Heers Castle Walk

Explore the grounds of Haspengouw’s beautiful, abandoned castle on this short but pretty walk.

On the outskirts, Heers, a small Limburg town, is this 13th-century castle: Heers Castle or Kasteel van Heers in Dutch. The site carries over 1000 years of history but lay abandoned for many years, now there’s an ongoing effort to restore the castle to its former glory. Nevertheless, the impressive building still makes for quite the sight!

On this walk, beginning in Heers’s municipal square, you’ll get beautiful views of the castle and its wild surroundings. Pass by St Martin’s Church to see a cool walled cemetery and follow a path from there to the castle. Once you’ve explored the grounds you loop back around and end up back in the town centre.

This is a short walk, but a fun one that pairs history with some stunning views.

• It’s a 2.5km route and should take around 40 minutes, so it’s great for a brisk morning or afternoon walk.
• The added bonus of discovering a hidden castle should interest even the least enthusiastic walkers.
• Follow in the footsteps of lords. The path linking St Martin’s Church and the castle was built especially for the lords of the castle, so they could have private access to the church.
• Follow the blue arrows and see here for a detailed map of the walk.
• Fun fact: in 2018 a lost fleet of 1960s Alfa Romeo’s were found in the derelict castle.

Looking to stretch those legs a bit further? The Haspengouw region in Limburg is a beautiful place to find trails. With its rolling fields, fruit trees and stream valleys this area of south Limburg is sometimes called the ‘Tuscany of the north’.