The best cycling routes around Dongen

Delicious homemade waffles and lovely host and hostess

St. Lawrence Church is only open on Wednesdays between 1:30 PM and 4:00 PM. St. Lawrence Church is a former Catholic parish church in Dongen. Located at Gasthuisstraat 1 and characterized by a striking dome, it is considered one of the most important works of architect Joseph Cuypers. The St. Lawrence parish is quite old. Its history coincides with that of the Old Church, which came under the control of the Reformed Church in 1648. After a few decades, the Catholics were able to use a barn church, which was replaced in 1828 by a water board church on Hoge Ham. However, this church burned down in 1917. The current St. Lawrence Church was built on virtually the same site and consecrated in 1920. A stone model of the old water board church was made and is located in the garden of the secretariat. Meanwhile, Dongen had expanded. A second parish had already been established in 1868: the St. Hubertus Parish in Dongense Vaart, followed in 1907 by the St. Joseph Parish, from which the St. Mary Parish was formed in 1957, which existed until 1986. The St. Paul Parish was also split from the St. Lawrence Parish in 1967. The secularization led to the merger of the four remaining parishes in 1996. St. Joseph's Church and St. Paul's Church were withdrawn from worship and sold. Thus, two churches remained. In 2005, they began working closely with the Holy Spirit Parish in Rijen. The St. Lawrence Church thus once again serves as the parish church of Dongen, and several parts of the interior of the former St. Joseph's Church and St. Hubertus' Church are also housed there. The church was withdrawn from worship on January 7, 2024

From early November 1944, the villages on Langstraat lay directly behind the front line formed by the Bergsche Maas River. Due to persistent German bombardment, some residents of Kaatsheuvel made a drastic decision. Peat excavation in the 17th and 18th centuries created a large amount of drifting sand around the Loonse and Moerse agricultural areas, threatening agriculture in the area. The farmers planted oak walls to keep the drifting sand off their land, and successfully so. In these drifting dunes, a family from Tilburg built a cellar in 1943 for, among other things, the storage of (smuggled) products. This cellar, built of Tilburg stone, was given a different purpose at the end of 1944, as an air raid shelter for various families from Kaatsheuvel and elsewhere. The families originally lived on Marktstraat in Kaatsheuvel, but due to persistent German bombardment from across the Maas River, they decided to seek safer shelter. Sometimes as many as twenty people would shelter there at a time. The cellar is furnished with straw beds and a small stove. During the day, the children go to school, their parents to work, and everyone returns in the evening. From the stories of a woman who used this space for extended periods as a young girl, we know it must have been a perilous undertaking at times. The bitterly cold winter of 1944-1945 didn't help matters, and it was truly grueling at times. The shelter is exceptionally sturdy; it's made entirely of stone, with vaults and iron beams. The entrance is designed so that you can't shoot directly inside: it has a bend and a steel door. Furthermore, it's built into a dune and therefore difficult to spot. Historical and archaeological research shows that there are several such shelters in the Netherlands. What's unique about this one is that it's still in its original state.

I think BEUM😉

A bit of a desert area, loose sand, but easy to walk on

Idyllic spot, just check in advance if it's open.

Lovely Gravel Stretch, suitable for gravel and normal bikes

Lovely place to relax after walking/cycling