Cycling route along dredge finds - Berlare

The Scheldt has always been a busy river. Throughout history, the ships became larger and larger, and from the end of the 19th century straightening of bends and dredging of the waterway were commonplace. Since dredging was still fairly traditional in those early days, many archaeological river finds were made. The Scheldt preserved a rich treasure of material and the workers on the dredging boats brought it to the surface. This in turn attracted the attention of collectors from the wealthy bourgeoisie, who put together entire collections.

In this bicycle tour we want to highlight some known and less known river finds. The tour is easy to follow via the cycling nodes. We start at junction 76 at the ferry near Berlare. We then follow the Scheldt towards the Kalkense Meersen nature reserve. On the way back, we cross the ferry at Schellebelle, then return to the starting point via Wichelen and Schoonaarde. Between node 47 and 53 we deviate briefly from the route, to cycle through the Bergenmeersen and past the town hall of Wichelen.

Nodes: 76 - 74 - 68 - 65 - 45 - 46 - 42 - 41 - 42 - 43 - 47 - deviate from the route before node 53 - 11 - 15 - 14 - 2 - 67 - 77 - 76

For the really sporty cyclists, the tour can be extended at the ferry in Appels towards Baasrode. You then make an extra loop of another 30 km, bringing the total to 60 km.

This cycle route was created through a collaboration between the Municipal Museums of Dendermonde and the IOED Schelde-Durme.

📏 30 km
🕑 4 hours
📍 Waterhoek 25, Berlare
🏁 Waterhoek 25, Berlare