Holiday apartment in Moerdijk: Fortresses, Polders and Waterways

The municipality of Moerdijk is situated in a delta environment with the Haringvliet, Hollands Diep and the Biesbosch. It also features meandering creek systems and extensive polder areas. This landscape is complemented by historic fortresses, museums, town walks, cycling routes and water connections.

Landscape and Nature

The De Appelzak nature area is accessible year-round. Twenty different bird species live on the grounds of Fort Sabina, including rare species such as the barn owl, kingfisher and common redstart. There are also bats, flowers and numerous insects. Fort Sabina covers an area of 12 hectares and is freely accessible during opening hours.

Culture and History

Fort Sabina was built in 1811 on Napoleon’s orders. A tour modèle, a powder house, casemates and a double caponier have been preserved there. Fort de Hel was built in 1809 during the French period as part of the Zuiderwaterlinie and defended Willemstad and Hollands Diep. At Fort de Hel, visitors can move around freely, view exhibitions, use the terraces and take part in treasure hunts and small cultural activities.

The wooden Swedish emergency flood house stands in Heijningen. It was donated by the Swedish people in 1953 as a replacement for the houses destroyed during the flood disaster. The Watersnoodfietsroute runs through the entire area of the municipality of Moerdijk affected by the flood disaster, passes several memorial plaques and provides information about the disaster.

Museums and Local Traditions

The Nationaal Vlasserij-Suikermuseum in Klundert presents the history of flax, sugar beet and sugar factories. The museum demonstrates traditional flax processing using restored machines and displays historical objects as well as depictions of sugar production. It is wheelchair accessible and has two wheelchairs as well as a wheelchair-accessible toilet.

The Museum Zevenbergen offers guided tours and, on request, lectures about the castle, the town wall, the lords of Zevenbergen, the local sugar industry and the harbour. It also shows what life was like in the former sugar town, with a small shop, traditional crafts and household objects in an 18th-century farmhouse. The stone grain mill Persephone in Standdaarbuiten houses an information centre about swifts.

Routes and Walks

In Klundert, visitors can discover remains of the old fortifications and the Renaissance town hall, as well as walk along the remnants of the town moats. Guided town walks explain the origins of the fortified town, the town walls, the street layout, monuments and the old town hall. The Kuieren door Klundert route is suitable for people with reduced mobility as well as wheelchair and mobility scooter users. With 22 route signs, it leads to special places and brings the history of the town to life.

The guided Stadswandeling Zevenbergen follows the course of the old harbour and passes preserved granaries, a former brewery, canal houses with stepped gables and characteristic architecture from the Second World War. A town walk through Willemstad leads along the Volkerak, the Zwanenmeer, the monumental Mauritshuis, the Heilige Maagd Mariakerk and the Koepelkerk, and then outside the town walls along the Singel.

The Mauritshuis tourist information centre in Willemstad provides visitor information for Willemstad and the entire municipality of Moerdijk. The ANWB Stelling van Willemstad cycling route starts and ends at Lantaarndijk 4 in Willemstad. Its stops include Klundert and Fort Sabina in Heijningen.

Cycling and Regional Products

The Oude-Appelaarse-Polderroute combines a cycling tour through the polder landscape with stops at designated regional sales outlets along the Tonnekreek, the harbours and the Keenesluis. Flour as well as bread and cake mixes are sold at the Oude Molen in Fijnaart. In the municipality of Moerdijk, visitors can try locally brewed beers such as Willemsch Lentebier and Hopgesodemieterd from the Halve Tamme brewery in Zevenbergen.

Water

The Anna and Waterpoort ferries operate to and from Willemstad; the Lucretia ferry runs from Strijensas to the village of Moerdijk. Waterpoort Rondvaarten offers a boat connection from Willemstad to Steenbergen, taking visitors to Fort Sabina and Benedensas. Bicycles can be taken on the Waterpoort Rondvaarten route.

For further options, the pages for Zevenbergen, Moerdijk, Klundert, Willemstad, Standdaarbuiten, Langeweg, Fijnaart and Oudemolen are available.

For the higher-level travel overview: North Brabant.