Balen: Nature, Trails and Special Discoveries

Balen combines diverse landscapes with hiking trails, cycling experiences, mills, churches and excursion destinations for different interests. Those planning a trip with children can spend their days in nature, by the water or with animals; culture enthusiasts will find historic sites and insights into life in the Kempen region. When choosing a holiday apartment in Balen, it is therefore worth deciding first what you want the main focus of your trip to be.

Landscapes Between Heathland, Water and Forest

The Keiheuvelwandeling leads through a landscape of sandy areas, ponds, dune grassland, heathland and pine forests. As a result, the scenery along the trail visibly alternates between open areas and wooded sections. Another option is the Schepswandeling: the 6.9 km route starts at the Sint-Odradakapel and follows the Kempense Landduinen hiking trail. Along the way, it crosses a wetland on a boardwalk and passes a bird-watching wall. These specific differences can help with planning your day: you can choose between a landscape loop with varied terrain and a route featuring distinctive trail sections and opportunities for observing nature.

The De Vennen stream-valley landscape also displays a pronounced water landscape. The Grote Nete, the Grote Hoofdgracht and the Kleine Hoofdgracht flow there. In De Vennen, the Grote Nete is approximately 3 metres wide and still follows a naturally meandering course. Griesbroek contains a varied valley plain of the Grote Nete between Hulsen and Olmen; the Heiloop also flows there alongside the Grote Nete. The route through Griesbroek follows the meandering Grote Nete through coniferous forest, meadows and marshland forest and passes several fishponds.

Cycling and Trails with History

Several clearly described options are available in the surrounding area for longer cycling tours. Route 44 is a permanent 44 km cycling route. It follows the wartime history of Balen and Olmen as well as the municipal boundaries with Leopoldsburg and Lommel. The Molenroute is 42 km long and passes the Topmolen, Hoolstmolen and Straalmolen mills. At Straalmolen, there is a mill shop in the Kempische Schuur. Both Hoolstmolen and Straalmolen are still capable of milling. This allows exercise and regional industrial history to be combined in one trip without making every day's itinerary look the same.

Culture, Churches and Special Places

The Kruiermuseum provides an impression of life in a Kempen village such as Balen during the interwar period from 1920 to 1937. It is located in Balen's Old Town Hall, Vaartstraat 29 in Balen. The Sint-Andrieskerk is a Brabantine Gothic church. It was built between 1444 and 1508 and completed in 1526. Those interested in regional history and ecclesiastical architecture can consider these two destinations as the cultural focus of their trip.

Kapel Scheps was built in 1896 in the surroundings of the so-called Hof van Scheps in honour of Saint Sint-Odrada. The Odrada-put is located behind Kapel Scheps. Together, the chapel and the well provide another reason to take a more conscious look at the region's religious history and traditional sites. The historic character of Sint-Andrieskerk and the smaller chapel landscape create different points of emphasis.

Excursions with Children and Shared Experiences

At Keiheuvel, visitors can play on a mini-golf course with varied holes in green surroundings. There is also an outdoor swimming pool and a paddling pool for summer swimming fun, as well as a playground in green surroundings with sufficient space for safe play. At Pakawi Park, visitors can observe wolves and bears living together from a suspension bridge running between the treetops. Colourful birds also fly past visitors there in an exotic plant garden. These destinations offer a different way to spend the day than hiking and cycling tours and can be taken into account when interests vary during a trip.

Choosing the Right Base

When looking for a holiday apartment or other accommodation in Balen, you can therefore consider which experiences should define your holiday: nature trails through heathland, wetlands and forests, longer cycling routes with mills and history, cultural sightseeing or varied activities with children. The destinations mentioned differ in distance, theme and landscape.

If you would like to compare other travel destinations, you can also discover Herentals, Baarle-Hertog, Zandhoven, Lier, Antwerp, Zoersel, Duffel and Rumst.

For the higher-level travel overview: Province of Antwerp.