The IJse in Huldenberg

Start at the Gemeenteplein (V) in Huldenberg, with ample parking and a few cafes. Nearby are also the castle and the converted water mill, both protected. Climb the steps of the church hill to the church of Notre-Dame and back down to the other side. Cross the street and take the E. Gilisstraat straight to the football field. You turn left around the field. Follow the rising hollow road to the first intersection, then turn right. With the O.-L.-Vrouwweg you cross the carriageway and after 150 m you choose left. Now you follow the IJsewandeling sign, in the opposite direction. Ignore all secondary roads. To the north, the bell tower of the church of Duisburg culminates. The road crosses a downhill hollow road, jumps over a thin stream and swings to the right. Another burgeoning road is digging. Once on the right. You are now walking on the Ganspoel 1 plateau, wide, green and serene. You now always follow the path - sometimes winding - on the set. You descend by a hollow road and arrive at a paved road, the Hollestraat. A little further on, you turn left at the crossroads of Camping Bergendal in the narrow Biezenstraat with the entrance to the campsite. Continue on this road, until you descend on the Ganzemansstraat. Choose well. At the first house (No. 17), you turn sharply left, passing a sand quarry. At the top you cross the Leefdaal road and continue to follow the ridge road, now a ribbon of concrete. Continue straight at the next intersection. In front of you, Leuven looms between the folds of the fat silt. On the right, a pair of roosters rises above ground level: the wind roosters of the double bell tower of Neerijse. To the east, a wide panorama of the Dijledal and the Meerdaal Forest. At the five-jump chapel with white stake, choose the second one on the right, the Kleine Puystraat. You get off at the busy N253 Leuven-Overijse. Cross and continue straight on into the Eygenstraat. This street turns right and climbs again to No. 31. You do not go up with it, but take the downhill road to the left at the fork. This is how you arrive at the former Overschie Castle in Neerijse 2. The shed was transformed into a luxurious B&B and the main building into castle apartments. Behind is the old water mill (not accessible). Neerijse, Loonbeek and Huldenberg all have their own castle and associated watermill. Continue to the chapel of St. Rochus and there always straight into the Prins de Bethunelaan, one of the two beautiful alleys lined with Japanese cherry trees. In between, the white farm forms a beautiful picture with the village of Neerijse: the Lindenhof, a shelter for very old horses. Young mares and stallions frolic in the surrounding meadows. Perhaps the most beautiful place in Neerijse. At the end of the journey you arrive at the Beekstraat. You can see the IJsebrug from the other side, here you can pick up on the IJsepad on the left bank, also GR512. 300 m further another street at a crossroads of walking and cycling trails. The shoreline trail continues along fish ponds and plunges under an abandoned tram bed. Ignore the next paved street, walk diagonally straight to the water mill of Loonbeek 3. If you stay true to the IJse and prefer to keep it flat, you continue to follow the right shore. Otherwise, you immediately turn left, past the castle, hidden behind the greenery. Now follows a long climb through the Margijsbos, a beautiful beech cathedral. You come to a T - behind a villa that does not belong there - and walk there on the right, descending again on the asphalt. Below you turn left, with the IJse as your guide to the terminus, pass the remains of a vanished watermill and even more fish ponds beyond the forest. Cross a street twice more, but you stay on the comfortable way to the bank. Huldenbergcentrum is accessible via the gym deck, with the Gemeenteplein behind it.