Dutch Holiday Base

[mike4.3]

Whilst I'm happy to ride all day every day, my wife is not... my plan is to slowly get her riding more and more.
So I thought a compromise holiday would be to pop the bikes on the car, grab the ferry and spend a week or so in The Netherlands.
I'm looking for a good town/area to use as a base where we can stay in a nice hotel and go out riding or even pottering as much or as little as we see fit through the week... so somewhere with plenty of picturesque easy riding off in every direction would be ideal. It's not a place I know at all well so all suggestions are gratefully received Thanks in advance.

[simonhill]

Good idea, but I am not sure about Holland (Netherlands). Might somewhere like Brittany or Normandy in France offer more interesting cycling. Same plan, short day trips, use car to do further away loops, etc.

[mike4.3]

Well yes that's certainly a consideration but I'd like to explore a bit of The Netherlands as it's not somewhere I've ever really been (outside of Amsterdam).

[cjs]

Hi Mike….

Pottered around bits of Holland and as I’m sure you know the place is flat and loves cyclists so your wife bicycling should be pleasant, weather dependent. The daughter lives in Helmond near Eindhoven..

Holland to most eyes will not be scenic although ‘scenic’ is often in the eye of the beholder. I camped once for a couple of weeks on the southern edge of the beautiful "Amsterdamse Bos" (Forest). A beautiful area with many cycle paths into and around Amsterdam and surrounding canals & lakes. Peaceful traffic free routes all over the place with the addition of a good bus route into most places when the weather decided to lash down for a couple of days.

I would suggest you find a main location in Holland that caters for both your interests and then look for somewhere to stay… there is cycle paths everywhere.... personally for me and more importantly for the missus, for a couple of weeks, somewhere on the outskirts of Amsterdam would tick most boxes. When the wind or rains up then teddy bear goes flying if there is a long ride back but the shop, lakes, canals, cafes and general tourist stuff keeps teddy's safety belt on… then there is the trams & trains – all excellent…

Use the car, pop the bikes on, drive to some other town, park on the outskirts for free and cycle in on traffic free paths… just watch out for the small mopeds on some though…

Personally I love the place and brilliant to get people into a cycling mood…

[MockCyclist]

Zaandam, just north of Amsterdam, is very picturesque and there's riding in all directions. Classic Dutch windmill country.

Marken, Volendam, Edam, Hoorn, Enkhuizen, Alkmaar, all interesting places and easy to get to.

Probably best to avoid cycling in Amsterdam itself for beginners.

[mike4.3]

Personally I love the place and brilliant to get people into a cycling mood…

Wonderful... just the inspiration I needed

Thank you very much for the response... I shall certainly check these places out.
I think, as suggested, somewhere not too far from a city or 2 is a great idea then we can hop on a train for a few city days and get the best of both worlds.
Cooo, I'm excited already.

[Smudge]

We had a holiday in Holland in 2009 and stayed at this holiday camp http://www.duinrell.com/holidaypark/duingalows?gclid=CMH2tb6Rma0CFYEhtAod7lDzGw My wife is a total non cyclist but she came out for some rides of about 20 to 30kms and thoroughly enjoyed cycling in this area .. and the facilitys on the camp site are fantastic .. we went swimming every morning before breakfast and the theme park rides were great

Simon

[durhambiker]

Hi,I am in a similar position to you, more keen on biking day after day then jumping in a tent than my wife is. We comprimised,strapped the bikes to the back of the car and caught the ferry to Amsterdam,.the best place we found was Zandvoort,a very very pleasant seaside resort,beautiful beach,miles of sand dune bike tracks to explore,and further north,the lovely island of Tessle,we loved it last year.Accom was a mixture of hotel or b&b

[TerryH]

I understand your dilemma - I, too, am married to a 'reluctant' cyclist! My wife and I have been going to the Netherlands for cycling hols for many years. She really enjoys cycling there because it's so easy - flat, and the fietspad (cycle track) means you are away from traffic. You don't have to cycle too far between towns and villages either, so there is always the chance to stop for a cream cake or chips with mayonnaise!

We go to an area called the Achterhoek, which is in Gelderland, in the east of the country. Make your base around the town of Doetinchem. It's a quiet, largely rural area, with lots of nice villages and very pleasant countryside. Also, you are not far from the border with Germany, so can have fun riding into another country. If your wife cycles over the huge bridge over the Rhine at Emmerich, she will give herself a huge pat on the back. Another good cycling area is Drenthe, in the north east of the country. Hope you enjoy it.

[beachcomber]

+1 for the Zaandam area. It's within easy reach of Amsterdam too, so if you get bad weather you can get the bus or train into the city.

Arnhem is a pleasant city. The surrounding area has woods, open heath land and a few rolling hills. Gentle easily manageable stuff. There is a great park just outside town. The Hooge Veluwe. Very worth a visit. It has wildlife viewing areas, art gallery, natural history display, restaurants etc. You can spend all day in there. (There is an entry fee). If you are into military history there are several excellent museums.

If you have the time perhaps you could have a few days in one area them move base and expolore from another base. I did that last year and got to see some interesting places off the beaten track.

I had a very brief ride into Maastrict. That is somewhere I intend to visit for a longer trip in the future.