Holiday apartment in Zenderen: monasteries, paths and landscape

Zenderen combines an open landscape with monastic sites, historic farm complexes and a diverse network of paths. The surrounding area includes the open esch landscape of the Zenderense Es; at the same time, Zenderen is an important junction in the Twente cycling and hiking network. If you are looking for a holiday apartment in Zenderen, you will therefore find a place where walks, longer hikes and cultural-historical discoveries can be combined.

Holiday apartment in Zenderen between hiking trails and monastic sites

The Kloosterpad Zenderen connects Zenderen’s three monasteries and offers four route options of 3, 5, 8 and 11 kilometres. These options can be walked on any day and help you compare different day plans. The route passes through Landgoed Weleveld, where it follows the Schouw paths along the Bornse Beek and the Oude Bornse Beek. The European long-distance hiking route E11 also passes through Zenderen and is known here as the Marskramerpad; it runs through De Kloostergaarde.

Several circular routes created by local residents start at the TOP-Locatie Zenderen on Hertmerweg. The selection therefore ranges from short circuits to a signposted connection between the monastic sites. When choosing your holiday apartment, you can use these different route ideas as a guide for planning your days without having to commit to just one way of travelling.

Historic sites around Zenderen

The cultural-historical character of the area includes the Erve Bekman farm complex at Albergerweg 19. It consists of a 17th-century hall house farmhouse with an adjoining barn, as well as a crosswise front house dating from 1880. The site has historic urban-planning value dating back to the 13th century. Also connected with Zenderen’s history is the Redemptorist St. Joseph Retreat House, which opened in 1927. Twente Catholics went there for spiritual education and inner formation.

The Stations of the Cross were moved to the boundary wall of the Carmelite convent, allowing them to form an important part of the Kloosterpad Zenderen. The Carmelite convent itself has been permanently closed since 2020 and can no longer be visited. Regular guided tours for interested visitors are held at the Carmelite monastery, however; timely contact must be made with the monastery’s prior for this purpose. Historical traces with different visiting options and status details are therefore located close together along the route, without implying that they should be regarded as one uniform experience.

Gardens, woodland and waterscape

De Kloostergaarde is a publicly accessible garden in Zenderen that can be visited free of charge. More than 1,500 plants, shrubs and trees have been planted there. The publicly accessible gardens and woodland of Landgoed De Zwanenhof can be explored on foot. Together with the paths along the Bornse Beek and the Oude Bornse Beek, they create a varied landscape of garden spaces, woodland and open areas.

The waterways are also part of the village’s historical character. During the period of historic commercial water transport, Zenderen was an important bottleneck because of the Bornse Beek and the Azelerbeek.

Discover more places

If you would like to extend your travel planning beyond Zenderen, also discover Hertme and Borne.

Back to the higher-level travel overview: Borne.