Vincent van Gogh walked all his life, beginning in his childhood in Zundert. These walks fueled his love of nature. In Brabant he explored city and countryside. Follow in his footsteps in Zundert, Breda, Etten-Leur, Helvoirt, Tilburg, 's-Hertogenbosch, Eindhoven and the Nuenen open-air museum. On this page you will find a selection of wonderful Van Gogh hiking trails.
"Letter to Theo, 1874 "
"Always keep walking a lot & loving nature a lot, for that is the true way to learn to understand art more & more.─ The painters understand nature & love it, & teach us to see." Vincent
Thanks to the cooperation of some 60 organizations in the Van Gogh National Park, visitors can enjoy Vincent's beloved landscape now and in the future. Walk in his footsteps in Zundert, Tilburg, Etten-Leur, Helvoirt and Nuenen. Van Gogh NP is working on a network of 1,000 km of hiking trails, both existing and new, with special attention to biodiversity and connecting the Van Gogh heritage with the environment.
More Van Gogh NP
Walk through the beautiful landscape of Zundert, Vincent's childhood. Start at the Vincent van GoghHuis and follow the route via the Van Goghplein through the beech hedges towards the Grote Beek (Aa or Weerijs). Enjoy the beautiful stream landscape. Pass the Akkermolen to the Assortment Garden and landscape zone De Tuinderij. End your walk through the cozy Molenstraat and return to the Van GoghHuis.
Walk through the inspiring landscape of Etten-Leur that touched van Gogh. Start at De Menmoerhoeve and walk through the meadows past fens and over bridges through the Pannenhoef. From this nature reserve cross over to the Rondgors and return to the starting location via the Schuitvaartpad.
This walking route takes you through beautiful nature and past the heritage of Van Gogh in Nuenen. Start in the center and pass numerous Van Gogh Monuments, walking through a typical Van Gogh landscape. Here he found inspiration for his first masterpiece: The Potato Eaters. The varied route takes you through beloved farmland and the Nuenen Broek nature reserve.
Discover the area in Tilburg where the young Vincent van Gogh received drawing lessons. The Van Gogh Walking Route Tilburg (16 km) takes you through the city to the green. Discover the cozy Piushaven, watchtower De Nieuwe Herdgang, and Landscape Park Moerenburg-Koningshoeven.
Discover Vincent's family life and inspiration with this 15 kilometer walking route. The Van Gogh NP Walking Route in Helvoirt takes you through the Brabant countryside where the Van Gogh family lived and where Vincent felt at home. Start at St. Nicholas Church and walk through forests, open meadows and along fens. Along the way you will pass historic buildings such as Zwijnsbergen Castle and natural attractions such as the Loonse and Drunense Dunes and the Hengstven.
You can take several Van Gogh walks in Vincent van Gogh's birthplace of Zundert. We would like to recommend two more detours: a walk from Vincent van GoghHuis along the six Zundert Van Gogh Monuments and the 'Audio Walk Escape Points' by writer and visual artist Dorien de Wit. They are available at the VVV desk in the Van GoghHuis, but you can also download them.
In Etten-Leur you can (on request) take a Van Gogh city walk with a guide. This is super fun, especially since the printed Vincent van Gogh city walk'De Ettense Mijl' is currently sold out. We are also happy to refer you to the polder walks from Baroniepoort De Turfvaart and the forest walks from Baroniepoort De Menmoerhoeve.
To the left of Van Gogh Village Museum in Nuenen, near the bicycle shed, are route signs for walking routes along Van Gogh monuments from the center of Nuenen, with various distances. Other recommendations: Op verkenning via the Opwettense watermolen and Collse watermolen, Bestemming Buitenlucht (4.5 km), Lieshout & Stiphout (8.5 km including the picturesque Kamerven) and Rondje Lieshout (11 km including mill De Vogelenzang). And there are also routes especially for children.
The "Vincent van Gogh route Tilburg" is a nice short (about 3 km) walking route through Korvel and downtown. What did he encounter and what do we see now? As a thirteen-year-old schoolboy, he must have often wandered through Tilburg in his spare time.
In this village you walk past various monuments and places that recall the time when the family Van Gogh lived in Helvoirt. Of course you can also request a guided walk (every month on a Sunday). This way you will learn all kinds of special historical details. For children there is a fun scavenger hunt.
"The painters understand and love nature and teach us to see. "
Vincent van Gogh
