Tasty and rural Lanaken

Go to the Domein Pietersheim car park on the Neerhagenweg in Lanaken (V). Departure to KP 140, past the wooden squirrel Kwip and the stud farm Zangersheide to the first quadrangle. Turn left onto Roman Drive and follow it to the end. Turn left and at Hostellerie La Butte au Bois turn right. • Just after the De Hoge Kempen bike café, you pedal through the forest to KP 140 with a crucifix under an awning. Turn right onto KP 58. At Vijverdorp Sunclass Sonnevijver the separate cycle path ends. Continue cycling along the Rekem agglomeration sign to the lively steenweg of Lanaken. Cross it and turn directly right into the Heirbaan. Follow it until you turn left into a concrete path for cyclists and pedestrians. The path turns into Veldstraat and in a chapel it becomes the Hilarion Thanslaan. Follow this residential street to the intersection with Poplar Avenue. Cross it and continue cycling through St. Peter's. Turn onto 2 and then onto the first street on the right, which is also called Saint Pierre. You pass the Paterskerk (1708) in the Paterstraat. With the flower boxes, through traffic further down the road is made impossible and you then arrive in "the most beautiful village in Flanders", OudRekem. • Next to the tavern Den Yperman, turn left into a street and you arrive at the idyllic Groenplaats with the Sint-Pieterskerkje, In de Bleick and 't Poortgebouw. Cross the square and pedal just after 't Oud Gerechtshof and Onder de Linden to the intersection with Herenstraat and Kanaalstraat. Straight ahead, Old God in. You pass the Posthuis and In de Oude God and cross the Ucoverpoort to the canal and KP 58. Follow the towpath on the right, direction KP 559. You dive under the bridge and pass a swaying bowl with Sibelco's facilities on the other side. Further on, you cycle under the Neerharenbrug and arrive at KP 559 with the brewery Op de Hogt (1). Continue straight onto KP 54. A little further, the waterway splits. The Zuid-Willemsvaart continues diagonally to the left, to the right it becomes the Verbindingsvaart and you follow it from now on. Just before the Neerharen lock, you arrive at KP 54. Choose KP 131 diagonally to the right. Climb next to the lock and a bunker and pedal further along the towpath. You pass the facilities of CBR Beton H.Keulen and an oscillating bowl. Then you dive under a bridge. On KP 131, you continue straight, direction KP 558. You are parallel to the busy Europalaan with Lanaken behind. Pedal again under a bridge and a little further under a bridge for cyclists and pedestrians across and in front of a lock. Then you arrive between the industrial areas Sappi and Aan de Sluis at the Briegdendok, which flows into the Albert Canal. • Take the Montaigneweg on the right and pass the Sappi 2 industrial zone until you reach the T-junction. Turn right until you reach the busy Tongersesteenweg. Cross it and follow the bike path on the left until you reach KP 558. Continue straight, direction KP 65, pass the Rekem agglomeration sign and then turn left into Boonakkerstraat. Through traffic is made impossible along the way by two flower boxes. At the end of Boonakkerstraat, you are at KP 65. Turn left onto KP 66. Cross the Albert Canal and turn right at the first intersection. It continues on a narrow concrete road reserved for agricultural vehicles, cyclists, walkers and horse riders. Ignore a road on the left and pedal further between the fields to a crossroads between some trees. Left. Ignore a secondary road on the right and continue straight at the junction with KP 66, towards KP 90. Cross another intersection and continue cycling to the busy N2. Just left and immediately after this right, on a limited traffic road. • Turn left at the first intersection. You leave the cycling network for a while. At the crossroads, you follow the Tombestraat on the right. Then turn right onto the first street and pedal left at the junction until you reach KP 90 in Hees. Follow Striekestraat on the left, direction KP 124. At the crossroads, you turn right and pass in front of the church of Hees. Ignore the road to Vlijtingen and Rosmeer on the right and continue straight into the Winkelierstraat. At the end, you follow the Toekomststraat on the right. At the T-junction, turn left between the meadows, then the first road on the right. Ignore all secondary roads until you arrive right in front of a sign "local traffic - max. 3.5 turn left. It continues to gently undulate through the open landscape to KP 124. Continue straight onto KP 540. • At the T-junction, follow Irish Cross Street to the right. Ignore the secondary roads, walk along the Irish Cross (2) and, just before the Vlijtingen nameplate, turn left. Ignore all secondary roads and continue cycling to the Maastrichtersteenweg. Follow the parallel road to the left, then cross the busy road and immediately take the first secondary road on the left. With a big bend, you travel through the open landscape to a T-junction. Turn right, then into the first street on the left. Climb along the Herderen agglomeration sign to KP 540. Turn left towards KP 80. Cross the Tongersesteenweg further, then take the first road on the left and pedal right at the T-junction. At the next fork, turn left. • Ignore a secondary road on the left and, with the riemst agglomeration sign in sight, turn right onto the next road and continue cycling to the T-junction with KP 80. Turn right onto a wide red bike path towards KP 569. Then take the first road on the left and cycle to the junction with KP 569. Straight ahead, after the Bolder agglomeration sign, direction KP 432. Follow the rue de Méan to the end. Archaeological site Cross the Bolderstraat at the Méanhoeve, then turn right into the Grotstraat. At the end, turn left. You go up on the Op de Dries to the crossroads of the cemetery. Turn left into Kabienstraat, cross an intersection and continue cycling into Sint-Servaasstraat. At the crossroads with a printing house on the corner, you continue to follow the Sint-Servaasstraat diagonally to the right until the end. Cross the Visésteenweg and continue cycling through the Zwart Kruisstraat to the fork. Turn left, briefly toward KP 80, and straight ahead at the first intersection. On the next one, just before a bench, turn right, on a road composed of two strips of concrete grass in between. • Take the second secondary road on the right and go up along the Heukelom agglomeration sign to the first houses. Then take the road for through traffic on the left. Ignore a street on the left and exit the village. At the crossroads, you choose the Montenaekenweg diagonally straight. Continue to follow it until you reach the center of Vroenhoven. Pass the church across the Bloesemstraat to the T-junction. Turn left until you reach maastrichterweg. Just before, you have Experience Center De Brug (3). • Turn right via the Vroenhoven Bridge over the Albert Canal to KP 557. Follow the canal towards KP 11. When you see the Veldwezelt Bridge, move away from the towpath and pass International Golf Maastricht and the archaeological site of Hezerwater. At exit 11, you cross the Veldwezelt Bridge and dive downwards, direction KP 558. You turn with the canal on the left and see the Briegdendok on the right. Continue cycling to the Tongersesteenweg and cross the canal. You do it on a separate red bike path on a modern bridge. On the other side, you cycle away from the canal, then dive into a tunnel for cyclists under the busy Tongersesteenweg. You are immediately on KP 558. This is familiar territory. Now pedal in the opposite direction to the KP 131. Choose it to KP 140. Via a tunnel for cyclists, you dive under the busy road and pedal left, towards the center. Just along the busy road, then via a walk between Pietersheim Castle and the ruins of Pietersheim's moated castle, pass the petting zoo, an athletics track and a large pond to the parking lot with the starting point.