Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => Rides and Touring => Topic started by: Notsototalnewbie on 16 March, 2010, 09:59:59 am
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I'm planning on cycling from the Hook of Holland to Groningen at a very leisurely pace around the end of May over 5/6 days. No more than around 40 miles a day, staying in a B&B each night. Then stay in Groningen a couple of days (we know someone there) and train back to Hook of Holland.
Can someone more knowledgeable than me suggest an approximate route/recommend places to stop each evening? I know from searching that there is lots of useful Netherlands touring advice on the forum, but as this would be my first tour outside the UK I would really appreciate advice on this specific route. Thanks.
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Stayokay; the Dutch youth hostels, are excellent, not cheap but as good a lot of B and B's with good food (which will be set menu so difficult for a veggie) and a bar, just booked a couple; Haarlem and Texel, for a trip to replace the aborted 1200 in July. There are enough dotted up the coast to make a reasonable interval between each one.
Be careful of the wind; on the coast it's pretty much impractical to cycle all day into it. There is a nice long distance route that goes all the way down that bit of coast.
And you will also be riding over the Afsluitdijk; again pray for no headwind that day (unless you are planning to hop the Friesland islands but that works out expensive in ferries). In May a trip to the Keukenhof tulip gardens near Lisse is a must if it's still open.
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I'm planning on cycling from the Hook of Holland to Groningen at a very leisurely pace around the end of May over 5/6 days. No more than around 40 miles a day, staying in a B&B each night. Then stay in Groningen a couple of days (we know someone there) and train back to Hook of Holland.
Can someone more knowledgeable than me suggest an approximate route/recommend places to stop each evening? I know from searching that there is lots of useful Netherlands touring advice on the forum, but as this would be my first tour outside the UK I would really appreciate advice on this specific route. Thanks.
You have given me an excuse to bring the maps of Holland down to The Smoke.
I shall be in contact with you telephonically to make suitable arrangements. ;D
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An alternative to the very populous coastal route would be to head inland to Appeldoorn and then north through Drenthe. The Netherlands is a delight to cycle through, particularly off the beaten track. Groningen is a lively student city with excellent bars and restaurants aplenty.
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Stayokay; the Dutch youth hostels, are excellent, not cheap but as good a lot of B and B's with good food (which will be set menu so difficult for a veggie) and a bar, just booked a couple; Haarlem and Texel, for a trip to replace the aborted 1200 in July. There are enough dotted up the coast to make a reasonable interval between each one.
Be careful of the wind; on the coast it's pretty much impractical to cycle all day into it. There is a nice long distance route that goes all the way down that bit of coast.
And you will also be riding over the Afsluitdijk; again pray for no headwind that day (unless you are planning to hop the Friesland islands but that works out expensive in ferries). In May a trip to the Keukenhof tulip gardens near Lisse is a must if it's still open.
Thanks. I will look into Stayokay. And point taken about the wind!
You have given me an excuse to bring the maps of Holland down to The Smoke.
I shall be in contact with you telephonically to make suitable arrangements. ;D
At your earliest convenience would be brilliant DUG, I'm keen to start booking accommodation. Ta muchly. And of course it is a perfect excuse for pancakes. :thumbsup:
An alternative to the very populous coastal route would be to head inland to Appeldoorn and then north through Drenthe. The Netherlands is a delight to cycle through, particularly off the beaten track. Groningen is a lively student city with excellent bars and restaurants aplenty.
I will bear that in mind (especially if the wind is against us), thanks.
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As Halloween suggests, there's two choices. One is up through Noord Holland and across the very impressive Afsluitdijk. There's a lovely cycle route from Hoek van Holland to Scheveningen (http://maps.google.co.uk/?q=Scheveningen+nederland). Some of the towns in Noord Holland, such as Edam, are beautiful old sea ports that are now on the shore of the IJsselmeer.
Alternatively, hand via Utretch, Appledoorn and Meppel. Some of that area is relatively empty for The Netherlands and has a different feel to the coastal regions. The wind can still be a problem.
LF 9 (http://www.landelijkefietsroutes.nl/routes/?route=11) may be useful.
I'll give you some more info when I'm at home tonight.
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When are you travelling, NSTN? We are off to Germany in late May, sailing from Harwich to the Hook and then on a train.
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Depending on the costal route, you may spend all day going up and down sand duneson a cyclepath, its knackering.
(this is what stuck in my head from being there in the 1980s)
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Thanks Adamski.
Wow, we are thinking of getting the ferry from Harwich on May 22.
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Thanks Adamski.
Wow, we are thinking of getting the ferry from Harwich on May 22.
Ah, we are going a week later.
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I followed the North Sea Cycle route from Rotterdam northwards along the coast and close to Gronigen in 2008. Tourist Tony has also done this, I'm sure others on here have too.
I've got the map of the coastal route if you want it: 1:75000 in a handy booklet. It's in Dutch,and I tore out all the "boring" pages about attractions etc (sorry) but the maps are complete, usable and very detailed.
(http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c22/gordon1314/IMG_2520.jpg)
(http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c22/gordon1314/IMG_2522.jpg)
PS: I've got the next three booklets too if anyone is interested? That's from Leer in Germany through to Fredrickshavn in Denmark. The Danish one is in English - but they've all had the non-map pages torn out. :-[
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There are loads of decent cycle routes in The Netherlands. The long distance national routes, known as LF routes (http://www.landelijkefietsroutes.nl/english/), are well signed and can be linked together to give plenty of long distance touring options. Generally these are on tarmac, either along cyclepaths or quiet roads. They're better than Sustrans routes because generally they follow sensible routes without silly pointless loops. Occasionally they'll be bits 'n' bobs that aren't tarmaced, but I've never felt unhappy on 23cc tyres. If the sections are untarmaced then I've found the tracks to be compacted tracks, so nothing too horrible and certainly better than some London roads. There's also a load of useful local cycle routes.
Personally, I'd probably chose to head across the centre of the Netherlands because I feel there's more variety in the scenery. Day 1 you could go to Utretch, and then towards Apeldoorn. I'm biased having spent a lot of time in the reedlands, but I would recommend following the LF3 (http://www.landelijkefietsroutes.nl/routes/?route=3) from Kampen to Heerenveen. Parts of that area are like a waterworld and it feels like boats are the only sensible way to get around. It's very beautiful. From Heerenveen you could then head eastwards to Groningen.
I can also email you some scans of an overview map of The Netherlands that shows the long distance routes, if you'd like?
I've no idea about accommodation.
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I followed the North Sea Cycle route from Rotterdam northwards along the coast and close to Gronigen in 2008. Tourist Tony has also done this, I'm sure others on here have too.
I've got the map of the coastal route if you want it: 1:75000 in a handy booklet. It's in Dutch,and I tore out all the "boring" pages about attractions etc (sorry) but the maps are complete, usable and very detailed.
(http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c22/gordon1314/IMG_2520.jpg)
(http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c22/gordon1314/IMG_2522.jpg)
PS: I've got the next three booklets too if anyone is interested? That's from Leer in Germany through to Fredrickshavn in Denmark. The Danish one is in English - but they've all had the non-map pages torn out. :-[
Those Bikeline books (which you have a photo of above) are excellent - although they're written in German rather than Dutch, as far as I am aware. I have several of the books for the German cycle paths I've ridden and they contain pretty much all the information you need. I believe some are now being translated into English as well.
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Those Bikeline books (which you have a photo of above) are excellent - although they're written in German rather than Dutch, as far as I am aware. I have several of the books for the German cycle paths I've ridden and they contain pretty much all the information you need. I believe some are now being translated into English as well.
Certainly the cover of the one Gordy has photographed is written in German, rather than Dutch.
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Thanks. :-[
I was actually just reading one of the books whilst chomping my breakfast weetabix and realised my obvious linguistic mistake. Unfortunately you've beaten me to it before I could sneak back and edit. Doh.
I'll also add to a comment above - the coastal route is flat and boring.
The big dyke is a good experience, though.
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Thanks. :-[
I was actually just reading one of the books whilst chomping my breakfast weetabix and realised my obvious linguistic mistake. Unfortunately you've beaten me to it before I could sneak back and edit. Doh.
I'll also add to a comment above - the coastal route is flat and boring.
The big dyke is a good experience, though.
Nah... too easy.... ;)
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Wow, you weren't kidding when you said the Stayokay places weren't cheap! Especially with the exchange rate being what it is. Ouch. I will see how the prices compare with other accomodation...otherwise this trip may turn out to be rather over budget...
Thanks for the bikeline booklet, it is much appreciated.
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Thanks for the bikeline booklet, it is much appreciated.
O:-)
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NTSN - I'm presuming you've booking your tickets through DutchFlyer (http://www.stenaline.co.uk/ferry/rail-and-sail/holland/)? If there's more than just you going, it might be worth talking to Stena about possible discounts.
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If you're on a budget, just kip on the sand dunes. Very pleasant :P
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With or without company?
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Greg, it's now only the two of us; I would have loved to get a group together but getting people to agree on dates was nigh-on impossible. We are going to book Dutchflyer tickets.
bobb, I will pass on the sand dunes suggestion, thanks!
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Greg, it's now only the two of us; I would have loved to get a group together but getting people to agree on dates was nigh-on impossible. We are going to book Dutchflyer tickets.
bobb, I will pass on the sand dunes suggestion, thanks!
I would strongly suggest that you book a night crossing on the way out and back. You'll have to pay for a cabin - but it means that you start the day refreshed when you get to the Hoek.
If you go for the cheaper option of the day crossing, pay the extra £10 to upgrade your ticket for the Executive Lounge. It's amazing how much free tea, coffee and fruit juice you can get hrough on an 6-7 hour crossing. ;D
If you take the day crossing, it's worth cycling into Rotterdam (about 30k) and staying the night at the Youth Hostel (StayOkay). It's not cheap, but again it means that you can start your ride refreshed after a good night's sleep - plus the breakfast isn't bad.
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We are now thinking it might be better to camp. The prices of both hostels and B&Bs are higher than I thought they'd be and I'd rather be in my own tent than some grotty cheap B&B in any case.
There seem to be rather a lot of campsites dotted along the route we are taking. Is it advisable to book, or will we get away with just deciding where we want to stop when we're there?
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We stayed at some lovely campsites during July last year. No cars next to tents, always space for cyclists up till 7pm. We had no problems with campsites being full.
Have a look at the Natuurkampeerterreinen.nl site, although on the North Sea coast they are quite sparse.
I also heard Farm camping is good.
Hope you have a nice time, its hard to imagine you wont.
We are booked up for the two weeks in August, I cant wait to roll off the ferry at the Hoek :thumbsup:
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My guess would be there's always place for a tent and 2 bikes, unless maybe if you want to stay at the campsite in Amsterdam. On the other hand, May is a bit early so I guess you'll be fine.
I don't know your list of campsites but some farmers have very small fields that are considered campsites, and there are a lot of them. There is a list of them and you can order that in bookform:
Vekabo Nederland - Home (http://www.vekabo.com/)
I haven't noticed this thread before, and am completely unfamiliar with the way you want to cycle (I'd probably do HvH-Groningen in one day), but this site has long distance routes on it:
Landelijke Fietsroutes - LF-routes (http://www.landelijkefietsroutes.nl/routes/)
There is a (Dutch, Flash) map to plan recreational routes on:
Fietsrouteplanner Fietsersbond, Fietsplatform en NBTC - knooppuntennetwerk en Landelijke Fietsroutes (http://www.fietsersbond.net/fietsrouteplanner/fietsroutes-recreatieveplanner/)
Also, the general wind direction is west - southwest so it's probably wise not to do the trip the other way round. In summer/spring wind from the east usually means good weather though, and the wind is very rarely strong then.
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Is camping in Holland like camping in England price wise?
I was going to camp in Portsmouth for a few days while waiting for a ferry. Firstly, I didn't like the only campsite I could find. Secondly I was reluctant to pay £10 a night for camping. I stayed in the YHA for £13 a night and instead of using my stove which uses fuel which costs money and buying a meal out, I used the hostel kitchen for free, had a fridge I could use and had a bed to sleep in. It was probably cheaper than camping.
Allthough I was usually paying about £5 for all the other campsites I've visited in England and Wales, you can get some that charge a fair bit of loot.
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Thanks all, lots more for me to research.
Teethgrinder, the hostels I found cost between 63-111 Euros to stay in a mixed dorm. With the exchange rate, that is just not a price I'll consider. I wish I could find places at YHA prices, but there don't seem to be any. Camping is significantly cheaper at 9-15 Euros a night.
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Thanks all, lots more for me to research.
Teethgrinder, the hostels I found cost between 63-111 Euros to stay in a mixed dorm. With the exchange rate, that is just not a price I'll consider. I wish I could find places at YHA prices, but there don't seem to be any. Camping is significantly cheaper at 9-15 Euros a night.
If you have a Youth Hostelling card then a one night stay at the Youth Hostel (StayOkay) in Rotterdam would be 43€ for the two of you.
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There are also the independent hostels.
If it was me, I wouldn't book anything, especially if you're always moving on, on a tourist route and not in peak season. Early starts and early stops are a good trick. If you get accommodation before the rush so that you don't end up trying to get into full campsites, hotels or hostels. Quite often the well advertised places (I expect you're googling for cheap digs) aren't always the cheapest. Advertising costs money.
15 euros a day sounds pretty OK, especially if it's between a few of you. I'd read that as £15.
Also with camping you can save money on food by cooking it yourself instead of buying a meal out. I like to eat cheap for a few days then have a good nosh up in a decent restaurant if I have any cash left.
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In my experience independent hostels aren't considerably cheaper, they can be considerably worse though. Small towns rarely have hostels, I wouldn't know one in my town. Hotels and B&B's are more expensive, in the price range Notsototalnewbie found.
Stayokay has variable pricing, from 20-35 euro per person per night. I paid 64 euros for 2 nights during Easter Weekend in Maastricht, and that's the normal weekend price.
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Got into Grongingen yesterday evening. 213 miles including detours into places like the Hague and Haarlem, not bad considering I am still quite under the weather from the sinusitis. Would not have been easy without Gordy's map, signposts were fairly good but there was still the odd one missing and that's all it takes to get lost...so very thankful for that!
Getting the train back to Hoek for the ferry tomorrow, will do a full write up with photos on my return. :)
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:thumbsup:
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Welcome back NSTN :-*. Did you have a great time or a fantastic time?
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Day 1
We were booked onto the overnight ferry, which meant we had all of Saturday to faff about packing. I was using a pair of Ortlieb 56l Back Rollers with the tent bungeed onto the rack, and a bar bag, while Rob had a pair of 36l Alturas with his half of the sleeping bag and his Alpkit mat bungeed onto the rack in a dry bag.
While Rob could have and would have taken more weight on than me (I was still feeling really weak having not got over the sinusitis that laid me low the week before), it wasn't wise as the Globe hybrid that he was riding (my commuter) is not anywhere near as stable as the Surly LHT, and the gears aren't as low. So we were fairly evenly split. We had no front panniers, and were very strict about what we packed, even though the fact that we were staying with his friend in Groningen meant that we needed some respectable clothes for a night out!
We set off around 7pm to catch the train to Harwich; it felt odd going to Liverpool street in the evening rather than the morning and not meeting the usual suspects there for a day ride! We picked up some salads and bits for the train as our dinner for the evening; turned out that they were among the healthier meals for the next few days!
When we got to Harwich the port was dead quiet and deserted apart from a couple of other cyclists, students who were going to Amsterdam. The Stenaline woman told us where to go for the ferry (bikes are treated as cars) but it wasn't clear in the dark car park and we ended up cycling around for a bit before we figured it out. The steep ramp up to the ferry was not fun with a full load, but it was the worst 'hill' we would have that trip!
After tying up the bikes on the ferry we found our cabin and settled in. I thought the cabin was pretty decent and after having my small celebratory bottle of wine I slept very well in the comfy bed.
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4024/4649048521_1b62ac158c_b.jpg)
Unfortunately the change to Dutch time meant we lost an hour, so we were pretty groggy by the time we got up for breakfast after about five hours sleep. Breakfast was nice but overpriced so we nicked a load of teabags as Rob had forgotten to pack his (I only had decaff) to make up for it, and Rob also made off with a croissant for later. We are quite pikey like that, it seems ::-)
Cycling off the ferry in front of all the cars we shamelessly pushed to the front of the queue for passport control and immediately found the signs for Den Haag (The Hague). I kept hesitating where the cycle path had right of way and couldn't believe it when cars stopped to let us go. It was brilliant and the weather was bright sunshine :thumbsup:
Signage was good along the North Sea Cycle route until we got to the outskirts of Den Haag (we wanted to detour to have a look around) at which point the signs to the centre disappeared and we floundered around a bit. Somehow Rob used the maps in both Gordy's book and the Lonely Planet book to get us to the centre, which was mostly shut, it being a Sunday. We pottered around a bit and had a look at the international courts of justice which had some brightly coloured benches outside with various 'peace' motifs.
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4004/4649667386_7c9bfe8215_b.jpg)
We also had lunch there and I had some gorgeous apple cake with whipped cream. Omnomnom. I ate it before I remembered to take a photo. ::-) We ended up spending rather too much time there early on in the day, but it couldn't be helped that it was so close to Hoek.
We picked up the North Sea Cycle route again, which was madly busy with Dutch bikes cycling 2/3 abreast and somehow squeezing past. We were the only tourers, although there were also loads of roadies. My goal was to get to Blomendaal aan Zee, because there were 3 campsites there according to Gordy's map and it meant we'd have done our minimum of 45 miles. I'd started to feel really knackered; the wind was not behind us but across us, and the virus I'd had had really sapped my energy. We cycled through the pretty seaside towns of Katwijk and Noordwijk, and had some ice cream to perk me up. The swarms of Dutch cyclists started to thin out, and the North Sea Cycle route signs disappeared, but luckily there was a map with the numbers on for the 'knoppuntenroute' and I noted the number for Blomendaal aan Zee.
By the time we got there at 6pm I was spent and stubbornly insisted we stay in the first campsite we saw, even though it left a lot to be desired and was 19 Euros not including shower tokens. It was basically full of static caravans with the odd patch of grass for a tent or two, there was crap music blaring and the toilet and shower blocks were pretty awful. But I was so tired and feeling quite ill so we just dealt with it, the upside being that the patch of grass we were told to camp on was one of the least bad and sort of private as it was round the back of a static caravan. It was a very sandy campsite being next to the dunes.
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4070/4649049045_7b764c550f_b.jpg)
After a shower, a brew (very pleased with our new jetboil) and some noodles and biscuits (and erm, a multivitamin!), I felt much better. We hadn't planned to cook much if we could find a restaurant for the evenings, but there was nowhere close by and I didn't want to cycle any more that day if I could help it. I slept like a log that night, the music didn't even stop me. The sleeping bag that Clarion and Butterfly lent us was very cosy, and the tent had plenty of room. It got dark really late so we didn't even need the lights.
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Awesome! I've skated the afsluitdijk, but in the other direction to you.
Apeldoorn would also have been an OK route, fun for me as it's the home of Challenge Bikes, the manufacturer of Seolferwulf.
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Day 2
I woke up feeling quite good and we had a brew and packed up, trying to pack as little sand as possible ::-) We had read Haarlem was pretty so headed there as it was only a few miles away. Again, it was too close for lunch, so we had brunch in the pretty square by the town hall. It was not very touristy (not English tourists anyway) and the menu was in Dutch, but I knew 'kaas' was cheese so that was ok ;D
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4011/4649667854_ba98650807_b.jpg)
The weather was still glorious and we had another potter around. Everything apart from cafes was closed again :-\ and we later found out it was a religious holiday. The whole place was full of musical organs playing competing tunes so it sounded like a crazy fairground. I think I found Haarlem's answer to Banksy:
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3663/4649668018_55ba008453_b.jpg)
I also made friends with a very chilled out cat who was happy to pose.
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4032/4649049631_26062a1420_b.jpg)
Our goal that day was to get fairly close to the afsluitdijk, and again we'd spent too much time in Haarlem, so we set off to get back on the North Sea route. We needed to cross the Noodzee kanaal, but there was no bridge. According to the map there was a ferry, which we found out was free and very heavily used, mostly by Dutch cyclists. Including one very blingy roady with red shoe covers.
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4043/4649668440_609ab797a3_b.jpg)
When we got off the ferry, all was well until we came across a road on our route that was closed. And when the Dutch close a road, they really close a road so that even pedestrians cannot get round. There were some yellow diversion signs, but we weren't sure where they joined up with the North Sea route. We cycled round some fields and houses for a bit before a Dutchman took pity on us gazing at our map and tried valiantly to help even though he spoke no English and we spoke no Dutch. Eventually another couple came along who spoke enough English to get us back on the route and we ended up going through some foresty bits. We even found a cafe in the middle of nowhere for ice cream.
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4048/4649768546_648396d0ab_b.jpg)
The route then went though a nature reserve which was very pretty. Unfortunately a lot of it was on this red herringbone brick stuff which was bumpy and uncomfortable and I started to slow again and feel a bit crap. Rob was much faster than me (normally we are well matched when I'm not ill, particularly with the Surly) and I had to tell him to slow right down as I stopped for frequent nose-blowing and chomping on Clif bars etc :-\
Our goal for that day was Petten as it was only about 20 miles from the big 'dijk, which was around 15 miles away so I psyched myself up for 15 slightly windy miles. But then a Bad Thing happened. We were in a stream of cyclists on their way home from the beach, and came across a junction with no signpost for the North Sea route (or Petten for that matter). It had numbers but no map, and cos all the tourist VVVs were closed we had no numbered map yet. So we followed the stream of cyclists. Which was not the right thing to do.
After a few miles we stopped because the signs had started to point to places far inland and we realised we had gone out of our way. The route was supposed to head inland for a bit, it was true, but we had gone too far. I found this very disheartening as I was feeling ill again, but reluctantly followed Rob's suggestion that we head to the nearest town of Bergen-Binnen and try to find Petten from there. The sky clouded over very ominously at this point, in a metaphor for my mood...
In Bergen-Binnen we found an amazing thing: an open supermarket (everywhere else had been closed thus far). I waited outside with the bikes while Rob went in and got supplies for the evening in case there was nowhere to eat; bless him, he came out laden with CHEESE and CHOCOLATE to comfort me as I was feeling very fed up indeed. I felt so crap he suggested we camp close by, but I stubbornly insisted we make it to our goal, even if we did it at 6mph....
We cycled on and to my delight I saw a bike route sign for Petten that suggested it was only 12k away which meant we had only gone about three miles out of our way. We cycled along a pleasant leafy lane and all of a sudden came across some kind of festival taking place on a sand dune. I have no idea what was going on, but there were lots of drunk people and awful music.
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4029/4649171729_32a13c560e_b.jpg)
We moved on, the sky clouding more and the temperature dropping. The Petten signs disappeared, but we figured it out from the numbers on a knoppuntenroute map we came across, and finally picked up a long, straight stretch of the North Sea Route that we should have been on.
By now a really spooky thick mist had come in from the sea and the wind was almost directly against us but we plodded grimly on knowing we were only three miles from the first campsite. Again, I had decided we were going to the first campsite we found so I could collapse in a heap. Eventually the beautiful sight of the flags of the campsite poked out of the thick mist and to our delight we found it was heaps better than yesterdays one; cheaper and with showers that were not only free but modern and clean, as were the toilets. Tents were put in a lovely field that was sheltered on all four sides, and reception sold wine :thumbsup: No restaurant, but no matter as we had supplies.
As we set up our tent we met our first cycle tourists, a couple called Mike and Maureen from Northumberland who were retired and doing the whole North Sea Cycle route. Mike was delighted to meet us as he'd also not seen any other cycle tourists and we chatted for a bit. They were in a worse situation than us regarding maps, as they'd hoped to buy them when they arrived but hadn't banked on everything being closed; at least we had Gordy's map. They had looked at the crap campsite of yesterday evening, but thought it so bad they had gone to a hotel! It turned out they were following our route.
Again I felt much better after a shower and lots to eat. Half a bottle of wine also helped; it was a screw top so Rob gallantly packed it in his panniers for the next day. The mist descended even more and it got rather cold so we went to bed and slept fantastically apart from when I had to make my way through the dark mist to the loos at 3am to erm, offload some of the wine. It was really eerie for a Londoner used to bright lights everywhere!
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Our goal that day was to get fairly close to the afsluitdijk
Sounds good so far and very good pictures but why don't you tell us where you are actually going instead of randomly hitting the keyboard? ;)
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Oh ha ha Del :P
Day 3
Today was a good day :thumbsup: We were determined to get to the other side of the 'dijk to the next campsite, around 55 miles away, and for the first time there were no towns that we wanted to visit early on in the day.
It seemed that we had been so tired when we arrived in Petten that we never even noticed these rather familiar sights outside the campsite reception.
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4023/4649668634_e9b6fd1c39_b.jpg)
We had a brew and bread and cheese for breakfast, said goodbye to Mike and Maureen, and set off. They'd told us there was a VVV tourist place in Callantsoog a few miles away that they were going to head for, and as we thought the numbered route maps would be really useful when we branched off the main route to head for Groningen the next day, we decided to try to get some there, as it was the first day stuff would be open. So we made a small detour, but the VVV only had maps for the local area and it was a bit of a waste of time, except that we noted down some of the numbers that led up to the 'dijk, which turned out to be really useful as we could head inland.
On the way out of Callantsoog we met Mike and Maureen again and told them not to bother trying to get maps at the VVV so saved them some time. We cycled along for a bit until we lost them as we cut a corner off the route and went a more inland way with tulips and windmills and stuff. Lots of the tulips had gone but a few were left.
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4016/4649050541_32fca8200f_b.jpg)
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4054/4649669406_043aec63fb_b.jpg)
This route zigzagged a bit so occasionally the wind was almost behind us, although those bits were over quite quickly as we zoomed along. Our plan was to get to the start of the 'dijk and have lunch there, and we made quite good progress, even on some offroady bits that were hard-packed fine gravel. At Den Oever we found a VVV with a knoppuntenroute map that would get us most of the way to Groningen once we left the North Sea route, so we bought that, and headed off to find a cafe. Den Oever was fairly dead but we found one that was open and had some typical Dutch food, according to the nice lady that owned it!
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A 'summer' burger that is apparently Dutch. Rob said it was nice, anyway.
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I was struggling to find veggie stuff, so when the lady suggested a 'bonita' to go with my cheese kroket, I thought that sounded quite healthy as it had vegetables.
It wasn't that healthy, being deep fried. But tasty nonetheless.
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There was a shop there where we stocked up, seeing as no campsites had been close to restaurants so far. I managed to mess up buying fruit as I didn't realise you had to weigh it and label it yourself :-[ but another customer was really sweet and helped me. And so off we set to cross the 'dijk, estimating it would take about 2 hours at our average speed so far.
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We saw hardly any other cyclists on it. There was this roadie who overtook us and then came back, probably using it as training.
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We also passed Mike and Maureen again as they stopped for a rest, it was funny to keep bumping into them but not that surprising. I was quite happy crossing the 'dijk as you could just get into a rhythm and plod along not having to concentrate much. Only the last few miles, when we turned into the cross wind, were a bit of a struggle. There were sheep on much of the grassy bits, and lambs, and they were quite entertaining.
Once we got off the dijk we had to do four miles directly into the wind to get to the first campsite which was just south of Harlingen. My speed went right down to 6mph but we had no choice but to get there, and get there we did. It was another lovely site with a little sheltered field with picnic tables. Another British couple were there, also retired and on a 6 week trip. And sure enough, Mike and Maureen were not far behind, so we made up Camp UK, until a Danish guy also turned up. It was a pretty campsite, with ducks waddling between the tents.
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We ate our noodles and some interesting dutch cheese with caraway seeds in it, and studied the new map we had bought for when we veered off the North Sea route. It turned out that tomorrow was to be our longest day so far at 66 miles and we spent some time finetuning a route with help from the other two couples. 66 loaded miles with a wind would be difficult, so we decided to set off really early, go slowly and take lots of breaks. The temperature really plummeted when the sun went in, so we went to bed with the intention of reading and having a chat, but had both passed out before we knew it - the 4 miles into a headwind had done for us.
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Our goal that day was to get fairly close to the afsluitdijk, and again we'd spent too much time in Haarlem, so we set off to get back on the North Sea route. We needed to cross the Noodzee kanaal, but there was no bridge. According to the map there was a ferry, which we found out was free and very heavily used, mostly by Dutch cyclists. Including one very blingy roady with red shoe covers.
There is one bridge actually, but that's on the eastern side of Amsterdam, quite a bit off route.
By the looks of it you had the most western ferry(there are 5 in total, the mostern eastern at the Amsterdam Central station), there is one other way to get to the north of the Noordzeecanal: over the locks to the North Sea. You'd be even closer to the Hoogovens metal industry complex though.
Except for the locks in IJmuiden and the bridge in Amsterdam there are 5 tunnels, but they are all highways and forbidden for cyclists, that's why the ferries are free for cyclists.
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Day 4
This was our last day of cycling. We had a visitor attempting to stow away on our tent; little did they know we wouldn't be going much faster than them in an attempt to pace ourselves...
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After a brew and packing up (we were getting much more efficient at this by now) we were on the road by 7.30am. The other British couple suggested we look for breakfast in a bakery, as they opened at 7am and would also make you a coffee if you asked. We went straight into Harlingen, a pretty little harbour town, and I followed my instinctive CAKE detector until we found this place:
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We got a selection of stuff; to add variety to the cake we also got some odd but nice fish & cheese things that were a bit like a pizza. We stuffed ourselves to stoke up for the long day ahead.
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We eventually found our way out of town, once the bridges allowed it - they rise reguarly to let boats pass. We made good progress along a path that went in and out of small villages and were at Leeuwarden by 11am, too early for the planned lunch stop so we just had a coffee and looked about a bit before pressing on. Getting out of Leeuwarden was confusing but eventually we got onto the cycle path alongside a busy main road. It wasn't pretty, but it was fast and direct so we decided to bash along it for a while to save lots of time and mileage as a compromise. After about an hour of that, we peeled off onto the numbered cycle routes using the map we'd bought, and started meandering through little villages. Unfortunately these villages were so sleepy that everything was closed, yet again, and we started to struggle to find somewhere for lunch so we stopped and had a snack to keep us going.
Eventually we found a place open selling, surprise surprise, fried things, so we stopped and had some of those while the sun decided whether or not to shine. We were heading through some fairly quiet residential areas when we came across another fully closed road. The only alternative was this:
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This was the worst I had to tackle with regard to surfaces, and it was still far better than some of the routes I've faced in the UK, as adamski had said. I think Rob was waiting for screeching but the Surly is very stable when loaded so I was actually fine and even overtook him at one point.
Soon we were into the province of Groningen, about 18 miles from the city of Groningen which was our final destination.
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They don't have the numbered routes in Groningen; I don't know why but it just stops at the border! And the signposts got really, really crap from here. Rob had written down the villages that led to the city from the other couple's map the day before, so we managed to find our way in the general direction by going from place to place. The paths were the worst here - narrow, and kept sending us across to the other side of the road in a very UK-esque fashion. It was unexpected because the city itself is very into cycling. Eventually it led us to a road where bikes were banned, so we turned onto another road which had no cycle path, but no signs banning bikes either, and we got no hassle, except from the wind which had turned right round and was slightly across us and slightly against us. I was starting to struggle from mile 50, although I was cheered by this little chap who was scarcely bigger than my dog:
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But time was on our side due to our early start, and we made another final stop for coffee which spurred us on, although again my speed was down. Feeling utterly exhausted, I rolled into Groningen around 7pm, knowing we had no campsite to find or tent to pitch, as we were meeting Rob's friend who taught/did research at the university there. I was not really in a fit state to meet someone new. My nose was sunburned to hell (all the nose blowing from the sinusitis meant I kept rubbing off my sunscreen) and I felt shattered. Luckily he was not one to judge the fact that his friend had shown up with a girlfriend looking like the wreck of the Hesperus and we cycled the last five minutes to his house, where I was offered a shower, pizza, a cup of tea and a bed. He said later that the grateful look on my face when I was offered tea was quite a picture.
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Day 5
This was a rest day. After a bit of a lie in we got up and went for a wander around Groningen, leaving the bikes at home as the city is easy to explore on foot. I was looking for poffertjes but nowhere seemed to do them which was very sad. I had to have apple tart with whipped cream instead, what a chore ;D I also bought a baby Gouda to stuff in my panniers, somehow, and some stroopwafels for my colleagues.
Traffic is banned from the centre and it's great :thumbsup: Bikes absolutely everywhere.
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4015/4649674080_b73f12df1b_b.jpg)
If my legs weren't feeling the miles in them, we would have climbed the tower, but they were, so we just took a photo instead.
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There were also quite a few arty bits and pieces like this:
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That night, we went to a restaurant where finally I had something that wasn't fried (having a Dutch person to translate was very helpful). Mustard and apple soup was different and delicious, as was my fruity (Belgian) beer. Later we went to a bar, and I saw how all the bars were surrounded with bikes locked only to themselves.
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The last day:
The last day has made me determined to include as few trains on future tours as possible! We had to get four trains back to the ferry starting at 9.06. Having purchased our bike tickets to go with the Dutchflyer tickets, we found the first train to Amersfoort easily and stowed the bikes on. Our next change had to take less than 2 minutes, but thankfully we just had to cross the platform (Dutch trains know the platforms they are going to in advance, apparently).
It was the third train that caused the problem; it was not on the platform it was supposed to be, so we went up to the concourse to see what was what. Turned out there had been a problem on the line and all trains were stopped in the direction we needed to go. After a panic after which it seemed sure we would miss the ferry, the very helpful staff member who had been assisting us told us the trains were just starting to run again, so we ran to the platform and managed to get our bikes onto what was now a packed train - there are bike spaces, but people can also sit in them. This train got us to Rotterdam, where we got onto a little Sprinter train that had no bikes spaces so we stood in the middle, just like on many UK trains. Rotterdam was interesting, because the lift we needed was broken. Eventually we ended up at the Hoek and got onto the ferry where we were able to relax a little and reflect on what we'd learned, which was quite a lot.
Oh and the train to Liverpool street was delayed too. We got home around midnight, having remembered to switch back to cycling on the left when we rolled out of the station. A long day.
All in all, a successful trip and learning experience, although it was a bit marred by the fact that I'd been/still was ill and was weaker than usual, I think that just makes it more of an achievement. :thumbsup:
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Well done NSTN! We must compare notes when we are back from Germany (Sunday next weekend). I really like the sound of a trip to Holland. As it is, Jan and I will be setting off in just over an hour for Harwich, via Auntie Helen's house and a pub for dinner.
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Thanks Wow; we will probably go again and do a completely different route. Enjoy Germany!
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excellent photos NSTN :) going back there in a few weeks for the aborted Lowlands 1200 trip and really looking forward to it.
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Just found this thread at work. Can't see the pictures.....
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I often can't see pics at work TT, cos a lot of places block Flickr and other photo hosting sites.
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That's what I meant. Will have to look at home and compare shots with my trip!
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Lovely to hear you had such a fab trip and it's got me in the mood for going back to The Flatlands next month.
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Glad you enjoyed it Laura.
Perhaps I can persuade you and Rob to join me on one of my Belgian meanders... ;) :thumbsup:
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I loved it and would definitely like to go back there once I'm 100% fit.
You certainly can Greg, I was saying that's where I'd like to tour next.
No sharing tents though :P
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I loved it and would definitely like to go back there once I'm 100% fit.
You certainly can Greg, I was saying that's where I'd like to tour next.
No sharing tents though :P
You can have your own tent...
...I'll share with Rob. :P ;D
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Why am I reminded of Tim Curry? It certainly isn't the resemblance ;D
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Brilliant report and pictures of CAKE, NSTN!