At one time, this island had so many country piles, that people fondly called it ‘the garden of Zeeland’. Not many have withstood the passage of time, though a handful remain in the Manteling, a relatively slim area of woodsy dunes, between Domburg and Oostkapelle. The wind is in charge here and has shaped nature accordingly, bending trees this way and that. Inland, they stand tall, with shorter and sturdier oaks closer to the coast. There are loads of lanes crisscrossing the woods, connecting the various estates – Castle Westhove among them. It now houses a Stayokay hostel – do spend the night! – and the nearby estate Orangerie is home to a museum on landscape and nature, called Terra Maris, that is: Land of the Sea.

Way back, before cars drove their way into our lives, Walcheren transport was along the waterways. Nowadays, these fair ways are simply refuse water channels. Walks and waterways often go hand in hand, with fields beyond, or river banks, and the odd hand-pulled raft across the water. Make your way from Westkapelle or Domburg (called Wallichrum by the Romans) to Middelburg, along the Domburg Waterway. In turn, the Veerse waterway runs from Veere to Middelburg.