Walking the Netherlands’ new long-distance Salt Path

A new hiking route in the far north of the country is helping to connect visitors with rural communities and giving churches a new lease of life as B&Bs and art studios

At 5am, the toll of the church bell reverberates through the darkness, jolting me awake – again. The unwavering sentinel in the rural Dutch village of Eastrum has rung every half hour throughout the night. Lying on a camp bed in the nave of the 16th-century Saint Nicholas church, I begin to wonder what I’ve agreed to. But then, gazing upwards, I notice a glimmer – soft tendrils of early morning light sneak through the windows, illuminating thin gold lines painted along the edges of the church roof beams. In the stripped-back simplicity of the building’s Protestant design, the subtle glimmers feel like a heavenly wonder.

I’m in Eastrum to walk a segment of Het Ziltepad, or the Salt Path, a recently opened long-distance hiking trail that traverses the salt marshes of the sparsely populated northern Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen. Tracing the Wadden Sea coastline, the route invites hikers to explore local churches as a way to discover the region’s cultural heritage. If that sounds a little pious, fear not: ecclesiastical enthusiasm isn’t required. Rather, the project aims to breathe new life into the old buildings and encourage visitors to get chatting with local communities.