Cycle routes?

[steve williams]

Hello all my Dutch friends, I am relying upon you understanding English which I don't think will be a problem as I toured North Holland by cycle 3 years ago and did not meet a single person who couldn't speak English. I have had a go at speaking Dutch and well as you can imagine just saying Scheveningen was a problem.
I and 7 friends are thinking of coming back for another tour as we enjoyed it so much last time. We got the Ferry from Newcastle (North Shields) to Ijmuiden and went over to Enkhuisen (plenty of good bars) via Alkmaar and stayed there one night, we travelled to and stayed the second night in Amsterdam (not again though). We returned to the Ferry on the third day via Haarlem. What I am after really is some advice and possibly some route suggestions and places to stay going South towards Rotterdam or further over towards the centre of the country. I am open to suggestions as at this stage it just being planned.
So we will get the ferry into Ijmuiden in late May or early June and cycle for 3 days, two nights. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
I have loads of very good cycle routes covering the North of England and Southern Scotland if anyone wants any help at my end.
my e-mail is stevevee7@gmail.com

[Wim]

That sounds like a lot of fun. Some of us did Hull - Lake District - Newcastle a year and a half ago, and loved it. Two of us already knew about real ale, and I am happy to report we converted the others. We got soaked by rain, however.
Anyway, here is a link to our national network of long distance cycle routes. http://www.landelijkefietsroutes.nl/netwerk/
They are pretty well sign posted, so you may not need to buy the maps. As you must have gathered on your last trip, the West of the country is pretty crowded. Going south from IJmuiden gets you into the most populous part of the country. Perhaps I would rather go east, but I am not sure if any of the routes are any fun to do over there.
Please come back with more questions.
Willem

[Wit]

foutje

[Wit]

Hello Steve,

If you're heading towards Rotterdam try to cycle along the coast. (LF1) Then you'll find some amazing see-cycling at the north of Den Hague, its called Meyendael.
From here you could head towards Gouda and then inland to Rotterdam and then back to the middle of the Netherlands again like this http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Naar-Leersum

On my weblog you'll find some more informatioin about cycling in the Netherlands in English.

Blanche

[Wim]

True, if you stick to the dunes along the coast you will be fine going south.
Willem

[Reboli]

Hi Steve,
If you like some ideas, check openstreetmap cycle maps here. Plenty of routes there. Not just the Netherlands, but the rest of the world as well

Good luck and have fun!

[Erik v S]

The LF-network that Wim recommends are signed routes so you can leave the maps at home. There's also the routeplanner for these dutch long distance cycling routes (LF). fietsrouteplanner.eu covers a lot of the european cycling routes, including the LF-routes.

Is Rotterdam your final destination or are you taking the ferry back from IJmuiden?

Suggestion from IJmuiden to IJmuiden:
- LF1 through the dunes to Scheveningen (±55 km): so you need some more practice how to pronounce the name.
- LF4 eastwards to Utrecht (±80 km): right through the Green Heart. This is the crowded part of Holland that Wim mentioned. But when you ride this route it's hard to believe that 7.000.000 people are surrounding you. Amsterdam might have more canals, but none of them is as beautiful as the Oudegracht in Utrecht.
- LF7 north towards Amsterdam and LF20 back to IJmuiden (±90km)

Suggestion from IJmuiden to Rotterdam:
- LF20 & LF23 eastwards to Naarden or Huizen (±70km): from amsterdam you'll ride along the same lake that you saw in Enkhuizen.
- LF9 to Gorinchem (80km): This route is called NAP-route. NAP means sealevel. Without dikes, this would be the seashore. First part goes through an area with a lot of forest, landhouse and palaces. From Utrecht you'll have to cross several distributaries of river Rhine.
- LF12 to Rotterdam or Hoek-van-Holland (90km): along the Rhine-delta and through a few old walled towns.

[steve williams]

Thanks everyone, most helpful. Keep responding please.
There are some great ideas for routes. I will be planning the journey once I have managed to get the other guys convinced that Holland is the place to go. 7 of as want to come to Holland and 1 wants to stay in England.

Yes England can get a little wet at times we however have always cycled in late May or early June and have been really lucky as we have not encountered much rain. We got soaked in the South of France, that was the worst cycling we have encountered; the English roads can be bad if you don't know where you are going and in France we picked a poor route in fact the one guy who does not want to come to Holland is the guy that hated the South of France.
Our plan is as follows; get off ferry and cycle for about 60km. A night in a town, eat, drink, sleep.
2nd day is usually about the same (60km) but heading in the general direction of the ferry terminal. As close to a circular route as possible.
3rd day cycle back to ferry, about 40 km
You have given me some ideas which is what I needed. Thanks once again for all of your suggestions. Steve

[De tovenaar]

Our plan is as follows; get off ferry and cycle for about 60km. A night in a town, eat, drink, sleep.
2nd day is usually about the same (60km) but heading in the general direction of the ferry terminal. As close to a circular route as possible.
3rd day cycle back to ferry, about 40 km[/color]
You have given me some ideas which is what I needed. Thanks once again for all of your suggestions. Steve

Hi Steve,
How about cycling from IJmuiden and take the train on the last day back to IJmuiden? A route like this http://tinyurl.com/8d2xqn from IJmuiden to the centre of our country, and ending somewhere around the Veluwe (Arnhem, Apeldoorn or Zwolle depending on how far you want to cycle per day). From there you can take a train to Driehuis (unfortunately there is no train station anymore in IJmuiden so you need to cycle the last 5km). The train ride is appr. 2 hrs and you will probably switch trains in Amsterdam.

[Wit]

Hi Steve,
How about cycling from IJmuiden and take the train on the last day back to IJmuiden?

That's a good idea as the (see)foodbuffet (all you can eat) on the Scandinavian boat from IJmuiden is like heaven. And the food on the English boat from Rotterdam isn't.
I know because I went on this boats during a trip to the UK with the club de Wereldfietser.

Enjoy your food !

Blanche