The Pieterpad is a long distance walking route in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The trail runs from

Pieterburen Pieterburen is a village in the northeastern Netherlands, located in the municipality of Het Hogeland, Groningen. History Around 1300, a dike was built north of the present village. During the 14th century, a settlement appeared on a mudflat ...

, in the northern part of

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

, south through the eastern part of the Netherlands to end just south of

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

, on the top of Mount Saint Peter (''St Pietersberg''), at a height of . The Pieterpad is one of the official Long Distance Paths in the Netherlands (Lange Afstand Wandelpad Nummer 9) and by far the most popular of its long distance walking routes. It is possible to walk the route in either direction, and throughout the year. It is well signposted, and is well served by public transport and accommodation throughout its length. The official guide book is in two volumes, Pieterburen-Vorden and Vorden-Maastricht. A dedicated website (in Dutch) also gives updated accommodation details.Pieterpad website: http://www.pieterpad.nl/ Although the walking is always easy and never remote, it is a varied and often beautiful walk, passing through woods, polders, heathland, and numerous small Dutch villages.

History

The trail was the idea of Toos Goorhuis-Tjalsma (1915-2004) living in

Tilburg Tilburg () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern province of North Brabant. With a population of 222,601 (1 July 2021), it is the second-largest city or municipality in North Brabant after Eindhoven and the seventh-larg ...

, in the south of the Netherlands and her friend Bertje Jens (1913-2009) living in Groningen in the north of the Netherlands. They came up with the idea to design a rambling route between their hometowns, later re-organised between the far north to the far south. The route has been officially open since 1983.

Stages

The route of the Pieterpad is described in the following stages: The Pieterpad connects to the international trails E9 at its northern end in Pieterburen and the

GR5 The GR 5 is a GR footpathThe acronym GR stands for "Grande Randonnée" (in French), meaning "Great Hike". that starts in the Netherlands, crosses Belgium and Luxembourg before crossing France from north to south. It is part of the European wal ...

at its southern end and crosses the E11 in Oldenzaal and the E8 in Nijmegen. It follows the European walking

, which is also part of trail E2. The GR5, which runs through the

Ardennes The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

and the

French Alps The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such as ...

, is one of the most popular international trails for hikers.

Gallery

Image:Pieterpad-Rolde-hunebedden.jpg, Hunebedden near Rolde Image:Pieterpad-Hellendoorn-Laren.jpg, Hellendoorn to Laren Image:Pieterpad near Laren.JPG, Near Laren Image:Pieterpad near Doetinchem.JPG, Near Doetinchem Image:Pieterpad-Groesbeek-Gennep.jpg, Groesbeek to Gennep Image:Pieterpad-Maas ferry-Grubbenvorst.jpg, Maas at Grubbenvorst

References

{{Coord missing, Netherlands Hiking trails in the Netherlands Geography of Drenthe Geography of Gelderland Geography of Groningen (province) Geography of Limburg (Netherlands) Geography of Overijssel South Limburg (Netherlands)