16 tips for the Walk of Wisdom – by Inge (Deventer Wandelinge)
My name is Inge and I am a city guide in Deventer. I love to stroll through the city and share my enthusiasm about the city, but also to go out on my own and take longer walks through nature. For example, I walked the Walk of Walk of Wisdom in 7 days with a friend. We walked 3 x 2 days with overnight stay and a single day. Below are 16 tips for your walk.
Click here to read the extensive blog about our adventure on Deventer Wandele.
Tip 1: it is not easy to get from the end to the starting point by public transport. Hitchhiking is very easy and a fun way to meet people! We never had to wait longer than 15 minutes for a lift, so this is definitely recommended. In short; Bring cardboard and a marker and make your hiking adventure even more fun!
Tip 2: don’t take too much food with you on your walk. Especially during the first 5 stages, you will constantly pass places where you can refill your water and buy food.
Tip 3: swim in the Bison Bay. As a symbol of purifying your intentions, you can start this pilgrimage walk with a swim in Bison Bay. We were here at the beginning of March, the water temperature was around 5 degrees but the sun was shining and there was little wind. I am not a winter swimmer myself, but this was a really special experience to get acquainted with during this walk. Please note that part of the beach is a naturist beach.
Tip 4: sleep in this spacious 4-person hiker’s cabin at mini campsite de Hoge Hof in Groesbeek.Tip 5: take a short detour to the center of Kranenburg past the bakery: Bäckerei Derkse – Café am Markt
Tip 6: if you take bus SB58 to Kranenburg, search for ‘Kranenburg Burgemeisterambt’. The bus connection runs to the center of Kranenburg (otherwise you will end up in Wyler, municipality of Kranenburg). You can also use your Dutch public transport card on this German bus.
Tip 7: take shelter from the rain and have lunch at Boscafé de Zweef. The forest café is located at Malden glider airfield, this is the place where you can get a ring. But also the place where we arrived just in time to shelter from the rain. This was also a moment where we met other Walk of Wisdom walkers.
Tip 8: during the next rain shower it was lunchtime: at the Intratuin in Malden, Rijksweg 63.
Tip 9: sleep at the scouting campsite Sint Walrick in Overasselt. This large camping area is located along the route of the Walk of Wisdom, in the Hatertse and Overasseltse Vennen nature reserve. You will be welcomed in a beautiful log cabin where there is also a ScoutsShop. You can make a campfire at the camping spot.
Tip 10: Emmaus Monastery: we were lucky that freshly baked bread was sold in the monastery.
Tip 11: At the end of this hiking day it was time to take a dip again. This time wonderful temperatures in the Vormerse Plas near Wijchen.
Tip 12: deviate from the route: wooden bridge or cross water: Afferdense and Deestse Waarden. On map 29, step 6: ‘At the fork keep right and then … ‘ here you walk onto the Waalbandijk. After 100 meters you can turn left towards the Waal. When you arrive at the water over the dike, you can walk about 500 meters to the left, there is a wooden bridge that takes you to the Afferdense and Deestse Waarden. We didn’t walk that far, we took off our shoes and walked through the water. Tip: look at where the birds are in the water, you can see where it is shallow.
Tip 13: sleep: via ‘friends on the bike‘ Henk and Anja, unique location directly on the Waal. End the day with a swim between the cribs and a beer on the beach. Becoming a member of ‘Friends on the bike’ costs €8 per year. Sleeping costs €25 per person, including breakfast. The condition is that you arrive at your sleeping place on foot or by bike.
Tip 14: deviate route. On map 30, at point 3 you can choose to walk closer to the Waal along Klompenpad/struinroute. Follow the well-trodden paths along the Waal and over the beaches at the groynes. Along the way, there are several options to go back to the main route of the Walk of Wisdom, which can be useful at high tide or with dense herd of cows.
Tip 15: you can stop at Dijkmagazijn Beuningen for a small break. We refilled our water, ate an apple pie and visited the mini museum. And the most special thing of all: seeing an owl sitting in the tree.
Tip 16: after the Weurtsche straatje, the route turns right. Here we made a small detour to the left, so that we could view the area from above at the Weurt lookout tower.
Have fun hiking!
Inge
More about Inge and bonus tip (Deventer Wandelinge)
Inge is a city guide in Deventer and organizes an ‘alley walk’, ‘nature walk’ and ‘Street Art walk’. More about this on her website Deventer Wandelinge: link.
Would you also like to send in a report or photo as a result of your Walk of Wisdom? Mail us!
