Holland / Netherlands

I'm planning to FINALLY go to the Netherlands in a couple of weeks. Plan so far is to take the ferry to Dunkirk and ride from there up to Amsterdam and then down to the Hook of Holland.

I'm thinking of getting out of France/Belgium as quickly as possible, then ferry from Breskens to Vlissingen, pootle about round there, up to Rotterdam, Gouda, Amsterdam, Edam and some villages round there, Haarlem, the Hague, and then the ferry home.

Does this sound reasonable in 8 days? I'd like to eat lots of cheese, play some crazy golf and eat a fair few pancakes.

Ha! Do you need those maps again?

Srsly, Lage Vuursche for pancakes and crazy golf. It is the middle of nowhere, but you won't be disappoint...

I really want to go to pancake/golf city but it's not really on the way :( Were there any other pancake highlights from your tour?

Thanks for the offer of maps - I'll let you know if I need them again!

North Sea route back from Amsterdam to Hook I would say, you can do that in a day.

^^ I found no other notable pancakes, though sure there must be some. Generally stuck to bread, cheese, ham and kibbeling.

Also, if you're around the inland waterways for a few days, Wilemstad was lovely. There was one really nice pub on the waterfront doing reasonably priced food.

Also, we made a day trip from Delft to the Hague, but wished we'd stayes where we were.

Some of the little villages south of Amsterdam were great. Man I'm jealous.

Also, thanks for ballet ticket! Speaking as someone who doesn't "do" ballet, it was awesome !

North Sea route back from Amsterdam to Hook I would say, you can do that in a day.

I'm thinking of doing exactly this, possibly with a detour to Leiden as I studied 16th century economic history of Leiden at university...

^^ I found no other notable pancakes, though sure there must be some. Generally stuck to bread, cheese, ham and kibbeling.

Also, if you're around the inland waterways for a few days, Wilemstad was lovely. There was one really nice pub on the waterfront doing reasonably priced food.

Also, we made a day trip from Delft to the Hague, but wished we'd stayes where we were.

Some of the little villages south of Amsterdam were great. Man I'm jealous.

Also, thanks for ballet ticket! Speaking as someone who doesn't "do" ballet, it was awesome !

As as child I remember having AMAZING pancakes in Groningen (though we won't be anywhere near Groningen this time), it was a restaurant on a boat and it was imaginatively named Pannekoekschip. I'm hopeful I can find more pancakes, liberally sprinkled through the rest of the country.

Willemstad is a top tip, thanks!

Would you not recommend the Hague then?

Really glad you enjoyed the ballet, I'm gutted I couldn't go as I haven't seen the Bolshoi in YEARS. I'll let you know when I next go on a ticket buying splurge!

Please do re: tickets!

Hague seemed less well set up for pleasant cycling than the rest of the country. Same for cities generally in my experience. We didn't have much Time there but it's charms were lost on us I'm afraid.

It's very easy from Dunkerque. There are cycling paths. Just keep the ocean on the left of you :)

Just don't travel on sunday or you will be stuck without water or food.

Navigating is very easy once you enter Holland. Just look at the red road signs next to the cycling paths.

Belgium is a nice country, the roads aren't great but the people are really friendly and the bars are great. They have the best beers in the world. Might be fun for you to cycle through Antwerp and visit Fixerati, nice fixed gear shop. They got another shop for road bikes. From there it's an almost straight road into Rotterdam (I've done Rotterdam -> Antwerp in about 4 hours fixed, it's only 65 miles or something). In Rotterdam you have Moho bicycles. He also does road bikes. From Rotterdam it's easy to get to the hook and you can follow the road to the hook and to Amsterdam. It's really easy.

Sorry I'm unable to edit from work.

In Amsterdam you have Pristine, also a nice shop.

Just got back from Dunkerque to Amsterdam a couple of weeks ago.

Avoid the coast if possible - it's boring as - mostly sand dune which you can't see over - for much of the way. Let me reiterate - so boring to ride in the suburbs behind a sand dune for 50 km stretches. Stay inland if you want to see more interesting things... like cows with hipster haircuts, chickens that look like Phil Spectre, and dogs with waxed moustaches.

We (GF and mate) did it very easily in 7 days. Then 3 days in Amsterdam. Obviously you can do it quicker, but weather is a factor when cycle touring - It pissed down on us, from day 2.

We took the 2pm ferry from dover - arrives in Dunkerque Ferry at 5pm-ish. Then inland riding slowly, 35 - 40 km (until dark) took us through Loon Plage, Craywick, Brouckerque, Bergues, and ending in Hondschoote 5kms from the Belgian border.

Check the map - Dunkerque ferry terminal is 14km from Dunkerque... incase you need a bike shop.

The first 2 days were the prettiest.

Shortest day 40km+. Longest day 80km+. Next time, I'll leave the tent at home, and stay in cabins all the way.

We are currently in the Netherlands and loving it! We also took the ferry to Dunkirk and I have to say it's probably the crappest town I've been to in northern Europe. And French drivers are nuts. Belgium was ace and we must have lucked out as the roads were alright. Nice coast too with actual sea views!

We haven't seen any hipster cows but we've seen loads of goats and horses :)

Now in Rotterdam and looking forward to meeting up with Arawn this evening!

Me and my housemates just got back from a cycling trip to Belgium. We did over a 100kms on the Saturday... being novices in this field we soon learnt the error of our ways... thank god for Ibuprofen!

Highly recommend cycling from Bruges to Ypres though... some fantastic views, or from Bruges to Damme, incredible flats and tree lined canal.

T4 and I did this:

Ate a lot of cheese and pancakes, saw a fair few windmills, saw lots of goats (and an emu!), drank lots of beer - and did I mention the cheese and pancakes?

Looks awesome!

Highlights?

Nice tour, Hats, but for a cyclist you've missed the best parts of The Netherlands.

Looks awesome!

Highlights?

The cheese, the people, Zeeland and Haarlem.

Nice tour, Hats, but for a cyclist you've missed the best parts of The Netherlands.

Which is?

My house.

What did you like so much about Zeeland? I study there and dont like riding around here as much as I wish I would... Probably because Im a Dutchy myself..

Heres a bit from my notes about zeeland.

The countryside around Cadzand is beautiful. Lots of canals and forests break up the landscape. The bike routes run on ridges high over the fields away from the main roads. Bull rushes grow along the canals and birds fly about. There was a medieval fort somewhere around here, but we didn’t stop for a closer look.

After this massive detour we moved on towards the coast. At Cadzand Bad, we got some baguettes made up in a bakery and ate them overlooking the North Sea. A group of Aussies on bicycles rode past us while we ate. All in their sixties by the look of it, wearing high vis jackets. We passed them a few minutes later on the way to Breskens (the Ferry to Middleburg). We rode for a while high on top of the dune, covered in trees, shrubs and tall grass. There was a big group of twitchers ( bird watchers ) looking around the dunes - maybe there was an exotic bird in there. They all had huge binoculars and tripods. I didn’t see anything though.

At Breskens ferry terminal - we were across the water in no time. We inevitably got talking with the Aussies, they had been on the road for 2 weeks - starting in Germany somewhere. None of them had any equipment with them, so unless they had turned their undies inside out a few times they must have had a support team moving their luggage from hotel to hotel. One of the guys had a beer gut so large the bottom of it stuck out from under his high vis top - unfortunately he was also extremely hairy, so his gut had it’s own beard - which dangled from the bottom curve of his belly. Definitely time to sort out a girdle, or some other type of gut underwear. The expression, let it all hang out comes to mind though…

In Vlissingen, we rode straight up a wide shipping canal to Middelburg, the largest town we had been to so far. Medieval in origin I think, it had a old center surrounded by a canal and then suburbia. There was a festival in the old town, lots of people walking around and music being made in the old square. We stopped for some supplies at the local supermarket. I checked the maps, then moved on to Gripskerque, 5 or 6 kms up the road. We had organised a place to stay in Gripskerque through AirBandB.

Soon we pulled up in front of a house on a quiet street. We passed down a driveway to the back of the house. A gate opened onto a garden full of vegetables, grass, and kids toys. A small path led to a pine wood shack at the end of the garden. A chicken coup held 10-15 chickens with strange feathers, giving them the appearance of miniature Phil Spectres. They clucked as we walked past. The shack had a lounge room/kitchen, shower/toilet, and bedroom. A pair of wooden clogs leaned up against a wall. We all did some washing. After some crackers & cheese we cracked open some beers and lay down in the sun for an hour or so. Martien the owner finally arrived - he’d been at the village festival. He had learnt to ride a horse two years ago, and had participated in a local competition - shooting arrows at a target from a moving horse. His Grandfather used to do it, so he decided to learn. He said we would drop off some milk, eggs, and bread in the morning. There was cheese and orange juice in the fridge.

Off we went to dinner, back at Middleburg. Found a friendly bar to settle in for the night. Steak and frittes for the boys, a pot of mussels for the missus. A brisk ride home along the bike paths. Scooters are able to ride along the bike paths - one of them gave me a right by zooming towards us in the dark. Before long we were back at the shack and into bed.

Machine: That's because it's as flat as a Dutch pancake.

I think it's fun to ride in the south of limburg. some nice cycling routes there. and sort of hills

What did you like so much about Zeeland? I study there and dont like riding around here as much as I wish I would... Probably because Im a Dutchy myself..

It just had a really good vibe. I liked the massive dam, especially in the mist. Middelburg was cute and the people were really nice (it was probably the place with the least amount of english spoken). We saw loads of dogs in baskets on the back of bikes and saw a woman on rollerblades pushing a buggy. It just had a nice chilled out vibe. Plus, to me the scenery was more interesting than other parts of the Netherlands, which reminded me a lot of home (east anglia - which was drained by a Dutchman).

Which is?

I would say the areas with less buildings, less traffic, less industry.
Drenthe, Overijssel, Gelderland, Brabant, Limburg, some quiet parts of Utrecht.

Friesland & Groningen are pretty & quiet too. These are from a long ride Yorit & I made this summer:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xz59wfn473ng8x5/0w0yCsco-n

Most quiet parts would be nice I guess. That looks like a sweet ride Peter, how much km was it? All in one go?

A rondje Ijsselmeer is on my to do list. Should also be nice.

335, yes in one go, from 5:30 > 22:30. Last week of June so there was plenty of daylight time. Sore bum guaranteed though ;-)

rondje ijsselmeer is on my to do list as well. friend of mine did that in one day on his fixed. was about 300km (186m)