Baarle is Europe’s most peculiar border town, where national boundaries form a mind-bending patchwork of territories. On this self-guided walking tour, you’ll explore a place where shop floors are divided by nationality, and where you can stand with one foot in the Netherlands and the other in Belgium – all while barely moving.

Starting at the Visit Baarle tourist office, you’ll learn how this town evolved into a jigsaw puzzle of 22 Belgian enclaves inside the Netherlands, plus Dutch enclaves inside Belgian enclaves. You’ll weave through streets where borders marked by white crosses slice through doorways and shops. Along the way, you’ll find out how two countries with different laws, customs, and quirks have learned to coexist.

You’ll hear stories about smugglers who exploited the porous boundaries, a building with a Belgian apartment floating above Dutch territory, and a woman who moved her front door to remain Belgian. This 90-minute audio tour ends at De Grenspaal, a border post.