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 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 here.

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.

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 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.

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 38 kms on one day and 48 kms the next.

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