A motorhome trip from Tilburg to Breda for foodies and connoisseurs

If you want to start your road trip right, visit one of the nine Trappist breweries in the world that produce authentic Trappist beer in Berkel-Enschot, which you will find just before you enter Tilburg. The monks of the monastic community have lived, worked and brewed for centuries on the principle of doing good for humans and nature. This also means that a large portion of the brewery’s profit goes to charities.

Visiting the Trappists

A guided tour through the brewery will allow you to learn all about the authentic brewing process and the ecological innovation. The water for the beer is taken from their own well only to be returned to nature through organic water purification. Raw materials are purchased from local farmers and the residual products are used for the production of fodder. This completes the circle. Naturally, the guided tour ends with a tasting!

In North Brabant, you can choose to camp in the middle of the countryside or in the middle of the city. Stay overnight at Stadscamping Tilburg in the Spoorpark, away from the busyness of the city and yet within walking distance of everything the city has to offer. And there is a lot to offer! Tilburg is not called unique for nothing. The raw edges of the centre and the experimental spirit of the Tilburg citizens invite you to really get to know the city.

The Spoorzone is easily reached from the campsite on foot. Creative businesses and artists have blown new life into the old workplace of the Dutch Railways. Old warehouses and grey walls are transformed into a district filled with hidden gems, so do be curious and enjoy yourself.

The drive from the city to your home base for the coming days takes only half an hour: the charming campsite De Kleine Abtshoeve, is located in the middle of the countryside between Breda and Oosterhout. Here you can trade your motorhome in for a bicycle and explore the extraordinary area. De Heilige Driehoek is a unique, cultural-historical area in Oosterhout with three monastic complexes, surrounded by vast fields and monumental farms. This is a part of North Brabant that still belongs to devoted nuns and to enthusiastic Brabanters who produce local products according to authentic recipes. As a visitor, it is a place for retreating and truly enjoying the richness of its history, countryside and flavours.

The traditional abbey cheeses of Zuivelboerderij de Driehoek can be tasted on the grounds of the St. Paul’s Abbey. Passionate about cheese, Anke and Maarten produce cheese in the nearby cheese dairy and ripen it in the abbey’s cellars. It is a short bicycle ride from there to the Sint Catharinadal Priory. In and of itself, this nunnery, the oldest inhabited nunnery in the Netherlands, is a place worth seeing – and that is without seeing the vineyard! Just beyond the nunnery’s walls stretch 7.5 hectares of vines that produce forty thousand bottles of wine of six varieties annually. Choose a bottle of Chardonnay matured on oak from the monastery’s shop or another fine wine to enjoy at the campsite.

It is a good idea to plan your visit to the Catharinadal on a Wednesday afternoon, when guided tours that include a wine tasting are held on the grounds. From Wednesday to Sunday, you can also taste the wine at Wijnhuis de Blauwe Camer or the Blauwe Camer wineshop. With the Sisters’ blessing, entrepreneurs Tessa and Maikel opened a restaurant in 2018 in the old cowshed of the monastery complex, overlooking the grapevines. With much love for the history and flavours of the estate, they serve surprise menus, with the greatest source of inspiration being the vegetable and herb gardens that belong to the Sisters, served, naturally, with the wines from their own grounds.

Lunch time? One of the city’s best restaurants is just around the corner from the Stedelijk Museum (municipal museum). At the Jongens van Zand & Klei, the Brabant potato is in the spotlight. Nothing complicated, yet surprisingly delicious. You can taste that for yourself once the potato tapas or Potato bun is sitting in front of you!

Find a convenient spot to park your bicycle and continue to explore the city on foot. Breda’s city centre is known for its many small businesses. If you are curious as to where the best addresses are, follow the Explore Creative Breda route and find out for yourself! Explore one of the most charming districts of the city, the Havenkwartier or harbour area, which is an industrial district now bursting at the seams with creative businesses. Stop along the way for a delicious cup of coffee at Brandpunt or a nice beer at Frontaal Brewing Company. This route almost continuously follows the canals. If the weather is nice, you could, of course, also choose to continue exploring from the water, using an SUP board, canoe or small boat.

Did you know that none other than Vincent van Gogh grew up in North Brabant? He left his mark throughout the entire region and, via a network of hiking and cycle routes, you can become acquainted with the world-famous painter and the Brabant that inspired him so. Etten-Leur is where Van Gogh officially began his career as an artist in 1881. He became intrigued by farm life in North Brabant and the landscape with its heath, fields and pollard willows. He would wander through the countryside for hours. The Van Gogh National Park’s hiking path (14 kilometres long) starts at the Menmoerhoeve, going through the picturesque landscape that so inspired him. Almost all of the route is unpaved, taking you through, among others, the Pannenhoef nature reserve.

You can see and taste this for yourself at the nearby De Santspuy Wine and Asparagus Farm. Here you will taste two of the golden products produced on Brabant soil. The asparagus is harvested in April, May and June, and you can even give the Sweep family a hand. During a tasting, you will enjoy the white and red Santspuy wine and the amazing story behind them. The farm shop offers even more delicacies from its soil. When it is time to go home, stop a kilometre further down the road at the Heidehoeve ice cream farm for a delicious homemade ice cream cone as a tasty way of ending the road trip.