The last province (Limburg) is relatively full of small castles, but many of them are privately inhabited and not accessible, not even the garden. So that makes the choices easier again and you can suffice with two routes. This part in the north of the province and it will come as no surprise that you mainly follow the Meuse to the south. Only before Venlo you make a bend more to the west. So you start in Well just east of the Maas.

Castle Well, Kasteellaan 20, 5855 AE Well
Castle Well is a fully restored castle from the Middle Ages. The castle was originally built in the 14th century as a moated castle.
It is not located directly on the river but a little further on in a swampy area and was heavily damaged in the Second World War and was subsequently restored. From 1771 to 1852, the castle belonged to the noble family De Liedel, who inherited it from the Countess de Pas de Feuquières born of Steprath. In 1944 it was damaged by acts of war, after which it was restored. Until 1969, the castle was owned by nv Landgoed De Witrijt + Bosserheide of the Claessen-Laumans family. After this, the ownership was transferred to the Limburg Castles Foundation. Since 1986 the castle has been taken over and put into use by the private educator Emerson College.

After the castle you follow the Maas to Wellerlooi and then you go a little east to follow the border with Germany until you come near Arcen for the next castle.

Arcen Castle, Lingsforterweg 26, 5944 BE Arcen
Castle Arcen is a double moated stately country house. The current outer bailey stands on the site of a predecessor (het Nije Huys) that was destroyed in 1646 and was built in 1653 by Marcelis van Gelder, lord of Arcen. His grandson Adolf founded the current main building in the early 18th century. After bankruptcy in 2012, the castle gardens have again come under the responsibility of the owner of the entire Arcen Estate, the Limburgs Landscape Foundation. Limburgs Landschap took over the park again and from 26 April 2013 the park will be open to the public again.

After the castle you drive through Arcen to take a look at the castle and its gardens from another side. You follow the N271 for a while and then sail across the Maas to Lottum. After Broekeind you make a bend around Venlo and in Baarlo you come to castle three of this route.

Castle d'Erp, Baron van Erpaan 1, 5991 BM Baarlo
Castle d'Erp, also known as De Borcht, Van Erp-Holt, Holt te Erp, is a castle built around 1200 near Baarlo in Baarlo. The current castle was built in the 17th century. The castle was inhabited by Gerard van Baerle. The first castle was built on this site around 1400. The castle owes its name (d'Erp) to the Van Erp family, who lived in or owned the castle from 1787 to 1962. The castle has been privately owned for years and not open to visitors.

After 6 km you are already at a castle, in the place Kessel and 15 km further the next one in Haelen.

Castle de Keverberg, Kasteelhof 4, 5995 BX Kessel
Kasteel (De) Keverberg was the former residence of the Counts of Kessel and was restored in 2015 from a consolidated ruin of a motte-and-bailey castle located in the heart of the North Limburg village. The castle is also known as Kessel Castle.

Aldenghoor Castle, Kasteellaan 9, 6081 AN Haelen
The current castle was originally a fortified house and probably dates from the twelfth century. Around 1435 the house was expanded with moats and ramparts. Since that time you speak of a castle. The residential wings were built around 1600 and the entrance gate in 1750. Aldenghoor Castle was built by Messrs Van Ghoor and Van Horne. In the past, Aldenghoor Castle was simply called Ghoor Castle. Because there was also a Ghoor castle in Neer, the castle in Haelen was called Aldenghoor Castle and the Castle in Neer was called Neyenghoor Castle. Aldenghoor Castle is built on a swamp. Hence the name Ghoor which means swamp in the Limburg dialect. The castle is now used as a hotel/restaurant.

A little further in Horn is also a castle, but it is a bit more difficult to visit by motorbike, so you literally leave it to the right and you go on a somewhat busy N road to cross a canal, a lake and the Maas, Roermond to get to a castle farm northeast.

Castle farm Zuidewijk Spick, Raaystraat 1B, 6071 NC Swalmen
It was originally a granary (spieker) that was already mentioned in 1463. The present-day house is 17th century. It concerns a moated area with a courtyard, within which the house was moated again. The outer moat is still intact. In 1725 the estate came into the possession of baron Heereman van Suydtwijck, who renovated the house and also installed a house chapel. The whole is grouped around a courtyard. A staircase and two halls with murals date from the first half of the 19th century. In the chapel is a Baroque altar from around 1725 with a Calvary group. Today the house is used as a holiday home.

At 102 km from the route another castle that is already in use is a hotel.

Daelenbroeck Castle, Kasteellaan 2, 6075 EZ Herkenbosch
The castle was first mentioned in writing in 1326. It must have been built shortly before that time.
Godfried van Heinsberg, the Gulikse feudal lord of Wassenberg, decided in 1311 to build a residential and hunting lodge in the swampy area ("broeck") of the Roer Valley. Over the years, this castle has been owned by several noblemen, who all left their mark on it in their own way. The castle formed the core of the Dalenbroek seigniory. A turning point, however, was the Eighty Years' War. In 1598 the castle was besieged and this marked the beginning of the ruin of the main castle. After the death of the then lord of the castle, Hattardt van Pallandt, a battle arose between his sons-in-law for the castle. When in the year 1707 the castle was finally assigned to Jan Ernest van Rollingen, the latter was so destitute due to the litigation that there was no money to fully restore the castle. He decided to live in the outer bailey and restored it, but partially demolished the main castle and used the cellars as a storehouse. The main castle, for example, after it had fallen further into disrepair, was demolished down to the cellars in the 19th century. The castle was a Gelderland enclave within the Duchy of Gulik. From the 90s of the 20th century, the castle, of which only the outer bailey was in use, was fully architecturally and archaeologically examined and a new main castle was built on the basis of, among other things, an 18th-century drawing, with the elements of the castle still present. medieval castle incorporated in it. The complex is now used as a hotel, restaurant and party center.

After 127 km at Susteren you turn on the N276 to drive smoothly to the last castle.

Limbricht Castle, Allee 1, 6141 AV Limbricht
The castle complex is located within a wide moat and consists of a castle and a castle farm as outer bailey. The castle is a four-winged square building with a completely basement, around a small courtyard. It is a rare example of a motte-and-bailey castle, a castle on a man-made hill. The motte with the castle on it lies like an island in the moat. The cellars of the castle have marlstone barrel vaults and embrasures have been made in the outer walls. The four wings of the current castle, which have a pent roof, were built in the early 17th century in Maasland renaissance style with window frames in Namur stone by Nicolaas van Breyll (?-1655). He also had the castle hill enlarged to a surface of 36 by 36 meters. A chronogram on the entrance gate mentions the year 1622 as the year of construction of the castle. In the rear wing is a square stair tower with a double knob spire. It also contains a five-sided castle chapel from 1643, with a stucco ceiling. Inside, the castle has a large hall with a fireplace with frieze on which the alliance arms of the Van Breyl family are applied. The outer bailey is a U-shaped castle farm with the annual anchors '1630' and was built in various construction phases. The west and south wing were built first, the east wing a short time later. Remarkably, the initially planned corner towers were never built. Access to the courtyard of the castle farm is via an arch bridge over the outer moat. At the entrance in the west wing is a gatekeeper's house and a milk house. A sheep house was added to the far end of the east wing in the 18th century. In the years 1813 and 1814, the castle served as a lazaret for thousands of sick and wounded French soldiers returning from the Battle of Leipzig. Many of these soldiers suffered from dysentery and they were cared for by the locals. A large number of them (687 soldiers) did not survive and they were buried in the French cemetery in Limbricht. A number of Limbrichtenaren also had to pay for their efforts for the soldiers with death. In 1917 the castle was used as an internment camp for German prisoners of war who crossed the Belgian-Dutch border and were arrested by the Dutch government as a smuggler. It is now used as a B & B and various atmospheric banquet rooms have been realized in the outer ward, which are used for weddings, company parties or other celebrations & parties. In addition, in the heart of the outer bailey, Brasserie Het Proeflokaal is located.

The end point of the route is less than a kilometer further at Cafe Salden in Limbricht.