The best cycling holidays in Europe.
Service Rating 4.7 from 898 reviews

Bruges to Amsterdam Cycling Holiday

5
(4 reviews)

A leisurely cycling holiday on quiet lanes and cycle paths from the lovely city of Bruges in Belgium to Amsterdam, Holland’s cycle friendly capital. Along the way you’ll pedal alongside serene canals and through idyllic polder landscapes to charming villages and historic towns. Highlights include the maritime towns of Zeeland, the windmills of Kinderdijk, Dordrecht – one of Holland’s oldest cities and, of course, Bruges and Amsterdam themselves.

Enjoy the atmospheric, cobbled streets and pretty canals of Bruges for an evening before embarking on a leisurely cycling adventure northwards to Amsterdam. Detailed route notes and maps will lead you along a wonderful network of cycle paths and quiet lanes and don’t worry, this is the lowlands and so you can rest assured you won’t encounter any hills along the way.

Flexitreks Cycling HolidayWindmills of Kinderdijk

The verdant polder landscape is interrupted by the odd windmill or church spire on the horizon, the latter providing advanced notice that you are about to cycle through another gorgeous little village or town.

The route flirts with the North Sea coast and at Breskens you cross the wide Schelde Estuary by ferry to the maritime town of Vlissingen in the rural province of Zeeland. Wide-open spaces, big skies and sandy beaches, characterise this charming region which is perfect for exploring by bike.

In North Brabant you spend a night in the fortified town of Willemstad, surrounded on three sides by water, before riding on to Dordrecht, an ancient town with many historic buildings and a delightful old marina. The 19 working windmills of Kinderdijk are another highpoint as is the cheese town of Gouda with its wonderful central square.

Finally you pedal triumphantly into Amsterdam, a city where bikes outnumber cars four to one! Explore the 400 year old canal district and toast the completion of your adventure in one of the many street cafes.

This is an easy to leisurely route that can be enjoyed by anyone with a basic level of fitness.

Itinerary

This is an easy to leisurely route that can be enjoyed by anyone with a basic level of fitness. The daily distances are very manageable with the possible exception of day 7 where you will cover 80 kms. If this sounds a bit daunting then select the 8 night option which includes and extra nigt in Woerden and effectively breaks this day into two much shorter days.

Bruges is a very picturesque city with a history stretching back to the Vikings. A network of cobbled streets and canals, lined with wonderful old townhouses criss-crosses the city. 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 products.

Your cycling adventure begins in earnest today with an easy and enjoyable ride eastwards across open countryside and beside tree-lined canals. After a short distance you reach the pretty, cobble-stoned village of Damme. You won’t be the first to be tempted to stop for a coffee in this lovely little place. A few kilometres further along the cycle path you cross the border into the Dutch province of Zeeland. Quiet lanes and cycle paths lead you through a rural idyll of quiet countryside punctuated by picture-book villages to the coast at Breskens. A short hop across the Schelde estuary on a ferry boat brings you to the maritime town of Vlissingen. You’ll spend the night here or, potentially, in nearby Middelburg.

After breakfast you follow a canal-side cycle path to Veere, a charming village with a strong Scottish connection thanks to a long history of wool trade with Edinburgh. A 5km ride across a cycle path bridge brings you to the delightful town of Zierikzee. In its heyday, the town’s harbour would have been full of tall ships, being loaded with salt, wool and grain to trade in Mediterranean and Baltic Ports. You’ll spend the night in a nearby village.

Today’s ride leads you through a patchwork of fertile polders (reclaimed plots of land enclosed by dykes) past sand dunes and deserted beaches. You cycle out of Zeeland and into North Brabant to Willemstad, a fortified town shaped like a seven-pointed star. Take a stroll around this historic town, admiring the fortifications and pretty harbour, complete with windmill.

After breakfast mount up and follow Hollands Diep, an estuary of the Rhine and Meuse rivers, upstream to the 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. Cycle on through Dordrecht, one of the oldest towns in Holland, completely surrounded by water and then to Papendrecht for your overnight stay.

Please note: Biesbosch Park can only be cycled on days the ferry runs. The price of the ferry is NOT included, so you will need to pay for this locally. Cards only are accpeted. no cash payment possible. There is an alternate route for days with no ferry departure.

Today’s route leads you northwards to the village of Kinderdijk where an impressive collection of 19 windmills 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. You then ride at an altitude of about two meters below sea level through the unique polder landscape to the cheese town of Gouda. Take a stroll around the old town to soak up the atmosphere stopping in the lovely market square with its 15th-century town hall.Your overnight will be in Gouda, Bodegravem or Oudewater.

Your last day in the saddle takes you into the green heart of Holland. Low-lying polders, peat meadows and grazing cattle interspersed with church spires, windmills and canals line the cycle path. Slowly the rural landscape gives way to an urban one and before long you arrive in the cycle friendly city of Amsterdam. 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.

After breakfast at your hotel in Amsterdam it’s time to check-out and head for home or your next adventure.

Bikes

On this tour you can choose between a regular bike or an E-bike.

Regular bike: Is an alloy framed model with 21 speeds and a comfortable, relaxed riding position, perfect for a leisure cycling holiday. The minimum height for a male specific bike with crossbar is 150cm and for a unisex/female model is 140cm. Adult bikes are equipped with a pannier, lock and repair kit.   

E-BIKES: These unisex/step through electric bikes are a popular option on this route and ensure riders can enjoy the scenery along the way, whilst not working too hard at the climbs. The bikes come equipped with a pannier, lock and repair kit. The minimum height is 160cm.

We suggest you bring your own helmet for safety and hygiene reasons, alternatively helmets for adults only are available for rent at the time of booking.

Accommodation

Below you will find examples of the accommodations typically used on this tour. Please note that the hotels we book for you may differ slightly from those described but they will certainly be of a similar standard.

Superior: Excellent 3 and 4 star hotels.

Bruges: Velotel Bruges

Middelburg: Hotel Loskade 45

Zierikzee : Hotel Mondragon

Willemstad: Hotel Mauritz

Papendrecht: Leonardo Hotel Papendrecht

Gouda: Best Western Gouda

Amsterdam: WestCord Art Hotel

Local taxes

Some hotels in some countries have started to charge a local/tourist tax. These taxes are not included in the sale price of the tour and must be paid directly by you at check-in or checkout at the hotels. This fee varies and is ever changing but as a guide, you may be asked to pay between €1-€4 per person per night.


Getting There

Fly to Brussels or take the Eurostar. Then, take a train to Bruges.

At the end of the trip fly or take the Eurostar from Amsterdam.

Research flights from UK airports.

Research Eurostar from UK.

Research trains in Belgium.

Reviews

Anonymous - September, 16 Sep 2024
Service
5
Bikes waiting for us at the hotel in Bruges. Plans provided were excellent.
Andy - October, 27 Oct 2024
Good to hear all went well.
Service
5
Really well planned. Excellent hotels and route plans were really good
Andy - October, 27 Oct 2024
So glad you enjoyed it, thanks for your review.
Phil B - September, 02 Sep 2024
Service
5
Flexitreks were very helpful at the initial booking stage, the routes and pre trip information was sent well in advance via an app called Ride with GPS and we felt very well prepared for what to expect before we arrived. Everything was very well organised and ran smoothly.
Andy - October, 27 Oct 2024
Super, many thanks Philip.
Service
5
I absolutely loved this holiday! Belgium and Holland are so well set up for cycling, the scenery is stunning, and the route is mainly on either dedicated cycle paths or very quiet roads. All the hotels were of a good standard, the luggage transfer worked smoothly and the supplied GPS routes were accurate and easy to follow.
Andy - October, 27 Oct 2024
Lovely review, many thanks Philip. Thanks also for the great photos!
Anonymous - June, 01 Jun 2024
Service
5
Ally was excellent in making sure that I had the type of holiday I was looking for. Nothing was too much trouble.
Andy - October, 26 Oct 2024
So glad you were pleased with our service and thanks for taking the time to submit this review.
Service
5
Everything ran smoothly, no hitches at all. The pack I received at the first hotel gave me all the information I needed. I also had the app, which I found easy to navigate. The cycles were through some stunning scenery and the hotels were all of a really good standard. All in all, Flexitrek made my first cycling holiday a wonderful experience. I'll be back for more. Ally was a delight to speak with and she just understood what I was looking for as a solo traveller.
Andy - October, 26 Oct 2024
Lovely photos! We're glad you enjoyed the trip so much and many thanks for the review.
Kim Buchholtz - June, 20 Jun 2019
Service
5
Very quick responses and all the information was extremely helpful
Service
4
Cycling was an amazing way to see the countryside and very peaceful. All the staff and hotels were extremely accommodating especially when my friend was unable to ride during illness. We were a bit disappointed that in 2 hotels (Amsterdam and Gouda) we were booked in double rooms, not twin rooms and this was especially a problem considering my friend was ill and we were desperately trying to stay far apart to avoid bugs! The Campanile in Gouda did manage to change rooms but unfortunately the Westcord was unable (unwilling?) to change our room. There were a few errors on the instruction booklets... one when leaving the Kinderdijk area and another when when were heading into Amsterdam along the river and there were repeated canal crossings... some of the numbers are missing off the booklet. Having our bags moved each day and having the bikes set up and waiting at the first hotel made the whole trip so easy! We would both definitely consider doing a trip like this again.
Andy - September, 03 Sep 2019
Sorry about the room issue Kim but glad you enjoyed the holiday overall.