The best hiking routes in East Flanders

East Flanders offers two distinct walking landscapes divided by its river system. In the flat north and east, the Nationaal Park Scheldevallei dominates the terrain with tidal rivers, wet alluvial forests, and old polder clay underfoot. Walking here means following grassy dikes and towpaths where the water level rises and falls daily with the North Sea tides, exposing mudflats that attract thousands of waterfowl in November. It is a landscape of wide river bends, willow trees, and damp meadows, entirely flat and shaped by centuries of flood protection.

By contrast, the south of the province rises into the Flemish Ardennes, a region of steep, cobblestone climbs and dense beech woods. Instead of the wide river dikes of the Scheldevallei, the paths here are often sunken dirt tracks cut into sandy-clay hillsides that can become slick after rain. The views open up over rolling farmland, small orchards, and church spires in the valleys rather than tidal marshes.

This is not a region of deep wilderness or high mountain peaks, as farms and small villages are always nearby. The well-known hilltops in the south and the paved riverfront promenades near towns can be busy on weekends, while the grassy dikes along the quieter bends of the Scheldevallei offer more solitude. Choosing where to walk comes down to a choice between the steady, flat pace of the tidal riverbanks or the short, sharp climbs of the southern hills.