This Van Gogh cycle route starts in the centre of Etten-Leur, close to the five Van Gogh Monuments: the Van Gogh Church, the site of the former Dutch Reformed parsonage, the former verger’s house, the Old Town Hall and the Lambertus Church.
This cycle route takes you along sandy and clay paths, through woods and polders, past old farmhouses and hard-working farmers. So you’ll be seeing what Vincent saw. Just outside Etten-Leur, you will pass by hundreds of pollard willows. Vincent van Gogh often drew or painted these characteristic trees. About half way along this route (at cycle route intersection 41), you can make a slight detour to cycle past Vincent’s former boarding school in Zevenbergen.
How does the Van Gogh cycle route work?
The Van Gogh cyc…
This Van Gogh cycle route starts in the centre of Etten-Leur, close to the five Van Gogh Monuments: the Van Gogh Church, the site of the former Dutch Reformed parsonage, the former verger’s house, the Old Town Hall and the Lambertus Church.
This cycle route takes you along sandy and clay paths, through woods and polders, past old farmhouses and hard-working farmers. So you’ll be seeing what Vincent saw. Just outside Etten-Leur, you will pass by hundreds of pollard willows. Vincent van Gogh often drew or painted these characteristic trees. About half way along this route (at cycle route intersection 41), you can make a slight detour to cycle past Vincent’s former boarding school in Zevenbergen.
How does the Van Gogh cycle route work?
The Van Gogh cycle route forms part of the cycle route network in Brabant. There is a Van Gogh cycle route sign at every intersection. Follow the Van Gogh cycle route signs from one numbered intersection to the other. Follow the cycle route network signs between the intersections. Ten short routes in the form of loops have been marked out. The routes are joined together by linking sections.
There is a permanent exhibition in the Van Gogh Church. You can experience Vincent’s life in Etten through a number of themes. There is a Van Gogh audio column next to the statue of Vincent van Gogh in the courtyard garden behind the Van Gogh Church.
The bronze statue of Vincent van Gogh in the inner courtyard of the council offices is a work by Hein Vree. The statue stands more or less on the spot where the reformed rectory was situated until the beginning of the twentieth century and where Vincent lived for a while. There is an audio column next to the statue through which Vincent takes you on his walk around Etten as it was in his time.
In In the summer of 1881 Vincent’s cousin Kee Vos was staying at the rectory. Vincent fell madly in love with her, but when he declared his love she answered resolutely; No, nay, never! There is an audio column next to the Moeierboom tree (from an old Dutch word for ‘mother’) on the Markt, where Vincent describes his feelings for Kee Vos. The Moeierboom tree was planted in 1675 and is one of the most unusual trees in the Netherlands.
Van Gogh Monument. Het Oude Raadhuis (The Old Town Hall) was formally the council offices. Van Gogh registered himself here as an artist for the first time in 1881. The building dates from 1776.
Van Gogh Monument. The Sint-Lambertuskerk (St Lambert’s Church) is a neogothic basilica in the shape of a cross and dates from 1877. The church features in several of Vincent van Gogh’s drawings.
The Jan Uten Houte regional historical museum is housed in the Paulushofje, a listed monument. The museum contains an authentic farmhouse room.
The Liesbos woods are the largest European oak woods in the Netherlands. Vincent often made drawings in the Liesbos near Breda. He probably produced his Bosrand (Forest Edge) drawing here. There is an audio column at the entrance to the Liesbos Campsite which tells the story of Vincent in the Liesbos and Princenhage.
Visitor tip: Vincent’s former boarding school, with audio column
Visitor tip: you can make a diversion from your cycle route at junction 41 to visit a Van Gogh Monument: Vincent van Gogh’s former boarding school in Zevenbergen. There is an audio column next to the building, now a private house, which tells Vincent’s story in Zevenbergen. To get there, leave the Van Gogh Cycle Route at junction 41 and cycle for 2.3 kilometres to junction 7 in Zevenbergen. The former boarding school is located at Stationsstraat 16 in Zevenbergen.
Vincent van Gogh liked painting scenes that took place by the water. He produced countless paintings of fishing boats, harbours and bridges. You can get something to eat and drink at ’t Lamgat Watersports Centre.
You will notice about 250 pollard willows in the Achter de Vaart avenue. There were about a thousand of them in Vincent’s day, and he liked to draw and paint them. For him, the pollard willow symbolised the way in which people are also marked by life.
When you have finished this Van Gogh Cycle Route, be sure to take time to explore the town itself! For example, you can do some shopping in the Winkelhart Etten-Leur shopping centre. Enjoy a well-deserved lunch or dinner in one of Etten-Leur’s lively cafes or restaurants.
