Ideas wanted for a touring trip to holland

[sexy wheels]

I am thinking of going on a 2 week Cycle Tour in Holland.

Sailing to the Hook of Holland. Can you recommend areas to travel to. I hate big towns so would like to keep it to the small villages. Also I would be camping so do you know of a guideor maps with the camp sites listed. Any info would be most welcoming.

[Domestique]

There are loads of threads on this if you search here, or other cycling forums.
I can rec. these camp sites http://www.natuurkampeerterreinen.nl/nl/index.html
Also have a look here http://holland.cyclingaroundtheworld.nl/

Imo set yourself a distance you are happy to ride each day, have some days off or not getting from site to site, and enjoy

[vexed]

My suggestion to get you started: Cross Rotterdam and make Kinderdijk your first visit stop. Take the LF route across the Biesbosch, south of the Waal, towards Nijmegen, then north to Arnhem, pick up the southern edge of the Veluwe, then head back along LF4.

[Mark_C]

south of the Waal, towards Nijmegen, then north to Arnhem, pick up the southern edge of the Veluwe, then head back along LF4.

If you get anywhere near Nijmegen, don't miss Velorama, an amazing collection of historic bicycles:

http://www.velorama.nl/engels/museum/index.html

[raybo]

I don't know if this will help you but here are 12 links to information about bike touring in Holland.

Ray

[syklist]

I am thinking of going on a 2 week Cycle Tour in Holland.

Sailing to the Hook of Holland. Can you recommend areas to travel to. I hate big towns so would like to keep it to the small villages. Also I would be camping so do you know of a guideor maps with the camp sites listed. Any info would be most welcoming.

It depends on how fast you cycle and what the wind is like I have a few travelogues of trips in Holland on my site mostly from 2007.
Try the NSCR first? It starts just outside the train station in Hoek van Holland and runs all the way up the coast to Nieuweschans on the German border. The only big town directly on the route is Den Haag which needs a bit of care to navigate through. You can choose to take the route across the Wadden Islands, (although ferries and campsites can be a problem in the summer season) or across the Afsluitdijk, which is almost always open. I did the NSCR with some friends in four days in 2007.
The east of the country has some interesting scenery as well especially if you run all the way down to Roermond or Maastricht. If you are feeling adventurous, you could head east from Maastricht into the Ardennes for a couple of days.
The Hoge Veluwe, between Amersfoort, Apeldoorn and Zwolle, is nice but there's not enough cycling there for a two weeks. Unless you really like dawdling. Zeeland is nice too, with old towns like Willemstad and Middelburg plus smaller fishing villages and of course the impressive Delta Works. The wind can be a bit of a problem though.
Vexed's suggestion is quite good, in terms of seeing different types of countryside. Although it is a bit short for a two week trip.

Places to stay: try warmshowers.org, http://www.natuurkampeerterreinen.nl/ and http://www.kamperen-bij-de-boer.com/ Large commercial campsites are easier to find but are usually somewhat more expensive than the other three options.

You can take bikes on the trains, so if you cycled up to Nieuweschans, or down to Maastricht you could get back to Hoek van Holland without too much trouble. Or to another part of the Netherlands to continue your trip. Check prices and timetables for trains at http://www.ns.nl .

[Mattie]

It would be a shame to miss Amsterdam - worth a visit just to see the Rijks Museum.
http://www.rijksmuseum.nl

[syklist]

It would be a shame to miss Amsterdam - worth a visit just to see the Rijks Museum.
http://www.rijksmuseum.nl

I lived in Utrecht for more than a decade but never got round to visiting the Rijksmuseum

It has to be said that getting in and out of Amsterdam (or any of the bigger cities) on a (laden touring) bike does not make for the most pleasant of cycling. Even if you managed to navigate without any problems, you have all the casual cyclists to deal with. Hand signals are almost unknown to the cycling masses in Holland and sudden, random changes of direction are the norm. Not to mention the habit of stopping suddenly in the middle of the cycle track for a chat with a friend going the other way. Then there are all the random obstacles placed on cycle tracks which are supposed to make cycling safer.

It would be easier to leave your stuff and bikes at a train station/campsite on the outskirts of Amsterdam and take a train into the centre for the day.