🌍Cycling on water: in a Belgian nature reserve

It is called "Fietsen door het water", and it is a cycle path dug under the water level capable of offering a unique experience

You never thought you could pedaling on water? And Belgium it's possible. Or, rather, this is the feeling you experience when you walk along the Fietsen door het water.

We are in Limburg, the easternmost province of Flanders (on the border with the Netherlands). Here, in its heart, lies the De Wijers nature reserve, a small paradise made up of lakes of all sizes, hundreds of aquatic birds and a bucolic and peaceful atmosphere, which takes the breath away of cyclists and hikers who they go here for long walks or for relaxing bike rides.

Inside the reserve - an extraordinary union between culture, nature and history which extends over seven municipalities - a bicycle path one in a kind. More than a long itinerary, it is actually a suggestive stretch which – with its 212 meters by three meters in width – was dug below the water level, and therefore allows you to cycle with the lake at eye level, both on the right and on the left. The effect? It seems sensational, as if you were pedaling right on the water.

Made of concrete, the original cycle path has half a meter high embankments and is therefore safe for everyone, adults and children. “You don't need to wear rubber boots or a wetsuit because, if you're lucky, you'll stay dry. But the cycle path will allow you to cross the lake, from one bank to the other, and onAt a certain point you will find yourself pedaling with water at eye level on both sides", it reads on the tourism website of Limburg.

The objective of the Fietsen door het water - part of the dense network of cycle routes that crosses the entire region - is to promote cycle tourism in this extraordinary corner of Belgium, and in particular in that reserve which, with its 700 ponds and its points of historical-naturalistic interest, deserves to be known.

Because there is not only the extraordinary track in the water here, but there is a whole succession of natural monuments and more, capable of attracting everyone's attention and giving an unforgettable experience.