This cycle route is all about Vincent van Gogh. Before leaving The Hague, Vincent studied a map of Drenthe. You will find the landscape he was looking for during this 50km cycling tour.
The route is signposted with green signs that say: Van Gogh…
This cycle route is all about Vincent van Gogh. Before leaving The Hague, Vincent studied a map of Drenthe. You will find the landscape he was looking for during this 50km cycling tour.
The route is signposted with green signs that say: Van Gogh fietsroute. You can follow these signs. There are three Van Gogh cycle tours in Drenthe: Vincents Aankomst (Vincent’s Arrival), Vincents Dagtocht (Vincent's Day Tour) and Vincents Inspiratie (Vincent's Inspiration). All three routes are around 50 km. Make sure to keep following the right signs (Van Gogh fietsroute: Vincents Inspiratie), the three Van Gogh cycle tours intersect several times. On this route, you’ll cycle towards Schoonebeek.
The route is dotted with information panels for extra colour. Vista panels have also been put up at several spots for passers-by to discover what the area would have looked like more than a century ago. At these spots, you can also enjoy audio stories about Vincent's time in Drenthe.
For even more information, you can buy the 160-page cycling guide Op de fiets met Van Gogh: Van Gogh Drenthe fietsroutes (Cycling with Van Gogh, Van Gogh Cycle Routes in Drenthe), from Tourist Information The cycling guide includes all three Van Gogh cycle routes with extensive additional information.
Parking and public transport
This route starts and ends at the Van Gogh House (Van Goghstraat 1, 7844 NP Veenoord). You can park at P+R Spoorbaan (Veilingstraat 15, 7844 NX, Veenoord), next to Nieuw-Amsterdam station. Nieuw-Amsterdam train station is a 4-minute walk away. Parking is also available along the harbour on Industrieweg in Nieuw-Amsterdam.
This is the third of three cycle routes that pass through the area where Vincent van Gogh once lived. Want to combine all three routes into a single long route? Download the route via this link
This house is permanently accessible to the public and is a place where Vincent used to live and work, when it was still called Logement Scholte.
At 41 Schooldijk, there is another workers' cottage from the 1885 period.
This hamlet, located on the Westersebos road forms a very old settlement based on four sand ridges, along with the former hamlets of Kerkeinde, Middendorp and Oosterse Bos.
The old cemetery has now been repurposed as a herb, flower and fruit garden managed by villagers.
The Oosterse Bos, or eastern forest, has a long history of habitation.
The Wilmsboo is a former ox stable or cattle hut first mentioned in 1654. It is the last remaining ‘boo’ in the Netherlands that is still in its original spot.
The church tower was built in 1855 in an austere Neo-Romanesque style. The tower is a remnant of a Roman Catholic hall church that was demolished at the end of the 1960s.
The Weiteveen Peatland Trekking Centre is a private initiative of villagers to offer guided peat tours in the Bargerveen Nature reserve.
The new, innovative Bargerveen sheepfold in Weiteveen was inaugurated in September 2018, becoming the largest free roaming sheepfold in the Netherlands
This landscape most closely resembles what Vincent van Gogh came looking for in Drenthe.
Three peat dust factories, a power station and workshops were built on the site.
These workers' cottages were built in the same style. The further west you ride, the more luxurious the houses become.
Villa Carex took its name from the Latin worth for heathland and was built in 1912.
In Van Gogh’s time, the Dommerkanaal was flanked by marvelous homes, built for the Amsterdam gentlemen who founded the Drentsche Landontginning Maatschappij (Drenthe Extraction Society) in 1850.
In 1852, the society built a building used as a lodge.
Vincent van Gogh is world-famous. Did you know that in 1883, Van Gogh spent three months living in Drenthe? This was a short yet significant period in his life. Here, he developed his passion for painting. Artist...
This third part of the Drenthe Van Gogh Cycle Route will take you to the primal landscape Vincent van Gogh was looking for. Around 1883, the peat industry was in full swing in this area. Southeast Drenthe probably contained the thickest layer of peat of any peatland area in the north, spanning an area of 30,000 hectares. The speed and intensity of peat extraction in this area were much higher than in the older peatlands.
Before leaving The Hague, Vincent studied a map of Drenthe. You will find the landscape he was looking for during this cycle tour.