Touring in Holland - September ?

[andrewc]

Other stuff has been getting in the way, so I've not had a camping tour this year.   

I'm toying with the idea of going to Mildenhall for the weekend rally & then travelling to Harwich to get the ferry over to Hook of Holland.

While I've been to the Dutch cities many times, I've never cycled there, apart from a bit of border hopping down near Maastricht.

Where can I go to from the Hook for a couple of weeks ?   Either a circular tour, or a linear one that ends up somewhere I can get a train back to the ferry.

All suggestions & advice welcome 

[Adam]

Depends how far you want to travel in a day.  But with a couple of weeks, you can easily cover a lot of the country.  Especially near the coast, the wind direction can be a big factor, as heading from Hook of Holland to Amsterdam into wind for 100 km would not be fun.

If you've been around the major cities, and the wind's behind you, why not head out through Flevoland up to Groningen?

[Martin]

Wot Adam said but I would highly recommend Zeeland (as many of the islands as you like they are all connected) across the Afsluitdijk and onto Texel; and definitely Freisland

just watch that wind!

[Adam]

Or do a themed tour.  Gouda to Edam, and so on.

[Pippa]

https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=84784.0

 

[andrewc]

Good stuff.  Keep it coming.  40 -50 miles per day would be my normal touring pace.     Wind ?  I survived 4 weeks in Iceland,  that's wind !

Just booked 2 weeks leave.

[yoav]

We did a 50 mile a day tour of southern Holland a few years ago which went:
Ijmuiden(ferry) > Delft > S'Hertogenbosch > Arnhem > Utrecht > Amsterdam > Edam > Ijmuiden
All these towns and cities are worth a visit.
Last year we rode from Maastricht > Eindhoven > Gouda > Haarlem
Again, all worth a visit.
Never done the north of Holland (yet) but I'm sure it's worthwhile.

[αdαmsκι]

https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=84784.0

 

Avoid too much riding in the Flevopolder, ie around Almere / Leylstad because it's just drained land and is really dull. Saying that, Urk is pretty cool because it use to be an island but is now a town that's part of the mainland. Same for Schokland. If you want to head in that direction then go sort of towards Amsersfoort - Harderwijk - Kampen.

I really like De Weerribben and Giethoorn is brilliant place to slowly ride through.

The LF routes are national cycle routes that are really well sign posted. There is loads of information about these routes, such as: http://www.holland-cycling.com/where-to-go/long-distance-cycle-routes/national-long-distance-cycle-network.

Also: https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=4500.msg74829#msg74829

It's pretty easy to take your bike on a train, tho you do need to also buy a ticket for your bike that's a fixed cost (6.10€) regardless of the distance.  See www.ns.nl

[Martin]

+1 to Flevopolder; boredom broken up only by f off high wind turbines. Urk is definitely worth a trip through though as it seems all new but Also that part of the Ijsselmeer is now freshwater and infested with flies in the summer

Heeg is a nice stopover not sure if there's a campsite

Groningen is out of the way but charming;I suppose you could press on into Germany if there was a ferry back, not much fun for cycling compared to NL though (we rode from Hamburg last year and were very glad to cross the border)

the enclave of Zeeland Flanders across the water from Vlissingen is also definitely worth a ferry trip; or you could carry on through Belgium to Zeebrugge / Dunkerque and home from there

[αdαmsκι]

Here's the route Pippa and I did a few years ago: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1uIn9O6QFGUvfuZAZZAHlJHRuRo0

[bhoot]

Warning.. Dutch cycle touring enthusiast here.....
We did a two week tour a few years' ago which started in Hoek. First we went to stay with friends on Goeree Overflakee (it's the island you arrive on by going south over the fast ferry from HvH, then over one causeway) for a couple of days. We then set off on the tour proper via Breda, cutting across through Genk in Belgium to Maastricht. We did a day circular trip out to the Drielandenpunt (and Belgium again) then took a train north to Arnhem. Without the two days spent with our friends earlier I am fairly sure we would have had time to cycle this too. From there we headed through the Hoge Veluwe national park (entrance change but worth it) and then on towards Groningen. Next up was a trip to Pieterburen seal sanctuary on the north coast and then we headed to the Friesian island of Ameland for a night.  South via Leeuwarden took us to the Stavoren ferry across the Ijseelmeer (so avoiding the long Afsluitsdijk into a head wind), then Edam for a night, then slipping round the eastern side of Amsterdam to get to Utrecht (the main cycle route in being via the red light district situated on barges moored along the canal!). The last leg took us back to Rotterdam and thence to Hoek. We covered around 50-70 miles a day to do that and were camping (it was a June trip).
Since then we have cycled many other times over there, including heading across to Germany. Last year we did that in late September and had fabulous warm and suny weather (almost too hot) so you could well be lucky at that time of year.
I would strongly recommend going towards the east of the country, still flat but different to the polders and dijks of the west. A surprising amount of wood and forest, often with great off road cycle tracks (properly surfaced with unmade vehicle routes alongside - it's the Dutch way). For some hilliness then the corner down by Maastricht is worth a visit (and don't miss the opportunity to ride in three countries in 15 seconds!) and Arnhem suddenly presents some unexpected slopes too (the Youth hostel is at the top of one of them). Ameland was fun with a lovely wiggly (to avoid sandbanks) ferry crossing of the Waddensee (e-bike charging points on board), but we were probably there at a lively time of year and it may be quiet in September (think high class resort not desert island!).  From our experiences most Dutch towns are charming in a "sit and have coffee in the square while listening to the tinkly clock on the town hall" sort of way rather than having specific tourist attractions. Ferries are also good fun - there are vehicle ferries on the Rhine with no engine which work by letting the current push the boat across from an upstream pivot point, and the excellent self winding chain ferries for bikes and people - so it's an idea to work some of them into the route.
I hope you decide to go and love it as much as we do.

[andrewc]

Return overnight ferry from Harwich to Hook of Holland is £164 with the cheapest cabin. 


Train back from Harwich to Liverpool via London is £105!   

[RichForrest]

Have you tried the rail sail booking https://www.stenaline.co.uk/ferry-to-holland/rail-and-sail?gclid=Cj0KCQjwh_bLBRDeARIsAH4ZYEPpZCD8wLLKNNqb48WfZnj-D_j3COnHFiUnLzEtz60A9ia8Nca4u1oaAtatEALw_wcB

It says from £55 including the rail to London + of course the price of the cabin on top.

Rich

[Kim]

IIRC you can't take bikes on a rail-sail ticket.

[quixoticgeek]

Two weeks to tour in the Netherlands? Where would I go? Um, Belgium... Specifically the lumpy bit in the east. In 2 weeks you could get from Hoek all the way out east down to Zuid Limburg, through the Hogh Venn, and even down to Luxembourg and back.

On a more practical note, based on cycling here in .nl a lot, things to be aware of:

- The headwind is omni directional, don't think that turning round on a headwind will ease, you'll find you've got the same wind from behind too...
- Being flat is not the wonderful utopian riding you think it is, there is no rest bite. You will keep pedalling and always pedalling and you can't get to the top of this rise, and coast for 5 minutes...
- You can see for miles, this means you can be seen for miles... makes nipping behind a bush hard...
- Public loo's are a foreign concept...

Other than that, good luck!

J

[andrewc]

I don't think you can use the Dutch Flyer tickets without booking a separate bike ticket, and anyway, it's the £82 from Euston to Liverpool that's the pricy bit.

[rafletcher]

- Public loo's are a foreign concept...

Other than that, good luck!

J

When I was there (which admittedly was 30 years ago) it was the same, but bars would allow you to use the toilets without the necessity of a purchase.

[andrewc]

Two weeks to tour in the Netherlands? Where would I go? Um, Belgium... Specifically the lumpy bit in the east. In 2 weeks you could get from Hoek all the way out east down to Zuid Limburg, through the Hogh Venn, and even down to Luxembourg and back.

Other than that, good luck!

J

Yes, Belgium is lovely for touring.  Been there a couple of times   https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=84753.0   https://flic.kr/s/aHsm1qfpU5

[Ruthie]

Other stuff has been getting in the way, so I've not had a camping tour this year.   

I'm toying with the idea of going to Mildenhall for the weekend rally & then travelling to Harwich to get the ferry over to Hook of Holland.

While I've been to the Dutch cities many times, I've never cycled there, apart from a bit of border hopping down near Maastricht.

Where can I go to from the Hook for a couple of weeks ?   Either a circular tour, or a linear one that ends up somewhere I can get a train back to the ferry.

All suggestions & advice welcome 

When I stayed with my brother in Voorhout last year, we rode to Leiden, and it was dead easy on the cycle paths.  And it's not a million miles to Rotterdam from there.  Some lovely beaches round there.

[Karla]

Two friends and I did a tour from HvH in the spring of last year.  We rode north, hugged the coast and taking mainly cycle paths, up to the Ijsselmeer where crossed using the Afsluitdijk before riding inland.  It's lovely country and I'd love to explore the area again, preferably at a time when the whole of northern Europe isn't getting hit with snow - or at least next time I'd take full winter kit if the forecast is as bad as it was back then. 

You'll probably mainly be interested in our first couple of days, to Groningen, and you'll probably want to split each of them in half.  Groningen has a reputation as a very pretty city and it's a well deserved one.  There's an inland route to get there but theAfsluitdijk is an interesting experience to do once - 20 miles across the sea is unlike most other riding you'll ever do - although it's obviously 20 miles of extreme flatness so I wouldn't want to do it every day.  You are quite exposed too the weather if you stay by the coast though, so you may want to think twice about it that late in the year - or at least take a good waterproof. 

One area that I'd like to explore is the Frisian Islands - mainly because I watched The Riddle of the Sands (full film on Youtube) and spent most of the time looking at the scenery.  We didn't go there on our trip as the ride leader was mainly trying to get to Berlin, but I'd certainly divert if I ever go back there. 

Oh, I can recommend an excellent Airbnb in Schagen, and the pub/cafe at the north end of the Afsluitdijk does very good apple pie 

Photos on faceache

Day 1: Hoek van Holland to Schagen
Day 2: Schagen too Groningen
Day 3: Grongingen to Bad Zwischenahn Part 1, Part 2
Day 4: Bad Zwischenahn to Bremen
Day 5: Krinitz to Grabow (Not starting from Bremen cos we took teh train)
Day 6: Grabow to Berlin
Day 7: (okay, it was actually Day 8.) Berlin-Poland-Berlin

[andrewc]

Well fuckadoodledoo      Looks like I'm not going to Mildenhall.    The usual slow train to Ely isn't available, and the alternatives offered involve multiple changes & bustitution     


I can get a return from Liverpool to Harwich for the same price as a single back.  How does that work out ?




Edit. Oh Deep Joy.   Looks like they are playing silly buggers with the West Coast Main Line on 26th August.   Train to London goes via Nuneaton & Leicester. 

[RichForrest]

The bus is for the Peterborough to Ely part, how about cycling across from Peterborough?

[Butterfly]

The bus is for the Peterborough to Ely part, how about cycling across from Peterborough?

Even I have done that fairly easily.

[andrewc]

Already bought a return from Liverpool to Harwich.     I'll miss you lot, but will have an extra 2 days drinking Dutch & Belgian beers 

[loadsabikes]

Every cloud and all that...