridge, direction junction 32.

You cycle past the name sign of Sint-Pieters (city of Bruges) and further on the N9. Cross it carefully and follow the cycle path to the left and turn right immediately afterwards into Zuienkerkestraat. It continues through the beautiful flat landscape that you have known for a while. Turn left at Luc Willem farm and then continue to junction 32. Now the nodes follow each other quickly. At junction 32 turn left to junction 77 and then turn right until junction 86, at a beautiful field chapel. Leave the Draaiboomstraat on the left and cycle straight ahead towards junction 81. At the T-junction turn left and via the Meetkerkestraat back to the church of Zuienkerke.