They are so deliciously sweet and juicy, those delicious table grapes. "I can highly recommend all cyclists on the Grape Routes to stop at a 'grapes for sale' sign. I melt for such a delicious bunch of firm black Leopold III grapes," says regional fellow and VRT journalist Michaël. You might even get to cut the bunch yourself. How cool and delicious is that?

The Druivenstreek is a green cycling region full of history and cool encounters. Three loops show you the most beautiful places southeast of Brussels in the villages of Overijse, Hoeilaart, Huldenberg, Bertem and Tervuren. The glass villages of yesteryear, where you can still admire the elegant serrist villas and long conservatories. But also historic castles and ducal parks, vast fields and picturesque valleys, the beautiful Sonian forest and breathtaking views.

Download and on your way

A region where the stories are up for grabs, and that's what Michaël Van Droogenbroeck was willing to listen to. He struck up conversations with famous and less famous locals who will make your bike ride through the Druivenstreek much more fascinating. And you can listen to all these stories. Just download the free ErfgoedApp and don't forget your smartphone, that's all you have to do.

"The rich grape tradition is still completely woven into the region," says Michael. "I only have to take a step outside my home to see remnants of grape greenhouses still standing. But there are also the growers and the marchands, the annual cutting and the grape festivals. I love it so much when people go back to growing grapes in the footsteps of parents or ancestors."

Felix's greenhouse

At ten stops along three bicycle routes through the region, you can listen. "At Huldenberg Castle, you'll discover how it all began with young Hoeilander Felix Sohie," who grew his first table grapes in the castle's small wall greenhouse. His very first harvest on Aug. 22, 1866, had major consequences. Eight years later, his company already counted 72 greenhouses, the beginning of the glass villages. Halfway through last century, the region had as many as 30,000 greenhouses!

But the Grape Region is more than grapes. Professor and brewer Freddy Delvaux takes you behind the walls of brewery De Kroon. Artist Tom Frantzen presents his playful adventure garden, full of beautiful images and with a thick touch of satire. Together with Michaël, unravel the mystery of the Devil's Oak for which pilgrims from far and wide descended to Jesus Oak, on the edge of the Sonian Forest. "That beautiful forest is the heart of the Brabant Woods National Park, as Patrick Huvenne of the Nature and Forest Agency explains so well."

But for that you will have to go out yourself. Listen in, bike, discover, enjoy, and come taste the tastiest table grapes!

Download the free HeritageApp and find the three bike routes for all the stories.