Zoersel Travel Guide

1 more image

At the entrance of the Zoerselbos you will see the visitor's centre Bosmuseum. It has a permanent exhibition of all the aspects of the Zoerselbos. Behind the visitor centre there's a beautiful and well kept flower garden with more than 200 species of old-fashioned flowers and shrubs.
Visits to the museum and the garden are free of charge.

1 more image

Very small and very old building on the edge of the Zoerselbos. It's a very popular place 'cause there ain't nothing else in the area.
't Boshuisje is a coffeehouse in the afternoon, restaurant in the evening.
They have a nice garden for sunny afternoons ... if you're lucky to find a place!

Opening hours are Friday night, Saturday and Sunday from 11 am till around midnight.

Flexible opening hours on other days for groups of min. 15 persons.

On highway E34 (Antwerpen - Eindhoven) take exit 20. At the exit, you will already see a sign "Boshuisje". Follow this sign until you reach the edge of the Zoerselbos. You can park your car at the entrance of the forest. 't Boshuisje is just a few steps into the forest.

Hendrik Conscience, one of Flander's famous novel writers of the 19th century, has used the Zoerselbos as inspiration source and setting in a couple of his books.
The novel "De Loteling" (1850) was written after his visit to the inn "Boshuisje" during a stormy day, where he heard some interesting stories at the fireplace.

I was a bit disappointed in the "Boshuis" walking path. We thought, the path would lead us whole the way through the heart of the forest but actually it led us more or less around the forest, meaning that we had to walk quite some streets with houses and traffic, and this was not what I had in mind. The walking path was also a combined walk/biking path. The many bikers cycling by bothered me a lot. Walking with dogs or small kids is not such a good idea. What I missed too were benches for resting, they were few.

Fun Alternatives: There are other walking paths, make inquiries at the tourist office of Zoersel to find out what walking path is the best for you.

Favorite thing: During your walk, you will notice some small stone constructions, which are sluices.
In former days, these sluices were used for putting the complete area under water in the winter as a natural fertilization for the fields. This methode is no longer used but you can still see a lot of these sluices.