Unmissable places in the Netherlands

[skytandem]

We're planning to take our tandem on a 10-day tour of the Netherlands in May next year. For those of you who have been (by bike or other means), where would you deem it essential that we visit? We've already visited Amsterdam and The Hague.

[Heltor Chasca]

Island hopping in the north or even the south? National parks in the east?

[jk49]

Probably not essential, but I found the museum about the great flood of 1953 very interesting and moving, its near ouverkirke on duuveland,(island in the south).
Also really enjoyed the Biesbosch wetlands near Dordrecht, you could also do the Kinders dijk at the same time,( 19 windmills in one place, some of them working plus nice museum and visitor centre).
We had a good day catching the waterbus to Rotterdam, very modern architecture, loaded with museums and extremely cheap way of getting us and the bikes around.
Prepare to be astounded by Dutch cycling infrastructure and culture!

[mjr]

Kuekenhof if you like tulips and it's early May rather than late. (The eastern entrance is cycle-friendlier.)

Kinderdijk if you like windmills and there's a nice less-touristy line of windmills south from Grote Ammers too, along Molenkade.

http://www.openstreetmap.org/way/33482547 along a thin strip of land between two lakes was unexpectedly beautiful.

I feel I probably made a mistake not riding through the centre of Utrecht along one of the LF routes, although it was a fairly long day's riding both ways past even without that.

[Vorpal]

The bicycle museum in Nijmegen?

and http://www.keukenhof.nl/nl/ (mjr got there first)

[foxyrider]

+1 for island hopping

I'd add the Louwman Museum near Den Haag, Edam and some of the moated towns south of Rotterdam

[skytandem]

Thanks everyone for the helpful suggestions. Does island-hopping involve ferries, and, if so, are they generally regular? I hate to lose part of the day to queueing for ferries!

[skytandem]

Probably not essential, but I found the museum about the great flood of 1953 very interesting and moving, its near ouverkirke on duuveland,(island in the south).
Also really enjoyed the Biesbosch wetlands near Dordrecht, you could also do the Kinders dijk at the same time,( 19 windmills in one place, some of them working plus nice museum and visitor centre).
We had a good day catching the waterbus to Rotterdam, very modern architecture, loaded with museums and extremely cheap way of getting us and the bikes around.
Prepare to be astounded by Dutch cycling infrastructure and culture!

Yes, very much looking forward to it! We did Flanders a couple of years ago and really enjoyed the luxury of cycling in their amazing infrastructure - I gather it is even better in the Netherlands.

[mjr]

Thanks everyone for the helpful suggestions. Does island-hopping involve ferries, and, if so, are they generally regular? I hate to lose part of the day to queueing for ferries!

Ferries or bridges, presumably. Ferries we used were generally regular (I think the longest wait was maybe 15 minutes) and mostly cost under €1. One ferry near Aalsmeer we wanted to use was out of service (engine problem) so we rode over the nearest bridge instead. It's probably good to keep an eye on alternative bridge routes just in case.

[iviehoff]

Criss-crossed by canals and other watercourses, there are few places in the Netherlands that are not islands in some sense. But I assume it is the proper islands in the north sea that are being referred to as islands, such as Texel and the rest of that archipelago. These require ferries, no bridges, and will take longer than the (mainly) canal crossing ferries mentioned by MJR. Can be even windier than everywhere else.

Delft and Haarlem were our favourite cities in the Netherlands. We found the Waterland countryside area just north of Amsterdam very nice - there is the Zaanse Schans windmill park in that area https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaanse_Schans though Zaandijk itself is an industrial town. Riding along the little river east of Gouda through Oudewater, (where you can be tested to see if you are a witch - my daughter has a certificate to prove it) towards Lange Linschoten is very nice, as also is the Vecht running into Utrecth from the NE - a useful route from Amsterdam to Utrecht, in combination with the shipping canal. Utrecht is great too. Cycle navigation out of Utrecht can be tricky to the west because of long-running major works around the station, and new suburbs to the west around Terweide. You'll find the LF signposting has been removed in the areas of Utrecht because the routes don't work now and will change once the station works have finished.

Amersfoort, Deventer and Zwolle are all really nice cities too if you are heading that way, our favourite was Zwolle, though we found a lot of the countryside in that centre eastern to northern parts less diverse than in the classic heart of the country, though of course the Veluwe area between Amersfoort and Deventer features a quite different New Forest-like rolling sandy heathland from the usual flat watery green fields. (The Hoge Veluwe national park has a steep admission fee, but you can ride for free in adjacent similar areas such as Katwijkersand.) One special area to the north of Zwolle is the Weeribben-Wieden, especially from Kalenberg to Ossenzijl.

If you are going this year, there is an even better reason than usual to go to s-Hertogenbosch.
https://www.bosch500.nl/en/the-event/2016-exhibition

[hamster]

Groningen and Leeuwarden are attractive old cities, well worth a visit - they feel much like Amsterdam but not stuffed full of tourists.

[m-gineering]

Large circular route round the Ijsselmeer? Avoid the new polders as they are boring, and you get fairly easy riding with not too many stops and traffic lights, and plenty of historic towns along the way

[MrsHJ]

Arnhem, the Kroller muller museum outside Arnhem. It's at the heart of the national park above Vuewe mentioned above. Cycle access only. It's a huge Van Gogh collection and sculpture park. Very interesting and a stunning setting.

Having just returned from then circular tour of the Zuider Zee I would just mention that for quite large sections it's sea, dike (so you can't see the sea) and then quiet road next to dike. My son found it rather dull. I'd try and see some of the different things the Netherlands has- there is a longer, circular the of the country, that might offer that.

[m-gineering]

If you start with the LF1 north sea cycle route the landscape will be more sea and dunes, the afsluitdijk should be dike enough.

If visting Kroller Muller also take a look at Radio Kootwijk, a huge concrete cathedral (1918) in the middel of nowhere, which used to house the radio transmitters connecting us to the colonies

[Psamathe]

Giethoorn

I've not been there for years and years but last visit there was a (classical) concert. Having lots of water around, the stage was a floating one out on a lake and we all had to borrow rowing boats, row out to in front of the stage, anchor, listn to the concert (from our rowing boats) then row home afterwards.

Might be a bit more crowded with tourists these days (Chinese ?) but it was a beautiful place. No cars! Locals don't like the description of "Dutch Venice" as they think this makes it sound big and commercial.

Ian