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Etappe 4: Zuidlaren - Rolde
Etappe 4: Zuidlaren - Rolde
Distance: ~18 km
Date: Autumn, Day 3 of our Pieterpad journey
We started the day with a drive to Rolde; parked at P+R Rolde, and took the bus to Assen (just a short ride) before changing to another one heading to Zuidlaren. The idea was simple: get the logistics done first (about an hour total travel time) so that at the end of the day, we could just walk straight to the car and drive to the hotel.
Zuidlaren is cute little town. We grabbed some croissants and coffee to go for a lunch in the move, and set off to find the first red-white trail markers of the day. With autumn creeping in, I’m starting to worry a little about daylight. Thus, making sure we reach each stage before it gets dark is important.
The walk started immediately in a stretch of beautiful forest, through Terrein Dennenoord, a historic psychiatric institution that’s still partly in use today. The grounds are open to the public and filled with old trees, art installations, and that calm, slightly mysterious atmosphere typical of Drenthe forests. With the sun shining and the trail ahead, we were in good spirits from the start.
And what a start it was: already one of our favorite views of the Pieterpad so far. We entered (back to) Nationaal Park Drentsche Aa in no time. This park is a real gem: rolling heathlands, quiet forests, and the winding Aa stream shaping the landscape for centuries.
For dog owners: this is the first section where we had to briefly leave the official Pieterpad. There’s a part of the heath (“heide”) where dogs aren’t allowed. Sad, but the detour was short, quiet, footpath alongside the official trail. Honestly, it didn’t take away from the experience at all.
That part of the walk ended beautifully in Gasteren, a tiny village with a big bonus: Pannenkoekenboerderij Brinkzicht. Highly recommended. We stopped there for a well-deserved beer (their own brew!) and some borrelhapjes - followed by (mild) argument about whether it was time for pancakes at 4 PM. … Mai, however, wasn’t in the mood for a long stop, so we kept it short.
Pancakes were soon forgotten as right after Gasteren comes the Gasterse Duinen, a stretch of open heathland. “Heide” in Dutch means heather, and these landscapes are pure magic when the light starts to fade. The path was completely empty. The sun going down, the silence, the veiwes - what more do you want? Until Rolde, we saw no people, no houses, nothing. Maybe one passing cyclist. It felt like we finally found the solitude we were looking for.
From Rolde, we walked back to our car and drove to Van der Valk Hotel Assen. “Why stay in a chain hotel instead of a cute little B&B on the route?” you ask. Well.. two reasons: we’re keeping an eye on the weather and booking very last-minute, and there simply weren’t many places left that allowed dogs.
But in this case it might have been a blessing in disguise. Because the Van der Valk provided what we were in a mood for: room service burgers and beers, followed by a sauna session (spoiled for choise when it comes to type of suana you'd like) to take care of tired legs.
The next morning, we were greeted with a surprisingly excellent early breakfast, but more on that in the next etappe, because this time, we decided to tackle two walking days in a row.
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