Marskramerpad on foot

A tree-lined lane near Wilp on the Marskramerpad

Photo: MartinD, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Distance
about 372 km (231 miles)
Countries
Netherlands, Germany
Difficulty
Easy
Type of trip
Hiking trail

The Marskramerpad, or LAW 3, is a 372 km walk across the Netherlands from Bad Bentheim, just over the German border, to Scheveningen on the North Sea. Wandelnet, which looks after it, splits it into 20 day stages, so about three weeks if you walk it in one go. In the Netherlands it's marked with white and red stripes. On the short German stretch at the start, look for a white T on a black square, or the blue and yellow E11 sticker. It's the Dutch part of the E11, which carries on through Germany and Poland to the Baltic states. For a bed, look for Wandelnet's Wandelaars Welkom label on cafés and places to stay that want walkers. Campsites that carry it always keep a pitch free for people on foot.

A marskramer was a pedlar, and the path follows the trade route pedlars once walked between towns like Oldenzaal, Deventer and Amersfoort, selling knick-knacks and miracle ointments. Wikipedia splits it into three parts. The first crosses the gently rolling farmland of Twente and Salland to Deventer. The second crosses the Veluwe from east to west, through the woods round Hoenderloo and the heath and drift sand between Kootwijk and Stroe, to the Gelderse Vallei and Amersfoort. The last goes over the sandy Gooi and the Utrechtse Heuvelrug, through the peat country of the Groene Hart and over the dunes to the Kurhaus in Scheveningen.

Highlights along the way

  1. Bad Bentheim: The walk starts below Bentheim castle, which Wandelnet calls the largest hilltop castle in north-west Germany, built of the local Bentheim sandstone. The first stage, to Oldenzaal, is the longest at 25.5 km.
  2. The Sallandse Heuvelrug: From Rijssen you climb over the Ligtenbergerveld and the Zunasche Heide onto the Sallandse Heuvelrug, ridges pushed up by ice from Scandinavia. The roads up there are quiet. Holten station is 1.5 km off the route.
  3. Deventer and the IJssel: Deventer is an old Hanseatic town on the IJssel, with medieval lanes and its own spiced cake, Deventer koek. The next stage follows the IJssel quay and dyke south, past pools left by old dyke breaches.
  4. The Veluwe and Kootwijk: After Beekbergen you're in the woods of the Veluwe. Hoog Buurlo is just two sheep pens and two houses. Kootwijk is where Radio Kootwijk made contact with the Dutch East Indies, and where the words "Hallo Bandoeng" went out.
  5. The Groene Hart, Leiden and Scheveningen: Past Breukelen it's windmills, ditches and meadow birds, then the Braassemermeer and a towpath along the Oude Rijn into Leiden. The last stage goes through The Hague and the Scheveningse Bosjes to the sea at Scheveningen.

Distance

About 372 km (231 miles) in all, in 20 stages. Wandelnet's stages run from 11.6 km (Rijssen to Holten) to 25.5 km (Bad Bentheim to Oldenzaal), and most are about 17 to 21 km. At Bad Bentheim it meets the German Töddenweg, and the two together make the Handelsweg from Osnabrück to Deventer. The route line on wandelnet.nl is the most up to date and can differ from the guidebook.

Best time to go

Wandelnet doesn't name a best season, but one thing depends on the calendar. Near Wassenaar the route crosses Landgoed De Horsten, which is shut on Mondays from 1 October to 1 April and doesn't allow dogs at all. On those Mondays, or with a dog, follow the alternative route that Wandelnet gives. On the Appelse Heide the cross-leaved heath and crowberry flower in summer. Before you set off, check the route changes page for the Marskramerpad on wandelnet.nl (this was the picture in November 2026).

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