Maaskant with its beautiful Maasplassen

The bike tour starts from a spacious parking area near the junction of the N78 with the N771 in Dilsen-Stokkem.

At the Maasbank, there are beautiful views with grazing horses and cows in the winter bed, as well as many winged residents.
A flat landscape alternated with cool forest strips, with a bridge over the water and well-maintained dikes as the only elevation.

The first part still runs on Belgian territory up to the crossing of the Meuse at the height of Maaseik.
The middle part of the bike tour to the idyllic white village of Thorn is entirely on Dutch territory where cycling is very pleasant on the wide, well-maintained bike paths.

We made our first coffee stop in Maasbracht, on the right bank of the Meuse near the marina, on the terrace of café ‘t Wiel.
They serve very delicious coffee with all the trimmings for just €2.

Around 1:00 PM, and fully on schedule, we were at the small Meuse village of Swalmen, always following the right bank of the Meuse.
The place isn't very impressive, but they have a very good Grandcafé De Boei where you can dine very well with a view of the Asseltse Maasplas.
A must-try is definitely the extremely delicious fish soup for €7.25 that just wouldn't cool down.

Strengthened in body and spirit, we cycled a bit further to the Rijkel-Neer bike ferry where we crossed the Meuse back around 2:30 PM and started our return journey to Dilsen-Stokkem.
Along a smuggling path, in the beautiful nature, we crossed back over the border into Belgium.
And then it was still 27 km of pedaling to the parking area in Dilsen-Stokkem.
For a change, we cycled a bit further from the Meuse through fields and forests, with the last part being a straight stretch of old railway bed.