Suggestions needed for 5 day short distance Holland tour

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bainbridge
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Joined: 26 Oct 2014, 7:19pm

Suggestions needed for 5 day short distance Holland tour

Post by bainbridge »

Hi tourers!

I'm planning a tour with my partner, it will be her first tour and I want to limit the daily mileage to 20-25 miles, 30 max on the odd day. We'll be arriving in the Hook of Holland on a Monday morning in July (covid permitting) and need to be back there for Friday evening, to get the overnight ferry back to the UK. The rough plan at the moment is to travel from town to town (or city) using the cycle network, grabbing an evening meal where we can and staying in hotels/b&b's. Please can I have some suggestions for a 4 stop route which takes in some sights?

Ideally we'd like to visit Amsterdam but that's not essential as we've visited before. Also I'd like us to travel through some wildlife areas, such as a national park if possible.

I'm looking at the map and thinking of heading east from the hook and going anti clockwise around to Amsterdam, spending our last night somewhere between Amsterdam and the Hague, so on our last day we can visit the Hague while heading south and then on to catch the overnight ferry at the hook.

Any advice or comments will be much appreciated, thanks
Jdsk
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Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

Re: Suggestions needed for 5 day short distance Holland tour

Post by Jdsk »

The west coast from Amsterdam up to Den Helder is mostly traffic-free. Texel is pretty, and apparently the flowers are interesting. Edam was fun.

It's a few decades ago but there were a lot of skuas on the coast up to Lelystad.

National Parks:
https://www.nationaalpark.nl/299/en

Jonathan
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MrsHJ
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Location: Dartmouth, Devon.

Re: Suggestions needed for 5 day short distance Holland tour

Post by MrsHJ »

There’s a fab national park near Arnhem. We did a circular tour of the Netherlands from Amsterdam with a short detour into Germany and finished up here, there’s a famous modern art museum in the middle of it. https://krollermuller.nl/en/kroller-mul ... ily-closed
https://www.visitveluwe.com/locations/2 ... veluwezoom

You’ll need to think about how to manage your days if you are doing shorter amounts of cycling eg check out and check in times but I expect you’ll have lots of fun. I’d aim for more densely populated areas with old towns rather than open areas of polder if you’re doing short days. The Dutch tourist office has some suggested routes but if you prefer rural go for it.

I’ve visited Amsterdam a few times when cycling including with my ten year old. It’s very easy, amazing cycling infrastructure in the wider area. He got a bit bored of the more rural cycling areas with quiet road and dyke and the occasional cow.

I think I read a post the the cycle route at the top of the IJsselmeer is closed but I suspect it’s a cycle geek thing to want to do it anyway! Last time I was there with my son and we took one of the ferries across a bit further south.I fancy doing texel one day but I think my next trip there will be more in the south with the older cities etc. North and east is quieter with more reclaimed land if I understand the geography correctly.
Tangled Metal
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Joined: 13 Feb 2015, 8:32pm

Re: Suggestions needed for 5 day short distance Holland tour

Post by Tangled Metal »

Jdsk wrote: 17 Jan 2022, 10:03pm The west coast from Amsterdam up to Den Helder is mostly traffic-free. Texel is pretty, and apparently the flowers are interesting. Edam was fun.

It's a few decades ago but there were a lot of skuas on the coast up to Lelystad.

National Parks:
https://www.nationaalpark.nl/299/en

Jonathan
Plus one

Did it with 4.5 year old son. Up to 35 or 40 miles per day. He loved it. Until our last tour in Belgium in 2019 it was his favourite tour. He's now 9 and we've not had a tour for two years so we're all hoping for this year in Belgium.

I went Newcastle to ijmeuden and then across the f River to to den helder. Inland on a bit but it is all good up there.
st599_uk
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Re: Suggestions needed for 5 day short distance Holland tour

Post by st599_uk »

The North Sea Route up through the dunes is very nice and mainly on cycle tracks.

Haarlem is very nice for a lunch stop and has a municipal bike park near the main square with CCTV.

You may need to up your daily distance though, unless you're happy to do a one way ride, get the train back to Rotterdam and then an afternoon ride back to the ferry
A novice learning...
“the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.”
VinceLedge
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Joined: 12 Dec 2020, 9:51am

Re: Suggestions needed for 5 day short distance Holland tour

Post by VinceLedge »

Agree on headi ng North up from Amsterdam, lots of route choices. It is really easy cycling so you will cover distance easier than in most of the UK.
Did a couple of family tours with 2 kids under12, cycled straight off the ferry at Ijmuiden.
For accommodation we used https://www.vriendenopdefiets.nl/en
Which you pay a small fee to join and there is a load of people in the Netherlands offering B and B at a set rate, mostly private homes, but you get some great places to stay and can find accommodation in places where there isn't likely to be a hotel or b and b
Jdsk
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Re: Suggestions needed for 5 day short distance Holland tour

Post by Jdsk »

st599_uk wrote: 18 Jan 2022, 9:15amYou may need to up your daily distance though, unless you're happy to do a one way ride, get the train back to Rotterdam and then an afternoon ride back to the ferry
Yes. I thought that my suggestions might be stretching the distances.

Put briefly... the trains work, and they work with bikes. : - )

Jonathan
st599_uk
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Re: Suggestions needed for 5 day short distance Holland tour

Post by st599_uk »

Jdsk wrote: 18 Jan 2022, 9:19am
st599_uk wrote: 18 Jan 2022, 9:15amYou may need to up your daily distance though, unless you're happy to do a one way ride, get the train back to Rotterdam and then an afternoon ride back to the ferry
Yes. I thought that my suggestions might be stretching the distances.

Put briefly... the trains work, and they work with bikes. : - )

Jonathan
Especially if heading East from Hoek - the Europoort is a fascinating robotic infrastructure project, but it is a similar size to Manchester and takes a while to get through.
A novice learning...
“the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.”
CliveyT
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Joined: 13 Jun 2012, 2:55pm
Location: Cambridge

Re: Suggestions needed for 5 day short distance Holland tour

Post by CliveyT »

If you want an alternative then what about heading inland to Gouda? The central part of town is very attractive and easy enough to stroll around and there's cheese and stroopwaffel to look forward to. Your timing works out well to visit the cheese market on Thursday morning. Maybe a route up the coast and then inland through Leiden, returning via Delft (to avoid too much through Rotterdam). I don't know about official nature reserves, but you'll get a good impression of inland Holland , polders, reedbeds and windmills included.
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MrsHJ
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Re: Suggestions needed for 5 day short distance Holland tour

Post by MrsHJ »

When I was planning my trip with son I looked at this site for ideas.
https://www.hollandcyclingroutes.com/lo ... cle-routes

I also invested in the map of the round points and routes for the Netherlands. I got this one. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Basiskaart-net ... 9072930584
Tangled Metal
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Re: Suggestions needed for 5 day short distance Holland tour

Post by Tangled Metal »

There's a very good spiral bound book containing poos of the Netherlands with the junction numbering system and cycle routes. Great for navigating and should your interests take you off route you'll never go off your naps as long as you're still in the same country.

Den Helder is the hq of Dutch navy I believe and there's a very bid maritime museum there. South of it there's a reasonable campsite that you can leave your tent there and day out in Den Helder.

We liked a campsite at Calentsoog that had a good swimming pool, gym, tennis, etc. All in a continental style large campsite.

There's another right on the coast, across the road from the beach a day or so south of calentsoog. Just inland is the village with a decent sized spar and next door a really decent looking bike shop. Can't remember the name but it's on route 1. You will see it. Not the Baakuum one that's further inland and about a day up from ijmeuden in a sandy pine forest.
Last edited by Tangled Metal on 18 Jan 2022, 5:43pm, edited 1 time in total.
Psamathe
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Re: Suggestions needed for 5 day short distance Holland tour

Post by Psamathe »

I was going to suggest the New Dutch Waterline which is just inland from Rotterdam but about 45 miles from Hoek - which means 1+day there and 1+day back, but you'd have a few days doing part of the Waterline. Historic, loads of forts (many UNESCO listed), pretty flat (it's the waterline!), plenty of places to stop for breaks, lots of wetland wildlife, etc. Plus part f a recognised cycle route.

You'll need to Google to find out more about the route, history, Old Waterline/New Waterline, what it was, etc.

I've not cycled the Waterline route but have cycled around the area (used to live in the area many years ago) and I'd suggest the part to the north of River Waal/Gorinchem.

Ian
Last edited by Psamathe on 18 Jan 2022, 6:17pm, edited 1 time in total.
pq
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Re: Suggestions needed for 5 day short distance Holland tour

Post by pq »

I did a tour in Holland a few years back and found planning to be a bad idea. It's a windy place, there are bike routes everywhere and it's very densely populated. Each day I just rode whichever way the wind was blowing and when I got tired, found somewhere to stay. It worked well and I saw a lot of the country.
One link to your website is enough. G
bainbridge
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Joined: 26 Oct 2014, 7:19pm

Re: Suggestions needed for 5 day short distance Holland tour

Post by bainbridge »

Thanks everyone for your responses. I'm less sure now about the plan now, because of so many great suggestions!

In addition to some fantastic suggestions for places to visit, I'm now also pondering the following:

Upping the daily mileage slightly.

Heading out somewhere and getting the train back.

The wind! I once cycled from the Hook to Amsterdam into a strong headwind which was constant all day. It's so flat and open so no respite. I was shattered!

Thanks again, I'll do some more research and will check in again nearer the time to see what people think.
st599_uk
Posts: 1092
Joined: 4 Nov 2018, 8:59pm

Re: Suggestions needed for 5 day short distance Holland tour

Post by st599_uk »

bainbridge wrote: 18 Jan 2022, 10:09pm Thanks everyone for your responses. I'm less sure now about the plan now, because of so many great suggestions!

In addition to some fantastic suggestions for places to visit, I'm now also pondering the following:

Upping the daily mileage slightly.

Heading out somewhere and getting the train back.

The wind! I once cycled from the Hook to Amsterdam into a strong headwind which was constant all day. It's so flat and open so no respite. I was shattered!

Thanks again, I'll do some more research and will check in again nearer the time to see what people think.
There's a YouTuber called Fietsvlogger who covers many routes in the Netherlands (you sometimes need the auto-translated subtitles).
A novice learning...
“the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.”
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