Krimpen aan de Lek: Nature, Trails and History
Accommodation in Krimpen aan de Lek
Nature
The Natuurroute Krimpenerhout passes ponds and meadows with grazing cows, through woodland and along orchid fields. Krimpenerhout is a recreational area on the outskirts of Krimpen aan de Lek with a surfing lake, a beach with a lawn for sunbathing and a separate dog beach. Visitors to Speeleiland Krimpenerhout can cross to the other side by raft. At Speeleiland Krimpenerhout, there is an exciting climbing route over ropes, allowing visitors to travel from island to island. In Koeienbos, visitors can walk among black-and-white cows.
File:RM512460 Krimpen aan de Lek - Molenweg.jpg
Photo: Michiel1972 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
De Zaag covers 37 hectares and is named after a former sawmill that once stood on the island. The 14-metre-high Beverbrug on De Zaag offers views over the area as well as over Rotterdam, the port and the river.
Walking
The Krimpen a/d Lek–Lekkerkerk circular route starts in the centre of Krimpen aan de Lek and passes through Krimpenerhout. The same circular route passes the small Bakkerswaal nature area with its duck decoy. The long-distance Grote Rivierenpad trail passes through Krimpen aan de Lek and Schoonhoven. From Leerdam, it runs through the Betuwe towards Tiel.
Culture
The water tower is 47.2 metres high and was built in 1910. It has cultural and architectural-historical significance as evidence of a stage in the development of drinking-water supply in the Netherlands, and particularly in the Krimpenerwaard. The monument to Cornelis van den Berg is a plaque made of dark natural stone with an inscription. The grave monument in the form of a four-poster bed is one of only seven surviving examples in the Netherlands.
The cemetery’s assembly hall contains the gravestones of the whaler Michiel Occerszoon Hoogerzeyl († 1779) and the shipowner and hoogheemraad Gerret van Holst Krynszoon († 1790), which were transferred here after the church on Dorpsstraat was demolished in 1939. The General Cemetery on Molenweg, dating from 1882, contains four monumental burial vaults in the Neoclassical style. A monument in the General Cemetery commemorates the six young victims Hessel van Deursen, Jan van der Graaf, Hendrik Hekking, Johannes van der Horst, Ernst Steenbergen and Nanne Adrianus Sterrenburg.
History
In 1358, the historic Crimpensche ferry right formed part of an important north–south route linking Brussels with Amsterdam via Breda, Dordrecht, Krimpen aan de Lek and Gouda.
Getting around
The Lek en IJssel-route uses the car ferry at Krimpen aan de Lek to cross to Kinderdijk. Arriva bus 194 runs to De Zaag; bicycles may possibly be taken on board. TIP Krimpen a/d Lek provides tips for Krimpen aan de Lek and the surrounding area, as well as the Krimpenerwaard, via a digital information board.
Another destination page leads to Lekkerkerk.
For the main travel overview: Nederlek.
