Anyone been to Holland ?

ben@31

Hi,

I am intrigued by the cycle paths of Holland / Netherlands and looking at going on a cycling holiday to somewhere different.

Im thinking of doing a multi day cycling tour between cities, maybe Amsterdam - Hague - Rotterdam - Gouda - Utrecht area.

Has anyone got any advice of experiences.... flown or ferried from the UK to Amsterdam or Rotterdam and then hired a touring bike with panniers out there? Do you have any accommodation recommendations?

Thanks.

tangled_metal

The network has numbers for the junctions. You follow a route linking the numbers up. There's a very good A5 spiral bound book of maps showing the cycle paths / routes with the numbers.

We got the ferry from Newcastle to IJmuiden. An overnight ferry with a really good buffet that I seriously recommend you book with the ferry ticket to save money. From where you get off there are very good routes to Amsterdam.

Accommodation I can't recommend any because we took our tents and headed north up the coast camping as we went.

We took our own bikes having left our car in England. Perhaps you could do that. Newcastle ferry port is also the cruise ship port so has a secure carpark just outside the port. It's as secure as an airport carpark at least.

tangled_metal

Forgot to say that in Holland cycling is a common activity for transport. Everyone assumes a cyclist knows how to ride their bones on their highways and cycleways, so you'll probably get cut up by other cyclists if you're in the wrong place.

meanredspider

I can thoroughly recommend cycling down the coast from Amsterdam south.

These guys kapteintweewielers.nl were my LBS (I lived a minute from them) and they rented bikes but know very little about what bikes. If you fly into Schipol, it’s a 7 minute train ride to Amsterdam Sud station and a short cab ride to Overtoom.

Hundreds of bike routes. The only thing I learned to be wary of was roads that had no bike paths/markings - cars take no prisoners in those circumstances.

I’ve lots of routes I can share around Amsterdam - Utrecht - the coast and around the Markermeer. A lap of the Markermeer from Amsterdam is a great ride - exactly 100 miles from Vodel Park and back.

Accommodation simply depends what you want to pay. I’d use the usual sources to see reviews and prices.

mtb-idle

I rode part of the North Sea route about 18 months ago which was great fun. We rode from London to Dover and then the ferry over to Dunkirk travelling as a foot passenger it's really cheap. I would recommend upgrading to the Premium Lounge. You get you get all the tea and coffee and pastries you can eat plus a nice quiet room with comfy chairs where you can relax and catch some zees before arriving in Dunkirk.

Turn left and then you are shortly crossing the border into Belgium, across Belgium being fuelled by strong coffee and waffles and into Holland. We stayed in a lovely little town called Sluis.

From there it's easy to get onto the North Sea route which we followed to the Hook of Holland. This is a really fun route as you are island hopping, crossing bridges, getting short ferries, riding along canal towpaths.

the cycle lanes are vast and extensive in this part of the world and you really can complete circa 75% of your journey away from the main road. As a regular London cycle commuter it's also a bit disconcerting the way cars give you priority at roundabouts etc. although as above unmarked roads can be a bit more of a challenge but there are very few of these en route.

Then it's onto the overnight ferry and book a cabin to return to Harwich and then ride the Essex lanes back into London.

GPX route files, Strava view or Illustrative videos available if you are interested.

As above, choose the hotels as per the usual methods but most places are really happy to have cyclists with them and will either let you keep your bike in the room or have some secure storage available.

I remember one place we stayed in was a grand old hotel with marble floors in the reception. we had been caught in a massive downpour earlier that day and wheeled our bikes across the floor all the while dripping loads of water from our bikes and kit. they didn't bat an eyelid and were pleased to see us.

chippyk

MTB-Idle wrote:

I rode part of the North Sea route about 18 months ago which was great fun. We rode from London to Dover and then the ferry over to Dunkirk travelling as a foot passenger it's really cheap. I would recommend upgrading to the Premium Lounge. You get you get all the tea and coffee and pastries you can eat plus a nice quiet room with comfy chairs where you can relax and catch some zees before arriving in Dunkirk.

Turn left and then you are shortly crossing the border into Belgium, across Belgium being fuelled by strong coffee and waffles and into Holland. We stayed in a lovely little town called Sluis.

From there it's easy to get onto the North Sea route which we followed to the Hook of Holland. This is a really fun route as you are island hopping, crossing bridges, getting short ferries, riding along canal towpaths.

the cycle lanes are vast and extensive in this part of the world and you really can complete circa 75% of your journey away from the main road. As a regular London cycle commuter it's also a bit disconcerting the way cars give you priority at roundabouts etc. although as above unmarked roads can be a bit more of a challenge but there are very few of these en route.

Then it's onto the overnight ferry and book a cabin to return to Harwich and then ride the Essex lanes back into London.

GPX route files, Strava view or Illustrative videos available if you are interested.

As above, choose the hotels as per the usual methods but most places are really happy to have cyclists with them and will either let you keep your bike in the room or have some secure storage available.

I remember one place we stayed in was a grand old hotel with marble floors in the reception. we had been caught in a massive downpour earlier that day and wheeled our bikes across the floor all the while dripping loads of water from our bikes and kit. they didn't bat an eyelid and were pleased to see us.

I’m planning almost the same trip this summer, although I’ll get the train to Dover from and then either do the same trip or keep on as far as Amsterdam and Almere where I used to live before getting the Ijmuiden to Newcastle ferry.

davep1

Haven't cycled over there, but spent a long weekend in Breukelen south of Amsterdam last year. Lovely place, lots to see and do in the area, people seemed really nice too. I went for a run a couple of times, around 10 am, and was surprised to see how many houses had cars outside, and I realised it was because a bike is used as transport on short journeys in the Netherlands, unlike here.

jc4lab

Dutch bulb fields Mid April.,needs just a couple of days of a longer trip .Beautiful...You can base your stay in a B&B in Katwijk or Nordwijk on the coast..Some of the dykes and channels.can be rough... you can hire a dutch bike or MTB and guide map locally to do em. if your wish to protect your own wheels from rough stuff..Queens Day in amsterdam as a break is great..About 29th april..Partyboats,carboots day and at great atmosphere,everyone dressed in orange.....Others things.to check out.The Zuidersee dyke. Check the wind direction then fly down it ;For Windmills Kinderdijks the place.....

mtb-idle

ChippyK wrote:

MTB-Idle wrote:

I rode part of the North Sea route about 18 months ago which was great fun.
<snip>

I’m planning almost the same trip this summer, although I’ll get the train to Dover from and then either do the same trip or keep on as far as Amsterdam and Almere where I used to live before getting the Ijmuiden to Newcastle ferry.

Sounds cool, enjoy.

Other trips I have done in that part of the world are:

- Epsom to Bruges and then back to Dunkirk via some of the famous Muurs
- Epsom to Waterloo battlefield via Oudenaarde. Somewhere I have always wanted to go and it's very useful having your bike with you to get to some of the French positions & Hougoumont farm
- Epsom to Paris in 24 hours
- The Ronde van Vlandereen/Tour of Flanders sportive

satanas

Expect it to be windy; I was there a couple of weeks ago and the wind rarely stopped...