The Aa Valley in Poppel

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10.8 km
26 m
02h09
Medium

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Route information

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Last verified: 3 July 2025
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Description by the author

Appointment at the Sint-Valentinuskerk in Poppel, borough of Ravels (V). The church dates from the beginning of the 16th century and is a fine example of Kempen Gothic. Departure, along the busy steenweg, direction Tilburg. After 300 meters you will arrive at the Heemkundemuseum 't Kaske, the former town hall of Poppel 1. Go to the right and cross the footpath into the grass square with kiosk behind the museum. Now cross the Mierdsedijk and walk straight ahead. Soon you will be walking in the open field on a single-lane concrete road. The large stables on the left belong to a pig farm. • At the T-junction, turn right and 200 meters further to the right again on a wide earth road, towards walking junction 29 of the Antwerpse Kempen hiking network. Soon you will come to the Aa, a tributary of the Kleine Nete that drains the area north of Turnhout. Continue straight on the concrete track and then turn left. Ignore the exit to walking junction 27 on the right. The single-lane concrete road turns to the left and then to the right and brings you to a pair of rest benches and a striking information panel in the shape of a wooden clog 2. It is an info panel of the Smugglers' Route, a local cycling loop. The smugglers had clogs with an inverted footprint (heel and sole had been swapped) and literally misled the customs officers. • Now turn left towards walking junction 26, also on a single-lane concrete road. After 200 meters you cross the Aa again and at the forest turn right towards junction 13. On the left in the mixed forest you can see mainly Scots pine but also birch, native and American oak and a lot of rhododendron. The concrete road becomes paved dirt road. Walk straight ahead and ignore all exits and side paths. The wide dirt road turns to the right after 500 meters. In the bend there is a picnic bench. After 50 meters, turn left on the concrete track and 100 meters further left again. • The large stables on the right are pigsties again and here you can smell that well. Cross the Beekseweg 350 meters further and walk straight on a wide country road. Turn right at the forest and then straight on until the dirt road rejoins the Beekseweg after 700 meters. Now step along the wide concrete track for 250 meters and turn left at the first exit on an asphalt track. On the right you see a typical 'better' Kempen farmhouse. The asphalt track becomes a hard dirt road, turns to the left and now runs parallel to the Belgian-Dutch border that lies here on the right along the edge of the forest. • Now walk straight for a mile to hike junction 97. For those who are thirsty, there is café De Grens 3 75 meters further on the large road, at the former border crossing between Turnhout and Tilburg. At walking junction 97, turn left on a wide dirt road towards walking junction 05. Right behind the trees you can hear the traffic on the busy Tilburgseweg (N12). Ignore all exits and stay on the dirt road, parallel to the N12. After about a kilometer you walk along the edge of the forest and behind the gardens of houses along the Tilburgseweg. A few hundred meters further on the left at a crossroads of wide forest roads is a chapel. Walk to the left before the chapel on a wide dirt road. • Again, ignore all exits and go straight ahead after half a kilometer on the asphalt track. Walk to the right at the T-junction. After 400 meters you will come to a road sign 'Ravels Poppel' and on the right a small white chapel. Ignore the exit on the right and continue walking straight along the Beekseweg. Ignore all exits again until the N12 or Tilburgseweg and turn left towards the village and church. Just in front of the former town hall is the artwork Friendship 4, symbol of the friendship between Dutch and Belgians that makes Poppel unique and is portrayed by (it cannot be more stereotypical) a Dutchman with a ball of cheese and a Belgian with a bag of fries.

Route origin

Route description

Region

Statistics

Difficulty level: Medium (53/100)

Length: 10.8 km

Duration: 02h09


Total ascent: 26 m

Maximal slope: 1.12 %

Net ascent: 0 m

Total descent: 26 m

Roads and subsoil

Paved roads: 4.84 km (45 %)

Cobblestones: 0 m (0 %)

Scenery

Car free roads: 5.7 km (53 %)

Noise pollution

Amount of traffic


Natural area

Urban area

Water rich area

Characteristics

    Themes

      Groups

        Start and end of the route

        Closest address to start: Dorp 3, 2382 Ravels, België / Belgique / Belgien
        Closest address to end: Dorp 37, 2382 Ravels, België / Belgique / Belgien

        Navigate to starting point

        Places of interest

        1. Catholic School

          0 · School
          Subsidized free primary school, formerly Catholic girls' school. In 1880, in response to the …
          Onroerend Erfgoed Vlaanderen
        2. Parish church of St. Valentinus with surrounding cemetery

          0 · Church
          Free-standing late Gothic cruciform basilica from the 16th and 17th centuries, extended in …
          Onroerend Erfgoed Vlaanderen
        3. Poppel

          0 · Sub-Municipality
          Poppel is a village in the municipality of Ravels, in the province of Antwerp, Belgium. As of …
          Wikipedia
        4. Mieke Pap

          0 · Pub

          CONVIVIALITY FROM TIME IMMEMORIAL

          Vespa Club Tessenderlo
        5. Mieke Pap

          0 · Pub
          tvl
        6. Village houses

          0 · House
          Brick single houses of two bays and one or two storeys anchored in the side walls under gable, …
          Onroerend Erfgoed Vlaanderen
        7. Stable house

          0 · House
          Anchored brick stable house on cemented plinth of five + four bays under (partly kinked) gable …
          Onroerend Erfgoed Vlaanderen
        8. Villa

          0 · House
          Interbellum villa with elements borrowed from new objectivity and cottage, two to three on four …
          Onroerend Erfgoed Vlaanderen
        9. Villa

          0 · House
          Interbellum villa with elements borrowed from new objectivity and art deco, two unequal bays and …
          Onroerend Erfgoed Vlaanderen
        10. Unitary construction of four farm workers' houses

          0 · House
          Former unit building of four farm workers' houses rising to around 1900, of which numbers 93-95 …
          Onroerend Erfgoed Vlaanderen
        11. Maarle

          0 · Holidayhouse
          tvl
        12. Farmhouse with separate components

          0 · Farm
          Farmhouse consisting of a stable house of three + five bays with perpendicular bakehouse and a …
          Onroerend Erfgoed Vlaanderen
        13. The smoke

          0 · Farm
          Believe it or not, until about 1850 the important trade route from Antwerp via Hilvarenbeek to …
          Manwan
        14. Covered picnic area

          0 · Shelter
          Just on the border in the Netherlands you will come across this covered shelter where a water mill …
          defenderbrothers
        15. Rover Chapel

          0 · Chapel
          The Rovert Chapel is a chapel near the Belgian town of Hulsel, northeast of Poppel and near the …
          Wikipedia
        16. Pilgrimage Chapel Rovert Chapel

          0 · POI
          Classicist processional chapel or pilgrimage chapel, built in 1736-1738 on the foundations of the …
          Onroerend Erfgoed Vlaanderen
        17. Bedevaartkapel Rovertkapel

          0 · POI
          defenderbrothers
        18. Farm with loose components

          0 · Farm
          Farm consisting of a stable house of three + four bays under gable roof (ridge perpendicular to …
          Onroerend Erfgoed Vlaanderen
        19. Molenheide

          0 · POI
          'Molenheide' is located on the territory of the municipality of Poppel (Ravels) in the Antwerp …
          Onroerend Erfgoed Vlaanderen
        20. Wooden bridge

          0 · Bridge
          Beautiful wooden bridge over the Rovertsche Leij.
          defenderbrothers
        21. Overbroek - Tree planting zone

          0 · Natural area

          This autumn (2022), Natuurpunt will plant a total of more than 65 ha of forest at 25 locations in …

          Jan Meeusen
        22. Hunting pavilion 't Kasteeltje

          0 · POI
          Former hunting pavilion, modo summer residence erected on the site of the "Overbroekse Hoef" (see …
          Onroerend Erfgoed Vlaanderen
        23. Hoeve Pannenhoef

          0 · Farm
          Former agricultural and forestry company, dating back to a farm founded at the end of the 18th …
          Onroerend Erfgoed Vlaanderen
        24. Farm Pannenhoef

          0 · Heritage
          Hoeve Pannenhoef is a farm near the town of Poppel, which belongs to the Antwerp municipality of …
          Wikipedia
        25. Stable house

          0 · House
          Former stable house of five + four bays, dated 1876 and 1877 respectively by means of date anchors …
          Onroerend Erfgoed Vlaanderen
        26. Detached village house

          0 · House
          Detached village house of three bays and two storeys under hipped roof with adjoining cross shed …
          Onroerend Erfgoed Vlaanderen
        27. Stable house

          0 · House
          Former stable house of five + three bays under renewed gable roof (ridge parallel to the street, …
          Onroerend Erfgoed Vlaanderen
        28. Subsidised free primary school

          0 · School
          Primary school, formerly municipal boys' school. The first village school in Poppel, probably …
          Onroerend Erfgoed Vlaanderen
        29. The new Castle

          0 · Eat & Drink

          Our Story

          Vespa Club Tessenderlo
        30. Village house

          0 · House
          Double house of three bays and originally one, later two storeys under a gable roof (ridge …
          Onroerend Erfgoed Vlaanderen

        Comments

        Activities

        Nearby

        Routes nearby

        Lodging nearby

        Services nearby

        Catholic School
        Parish church of St. Valentinus with surrounding cemetery
        Poppel
        Mieke Pap
        Mieke Pap
        Village houses
        Stable house
        Villa
        Villa
        Unitary construction of four farm workers' houses
        Maarle
        Farmhouse with separate components
        The smoke
        Covered picnic area
        Rover Chapel
        Pilgrimage Chapel Rovert Chapel
        Bedevaartkapel Rovertkapel
        Farm with loose components
        Molenheide
        Wooden bridge
        Overbroek - Tree planting zone
        Hunting pavilion 't Kasteeltje
        Hoeve Pannenhoef
        Farm Pannenhoef
        Stable house
        Detached village house
        Stable house
        Subsidised free primary school
        The new Castle
        Village house
        0 km1 km1 km2 km2 km3 km3 km4 km4 km5 km5 km6 km6 km7 km7 km8 km8 km9 km9 km10 km10 km11 km11 km20 m33 m
        PLUS
        200 m

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