Seven village greens, an annual market tradition and a museum showcasing historic crafts give Zuidlaren a diverse character. There is also a walking route and a cycling route, each with a different distance and course. You can therefore plan your stay around local history, an event or outdoor activities.

Village Greens, Local Character and Market

Zuidlaren developed into a distinctive village with seven greens and lies at the highest point of the Hondsrug. The greens shape the village’s character; the Hondsrug describes its position in the landscape. The Zuidlaardermarkt is also part of this village setting: it takes place every year on the third Tuesday in October on the Brink and the surrounding smaller greens. If you would like to visit the market, you can take this fixed date into account when planning.

Explore on Foot or by Bike

“Rondje Zuidlaren” is a 10.7 km walking route. The 37 km cycling route “Route Zuidlaren” passes Noordlaren, Midlaren and Zuidlaren before continuing into the Drentsche Aa stream valley. The two routes differ both in how you travel and in their course: one is designed as a walk, while the other takes you by bike past several settlements and on into the stream valley. This gives you a choice between a specific walking route and a cycling route with named places and a landscape destination.

Crafts and Steam Engines at the Mill Museum

The De Wachter Mill Museum showcases traditional crafts and trades, including baking, clog-making, blacksmithing, wheelwrighting and millwrighting. The collection also includes 14 steam engines, among them a steam locomotive, a steam tractor and a paddle steamer. The crafts and machines offer different insights into the subjects represented at the museum, with examples ranging from specialist workshops to various types of steam engines.

Fairy-Tale Forest and Play Castle

At Speelpark Sprookjeshof, visitors can stroll through the fairy-tale forest. The large play castle has a large family slide, trampolines and a climbing area. In the Sprookjesbos, characters such as Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretel, the Smurfs, Nijntje and the Forest King are brought to life. The fairy-tale displays and play facilities are therefore two clearly distinct parts of what is on offer.

Church, Laarwoud and Berend Botje

The history of the buildings can also be traced through specific dates. The oldest part of the Dorpskerk Zuidlaren, the nave, was built in the 13th century; the tower was constructed around 1300. Havezate Laarwoud dates from 1642. This places details about the medieval church alongside a precise date from the 17th century.

The original Berend Botje statue and its replica are in different locations. The original has been in the De Wachter Museum since 2009. The replica stands on a column in a fountain basin on Stationsstraat, in the centre of Zuidlaren. If you are interested in seeing both, their locations are clearly identified.

Discover more destinations: Paterswolde, Eelderwolde, Vries, Eelde, Midlaren, Zeegse, Tynaarlo.

Back to the main travel overview: Tynaarlo.