Trekvogelpad Achterhoek - Twente

The Trekvogelpad (LAW 2) runs from Bergen aan Zee to Enschede, 414 kilometres across the Netherlands. This route is the last stretch: from Ruurlo to Enschede, 61.1 kilometres in three stages, through the Achterhoek and Twente.

The first day passes Ruurlo castle, with Museum MORE in the castle itself, and heads into the hedgerow landscape of the Achterhoek: wooded banks, meadows and farms, with the Berkel appearing now and then. The second follows the old river course to the Gelderland and Twente border and ends at the Buurserzand heath, with juniper scrub, pools and open sand. The third crosses that heath and descends via Lonneker to Enschede.

The landscape is gentle: meadows, hedgerows, stream valleys and heath, with little elevation. The paths are mostly paved or grass, and muddy on the unpaved sections after rain.

Practical. Ruurlo has a station on the Zutphen-Winterswijk line, Enschede is served by intercity trains; both ends are less than fifteen minutes' walk from the route. The stages end in Eibergen and Buurse, where there is a hotel and a bed and breakfast. Spring and late summer are the best months; the heather flowers in August.