If you love river landscapes, towpaths along canals, castles, and little climbing, then this route is for you. But when you take a quick glance at the route map, you think: what kind of route is this? The route seems to overlap at various points... but that’s not the case (especially if you consider the vertical plane). Due to the layout of the route, you can easily shorten it.

The route goes counterclockwise and starts from the nature transferium at Heidekampweg (entrance Heidekamppark) just north of Stein (which is indicated on ANWB tourist signs (the brown signs) as the Heart of the Maas Valley). This means that in the first kilometer and the last kilometers of the route, you will cycle through the industrial zone of the harbor area of Stein or through the built-up area of Stein. But apart from that, you cycle through rural areas for the rest of the route.

First, you cycle to Urmond and through the floodplains of the Maas and along the Julianakanaal to Meers. In Meers, you follow a wide concrete cycle path and later the Maasdijk with a view of the Maas. Then you cross the Julianakanaal and head towards the area around the castle ruins of Stein (note: this is a popular hiking area and roads may be littered with twigs and leaves in autumn/winter). Subsequently, you take the cycle path along the A76 (north side) and enter Belgium where you follow the Maas along wonderfully quiet roads and dike roads. Further south on the route, you also follow the towpaths along the Zuid-Willemsvaart and along the Kanaal Briegden - Neerharen. Afterwards, you cycle through Oud-Rekem, a historical village scene with a castle and cobbled road.

The route goes along the Zuid-Willemsvaart again and takes you back to Kotem where you follow the cycle path on the south side of the A76. Below you, you can see the road you cycled about 30 km earlier. After that, in the Netherlands, you follow the floodplains of the Maas. Unfortunately, you see the Maas very little because it has the space here to overflow into the floodplains. Thus, no dike roads are to be expected here, and you cycle relatively often on (good) cycle paths that run directly along (rather quiet) through roads. You will pass several castles (Geulle a/d Maas, Borgharen, Meerssenhoven). You also cycle through the Haertelsteinveld nature reserve (via a dedicated cycle path) where the Geul flows through and horses graze the area.

Upon reaching Bunde, the very beautiful climb of the Dennenbergweg follows (as an alternative, you can also take the cycle path behind the monastery to climb this hill). You descend the Moorveldberg and climb the relatively easy Slingerberg. And those are the only named climbs on this route. Via Catsop, you arrive in Elsloo and cycle over cobblestones to the viewpoint of the Maasberg (you do not climb the hill itself). The route then goes through a neighborhood of Elsloo to Stein, and you cycle through Oud-Stein back to the nature transferium.