Holland / Netherlands

I just googled it and apparently the prevailing wind is from the southwest, so you may actually have a grand time cycling up the coast northbound!

A couple of sources

Oh that is good news! Might be worth planing for a scenic, bakery hopping first day en route to Bruges and a longer head down coastal ride towards Amsterdam the second. The idea would be to stop overnight somewhere nice and close to Amsterdam like Delft or Leiden for an evening walk and dinner to then get into Amsterdam early on the following day and have the afternoon for a good walk and/or the customary visit to the Rijks.

Having only done UK weekend trips on the bike I'm so stocked about this, and I don't even know if I'll be able to do this in the next 12 months! 😂

no probs, shout if you have any more questions.

One additional comment on cycling etiquette, the Dutch & Belgians are very, very respectful of cyclists. In fact it can be downright unnerving to someone used to 12 years of cycle-commuting into Canary Wharf via Tower Bridge the way drivers stop and wave you across at roundabouts where cyclists have priority.

However, if there is a cycle path and you are riding on the road (happened a couple of times by mistake when we were lost/hadn't spotted the cycle path) then all bets are off and you will get hooted and shouted at until you are back in lane.

Here's a couple of additional vids (riding in Belgium) if you need more inspiration

Why Does it Always Rain on Me? (Dunkirk to Oudenaarde)

The Moment (Gent to Dunkirk)

Does anyone have any shouts for a chill long weekend circular tour route from the Hook of Holland. Bikes have plenty of tyre but would rather stay mostly paved to cover more distance.

This 300k brevet (gpx available) could be a good starting point. Expect a fair bit of wind, it’s where the Dutch championships headwind cycling are held, but you do get to ride across one of the seven wonders of the modern world.

https://www.fietssport.nl/toertochten/52412

Thanks that looks great, thank you. Hopefully I didn't imply that I was trying to NAIL HUGE MILEAGE because we will 100% be chilling but 300k over 4 days would be pretty doable.

@barry who is from thereabouts is riding the brevet this weekend and calls this ‘the most boring route ever’. I’d say his route is better than the one online with the Bergen Op Zoom loop, and I’m sorely disappointed in his lack of Dutch pride.

Either route would be suitable for shortening by just skipping an island. I’d recommend dipping into Rotterdam, if you do I can pretend to still know where to go.

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Please be advised that whatever direction you're going in Zeeland, the wind is always going the exact opposite direction

you could do the route I laid out on the previous page but starting from the Hook rather than London.

Overnight ferry (in a cabin) to Harwich, Essex lanes to London then down to Dover. Across to Dunkirk and then along the North Sea route back to the Hook

@MTB-Idle Interesting idea but I'm already travelling to hook via Harwich! Ferry is booked for May.

@Tijmen Liking the idea of visiting Rotterdam so will add that to the itinerary.

What do people do for accommodation on trips like this? I have camping stuff but wouldn't mind staying in hotels or hostels.

Anyway,

https://ridewithgps.com/collections/45974?privacy_code=RzfGaCCr1C2K6xPN

I sorted this out with staying at Stayokay hostels in Utrecht and Rotterdam, and a hotel in den 'Bosch.

Has anyone got any critical ideas/diversions? The route has mostly been freestyled from looking at the audax routes linked above except for the Rotterdam city loop which was from Tijmen.

I've ended up with kind of big days but hopefully it'll be fine.

https://www.strava.com/activities/6818176432

I think you could take little bit of inspiration from this loop I did a while ago.
Really recommend the "duinen" national park. Depending on the time of the day it may be a bit crowded with families going out for a stroll, but the landscape is something to behold

Just following up my own post to say it was all very good. Only slight hitch was the Stayokay in rotterdam only let us put the bikes with their bikes, which are kind of exposed on a "terrace" though within view of the front desk which is 24 hour manned. Was sketchy but we survived. I'll try and do a proper write up.

@Whopper I didn't manage to incorporate much of this but definitely will next time, thank you.

In my limited experience, it's a nice relaxing place to ride a bike.

[removed for unnecessary spite]

No worries, just let me know when you are down here next time and I'll be able to show you around myself

https://www.vriendenopdefiets.nl/en

Anyone tried using this for accommodation? Also any others like it for Europe?

I have for a 10 day trip around Holland. I just rocked up to a town and started calling people which was a bit hit and miss. I think for best results, it would be best to book ahead. The hosts where generally lovely. The standard breakfast of boiled egg and dark bread did get tiresome after a while though as everyone seems to serve the same thing.

Excellent, thanks for the tips. May give it a go when I'm there in a couple weeks time

Finally wrote up my little Holland trip mosque tour with photos, links to all the places we stayed etc. Took me a second to get it all put together as I am no HTML professional but I wanted to have it done on my own terms.

http://riazmoola.com/holland22/album.html

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I want this. Bring it to me.

Does anyone have any general experience of camping in the Netherlands? We’re going next week for a week of cycling and have done very little planning.

Is picking a campsite to head to each day and just turning up foolhardy?

Thanks

Just showing up will generally work. You can check beforehand is the camping has a "trekkersveld" which is just an area to put tents up on without reserved spaces.

Natuurcampings are the nicest ones imo https://www.natuurkampeerterreinen.nl/?lang=en you need to become yearly member, which you can do online ahead, or just at the camping, they wont turn you away. Its really nice.

Where are you headed?

Thanks that so useful. We looked at the natuurcampings but the translation read like you needed the physical card before you showed up. Glad that isn’t the case. We’ve seen a lot of ‘minicamping’ places which I guess is just people with space in their yards?

We’re going roughly Hook of Holland > Biesbosch > Den Bosch > maybe Apeldoorn and Zwolle > then staying at friends in Utrecht for a couple of nights before back to Hook.

Taking advice of following the rivers and going to some national parks - but would take any recommendations. Only aiming for 80 - 100km a day and lots of stopping.

Yeah they do make it sound like you need the physical card, but they won't be harsh about it. You can also buy "het groene boekje" at most bookstores and outdoor stores, which contains the card too, and some useful maps.

Sounds like a sweet trip! Make sure you spend some time in de Veluwe and de Utrechtse Heuvelrug. And bring binoculars for het Biesbosch. I stayed at the "Zanderdennen" natuurcamping last week in de Veluwe, highly recommended, it's the tiniest camping I've ever seen and as remote as it gets in the Netherlands.

As I often ride here I have taken the liberty to draw a bit of a route between the eastern edge of Dordrecht and Den Bosch, passing through Biesbosch and along the river Maas. A nice scenic and quiet (very very little traffic) route which also passes through the historic fortified town of Heusden, maybe you can use it for inspiration:

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