Check into your hotel and then get out to explore Europe’s most cycle friendly capital. The city is of course famous for its gorgeous 400-year-old canal district but we also recommend taking in the street artists and performers on Dam, Leidseplein and Rembrandtplein. The Canal Museum is a great new attraction and the renovated Rijks and Maritime Museums are also worth visiting.

Follow the cycle path south out of Amsterdam. After a while the urban sprawl gives way to a region known as the green heart of Holland. Low-lying polders, peat meadows, grazing cattle and canals line the cycle path while windmills and church spires punctuate the horizon. Your destination today is Gouda, a town famous for its cheese. Don’t miss the gorgeous market square with its 15th century town hall.

Please note that it is possible to split this day in two, spending an extra night in the town of Woerden – in this case you would cover 48 kms on one day and 38 kms the next.

Leave Gouda and cycle south on cycle paths that follow dykes through the unique polder landscape. Stop in Kinderdijk to admire the 19 traditional windmills that were originally built to pump the Alblasserwaard polder dry. Today a modern pump does most of the hard work but the windmills are still fully functioning and all bar one have resident families living inside. The unoccupied windmill is a museum which you are welcome to explore during your visit. Cycle on through Dordrecht, one of the oldest towns in Holland, completely surrounded by water and then to Papendrecht on the north bank, just 3km outside of town, for your overnight stay.

Leave today and pedal into the nearby Biesbosch National Park, a rare wetland habitat where the ecosystem has adapted to both saltwater coming in from the sea and freshwater coming down the rivers. Here the waters continuously ebb and flow through a maze of streams and tributaries, creating a paradise for all kinds of wildlife. Then cycle alongside Hollands Diep, the estuary of the Rhine and Meuse Rivers, to Willemstad, a fortified town shaped like a seven-pointed star. Take an evening stroll around this historic town, admiring the fortifications and pretty harbour, complete with windmill.

Today’s route leads you off the mainland onto a series of islands that make up Holland’s westernmost province – Zeeland. You’ll pedal through a patchwork of fertile polders, past sand dunes and deserted beaches. You’ll spend the night in the small village of Schuddebeurs, just 3kms north of Zierikzee, a lovely old maritime town. In its heyday, the Zierikzee’s harbour would have been full of tall ships, being loaded with salt, wool and grain to trade in Mediterranean and Baltic Ports. We recommend an evening stroll through the town’s cobbled streets.

Leave Schudderbeurs and cycle through Zierikzee and out to the coast. Here you embark on a 5km ride on a cycle path bridge across the Oosterschelde, a tidal basin that is also Holland’s largest national park. Cycle across the green meadows of Nord Beveland to Veere a charming village with a strong Scottish connection thanks to a long history of wool trade with Edinburgh. A little further south you cycle through Middelburg with its lovely town square and then to the maritime town of Vlissingen – you’ll spend the night in either of these pleasant towns.

The day starts with a ferry ride across the Schelde Estuary to the town of Breskens from where you start your last day’s ride. Quiet lanes and cycle paths lead you through a rural idyll of quiet countryside punctuated by picture-book villages to the picturesque, medieval town of Damme. After admiring the town, cycle along the canal-side cycle path, past the lovely old windmill to the gorgeous old city of Bruges. A network of cobbled streets and canals, lined with wonderful old townhouses criss-cross the city and quaint squares accommodate wonderful old churches and museums. Of course the Belgians are master chocolatiers and brewers and Bruges offers numerous opportunities to sample these world famous local products!

After breakfast it is time to check-out and head for home or your next adventure.