Hiking in Limburg Shows Off with New Website

Now that spring has officially arrived, we are all putting on our hiking shoes again. And where better to do that than in the green Limburg? Both locals and tourists now know that Limburg is the ultimate hiking paradise. Don’t know where to go? Then the brand-new website of Wandelen in Limburg is the place to start your hiking adventure. 

Enchanting and Diverse

Purple seas of heathland, rolling hills full of fruit trees, endless woodlands, picturesque villages, mysterious marshes or hidden stream valleys: the landscapes in Limburg are as enchanting as they are diverse. No wonder the website www.wandeleninlimburg.be attracts many visitors daily. Last year, the site was viewed more than 2 million times. Of the 423,860 active users, 82% are from Belgium. 

The new website features an extensive, handy search function that allows you to select hiking loops based on criteria such as name, municipality, region, distance, theme, and landscape type. These loops are marked on-site with the familiar colored symbols. In addition, you can now also consult the networks of hiking nodes online and create your own hike. Or how about an inspiring themed hike where you are fully immersed in the local history or local color? Of course, there is the option to download the GPX files of the routes or follow the trails on your smartphone. 

Besides the website, the hiking box also received a new, fresh design. The formula remains the same: the box contains 8 regional maps (Hoge Kempen, KempenBroek, Maasvallei, Haspengouw, De Wijers, Nationaal Park Bosland, Vallei van de Zwarte Beek and Sint-Pietersberg) and 3 hiking brochures (Voerstreek, the Groote Heide, and the Merode), together providing over 2,000 kilometers of hiking enjoyment. The box is available among others through the webshop.

Boost for sustainable tourism

Hiking in Limburg is an initiative of the three Limburg Regional Landscapes and Visit Limburg vzw. Together they elevate the quality of the hiking offer in Limburg to a higher level.

The new website was created with financial support from Tourism Flanders, which champions sustainable tourism with the theme ‘Flanders Naturally.’ Minister of Tourism Melissa Depraetere: “Hiking in Limburg is a great success. By giving the website a fresh look with even more features, we want to encourage even more hikers to enjoy the Limburg nature at their own pace. There are hikes for young and old, for experienced hikers, and for families who just want to enjoy a day in beautiful Limburg. A real recommendation. With the website soon to be available in four languages, we also reach a broader audience. And that is once again a boost for Limburg Tourism.”

“The hiking offer in Limburg is as outstanding as our landscapes,” says Laura Olaerts, Deputy for Nature and Tourism. “The offer includes both fully developed routes and the possibility to create your own ideal hike. Together they amount to hundreds of kilometers of hiking pleasure. Most of the routes run along dirt tracks, but there is also an offer for people with strollers and wheelchair users.”

Of course, it is important that all these hiking trails and the accompanying infrastructure are well maintained. “The province and the Limburg municipalities jointly fund the Landscape teams,” Olaerts explains. “These are teams of workers from sheltered workshops who work daily on the maintenance of the routes. Volunteers help to report problems. Both are indispensable links in the maintenance of our landscapes and hiking routes. And with good results: according to the hiking survey Visit Limburg conducted in 2023, hikers are especially satisfied with the attractiveness of our landscapes and the accessibility of the hiking trails.”