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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.
Windmills 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 Eurostar from UK here.
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Leisurely
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