If you’d like to take a day trip from Tilburg, the charming Dutch villages of Goirle, Riel and Breehees are a great option. The municipality has a small population of 23,000 inhabitants and each village has its own distinctive character. Best of all they are all connected by the beautiful Regte Heathlands that are also home to six Bronze Age burial mounds.
The name Goirle first appeared in a deed dated July 26, 1292. The village, which is located next to the Belgian border, was initially just a farming settlement and its residents raised cattle and goats. These poor agrarian workers would make extra money by weaving, a foreshadowing of the village’s later status as a centre for textile manufacturing. Some of the old factories can still be seen today.
Riel is also a traditional farming community better known for its tanning industry and some of those tanneries can also be found in the area if you know where to look.