Mate was talking about this yesterday. First glance suggests it’s a) 570km long, b) likely to be a tad blustery and c) the Afsluitdijk is closed to bikes for 18 months.

Anyone done, how do you get to and from each end from, say, Rotterdam?

Bearing in mind that the Dutch typically don’t allow bikes on trains…

Should be fine

https://www.holland-cycling.com/blog/301-afsluitdijk-closed-for-cyclists

Check that link out for alternative arrangements regarding afsluitdijk closure, looks like you can put your bike on a bus. In 2019 they opened it to cyclists on certain sundays but can’t see anything for 2020 yet.

Never had an issue putting a bike on a train so wouldn’t let that put you off getting back from the north to Rotterdam if that’s the way you’re intending to go (apologies if that comment above was sarcastic!)

Which way’s the prevailing wind?

Hi, been lurking on this forum for a while but saw this and thought I could probably offer something useful. We toured northern Holland last year. It can be breezy on the coast but no more than you’d expect on exposed sections. Long sections of the route are shielded by sea defences and dyke embankments. The Afsluitdijk is closed but there’s a bike bus that drops you half way across so you can still cycle a large section of it. We rode from IJmuiden north in a big loop that brought us back to the same port.

Harwich-Hook of Holland ferry drops you right on the route about 500m from the river mouth, just turn left out of the port and turn right 500m later at the seafront.

Hull-Rotterdam Europort is a bit trickier with about an hour faffage to get properly underway. Head inland from the port to Rozenburg, then the little ferry to Maassluis where you can turn left and head back downriver about 5k to meet Hook of Holland, or there is a train station at Maasluis to hop on and get you there in about 10 minutes, or about the same the other way into central Rotterdam for a mooch about(recommended, loads to see) before setting off on your ride.

Don’t have too much liquid fun in Delft on King’s Day and miss the ferry on your way back and have to spend an extra night in Rozenburg, as your family may never allow you to live that down, even if it was a good laugh.

Like button for midlifecrashes last sentence.:-)

@markreed Is the Afsluitdijk worth the trip? I’d heard it’s a bit featureless?

@midlifecrashes That’s not from experience, by any chance?

@ratherbeintobago we rode it as I’d always wanted to see it from an engineering aspect but to be honest it’s a long straight cycle path running alongside a dual carriageway which only has a view to one side as the other is blocked by the dyke embankment. It was also a bit of a slog on loaded tourers into the strongest headwind we experienced on the whole tour. We wouldn’t make a special trip back! It does connect some very quiet and rural parts of northern Holland so was worth doing.

::Embarrassed smiley::

Look up Stayokay.com, similar to our YHA. We did a tour of the Randstaad rather than a coastal run. Hull-Rotterdam then Rotterdam-Dordrecht-Gouda-Utrecht-Amsterdam-Heemskerk-Haarlem-Leiden-DenHaag-Delft and back to the ferry (twice). End of April and had sleet or hail most days, so wrap up warm if going before second half of May.

I’d want to cycle a little bit inland. Then you get to stop off at all the interesting places like Delft, Den Haag, Leiden, etc. rather than the path pretty much right by the sea the whole way.  No idea about the bit north of Amsterdam.  I only lived there for 4 years, and erm, never went north of Amsterdam centraal station.

I rode it with the family from Lille railway station in France to Germany, nearly all along the coast but with some incusions inland to towns as Andy suggests. We’d previously ridden west to east on a trip from Paris to Berlin. The start is very inhabitted and the end surprisingly deserted. We stayed on mini-campings which are allowed to have just a few tents on a field and provide a shower. We cheaed using a train for one bit of the north that was getting dull, bikes wheeled on fully loaded no problem.

We enjoyed it, interesting culturally rather than spectacular landscapes. The Dutch were very friendly and helpful. The cycle paths are excellent and go everywhere.

We rode the long dyke thing, one of the memorable bits, the water was warm enough for a swim before setting out along it.

So why when I look at taking a bike from AMS to Utrecht I was told I couldnt… Huh!

@Edukator How long did that take you?

I did a cycle tour in the netherlands and did some of the north sea path

Dutch cyclepaths / cycleways are great but can be confusing as there are 3 systems. Long distance routes like the north sea route. Quickest way between towns and most scenic routes . This causes us confusion and hilarity at getting to a junction and seeing the same town signposted in 3 different directions!

We ended up using the “junction system” which is great. Its the most scenic route rather than quickest. Each road junction has a map with each junction numbered. You remember a sequence of numbers of junctions that is your route. Before each junction you will see stickers on lampposts telling you which junction is in which direction and simply keep on following the chain of numbers you want until you have done your memorised numbers then stop at the map board and memorise the next few. The main disadvantage with this system is you spend a lot of time in Dutch suburbia which is weird. You also have to have faith in it as sometimes the marked route does not look like it goes anywhere.

I really enjoyed the tour.

https://www.hollandcyclingroutes.com/cycling-daytrips
Edit – our photos

One thing about it was that you really get to see what good cycling provision is. another is you get to understand the dutch psyche a little. walking along the dyke and seeing the sea 10 ft below us on one side and our tent 20 ft below us ie 10 ft below sea level the other side was weird and a bit unsettling

So why when I look at taking a bike from AMS to Utrecht I was told I couldnt… Huh!

No idea. Were you trying to travel during peak times during the week? You can take your bike on the trains during off peak times (0900-1600, 1830-0630) during the week, all times at weekends and all times July and August, but you need to get a ticket for it (Fietskaart Dal). More info here

https://www.ns.nl/en/travel-information/bikes-on-the-train.html

And here

https://www.holland-cycling.com/planning-your-trip/getting-around/rail

Agree with heading inland through some sections to see some of the town’s and definitely second TJ’s point about getting the numbering sorted. The first time cycling through the Netherlands we thought we could just follow one number as per the sustrans routes here, but nope, you need the combination. It’s pretty easy, we just ended up writing down the combo on a piece of paper and either sticking it to the stem or having it easily to hand so you’re not getting a map out all the time.

If you’ve ever tried to follow a typical circuitous UK Sustrans route, the well signposted and maintained Dutch network is refreshingly easy to navigate.
All the Dutch paths are mapped on the usual open source street maps (and Google maps) so it’s also very easy to navigate with GPS. Main routes are signposted pretty much straight off the ferry.

As I said above – I found them confusing until I sorted out the different styles of routes. I was just unused to signage being consistent with one type of route but inconsistent between them . I guess because I was used to the UK inconsistent signing on one system rather than the dutch consistent signing but different between the different systems. So we would be following the green mushrooms markers then a red mushroom marker would direct us in a different direction!

Also the dutch have this thing where you are just expected to know the rules both written and unwritten – but for us furriners no one explains the rules!

finally – be aware of the different dutch standards of politeness. No one will acknowledge you or hold doors etc. To the dutch this is polite because its all about not invading your personal space / privacy!

One thing we did was fly a big saltire flag of the back of the bike as a way of saying – ” tourists – give us room” Otherwise you run the risk of being sworn at in dutch as you dither at junctions

A long time ago I’ve found this forum, when I was looking for mountainbike routes in the UK. I guess it’s time to stop lurking and return the favor.
I live just west of Rotterdam, so I use parts of the coastal bike path for my road rides. If you’re looking for flat, well kept and car free bike paths, we have plenty of those.
But asking about them on a British mountainbike forum, seems a bit weird. I would rather go to the lake district 😉

Going from Rotterdam to Sluis by train would involve taking the train to Antwerp, changing to the train to Brugge etc.
So it would probably be easier to cycle there and then come back up the same way.
Depending on where you’re starting in the UK it would make more sense to take the Hull-Zeebrugge ferry (which basically puts you on the starting point of the route) or take one of the Dover-Calais options and start your ride there.

The wind is usually west or southwest with an occasional northerly storm.
The coastline is slightly NE, so even the westerly winds will help you when you ride south to north.
https://www.buienradar.nl/ gives fairly accurate forecasts. If you install the phone app it will give you a warning when a shower is heading your way 😉
When you’re close to the coast they will blow over quickly most of the time.
Most of the time the dunes will give you more protection against the wind than the flat farmland land inward.

The island hopping option mentioned in the afsluitdijk closure article above is interesting. But will take more time and organizing. The islands are beautiful and have good cycling infrastructure. Only the ferries from the mainland to Texel and Terschelling are on a regular schedule.
But Texel-Vlieland-Terschelling are smaller companies, mostly focused on day trips so only run during the tourist season and are weather dependent.

The train connection from Groningen city to Rotterdam is good.(both the province and the city are called Groningen)
You can usually get the intercity without changing trains, otherwise you will have to get on a connecting train in Utrecht.

If you have enough time you could also cycle Groningen-Assen-Zwolle-Apeldoorn-Utrecht. This will bring you through the Veluwe national park and other forests and heathland. Which I personally think is more beautiful then the coastal region.

This is my favorite routeplanner for the junction system. (knooppunten)
https://en.routeplanner.fietsersbond.nl/
under more options => configure are several sliders that help avoid build up area’s.
Like tjagain said if you follow the wrong signs you will spend most of the day riding through suburbs and industrial estates.

The signposting sounds… different but can’t possibly be worse than NCN signage?

The signposting sounds… different

I’d say people are overcomplicating things. It’s really easy to find your way about, and the construction and maintenance of the paths is excellent. NCN routes are really poor by comparison.

We need the Harwich Esbjerg ferry back as I would like to do Rotterdam to Esbjerg part of the route.

I think places like the New Forest have a similar kind of junction number signposting on paths where bikes are permitted?

In Holland, there’s just an awful lot more.  edit: and I think the numbers are marked on opencyclemap maps too, although they may not be complete.

tbh, if you’re riding from (say) Delft to the next town (Leiden, for example), you can head in pretty much the right direction, and you’ll be going the right way.  They also have conventional signs pointing to various towns or villages, and major points of interest (eg main station, hospitals etc.), which iirc are red+white signs in Holland, often on a dedicated sign pole for cycle lanes rather than on the bigger road sign post.

There are several ferries that would be nice to be returned to operation. Harwich-Esbjerg, Zeebrugge-Rosyth,…

How long did that take you?

7 very easy and touristy days from Lille to Groningen where we got on the train over the German border.

We found route finding really easy. When we pulled off the cycle path to look at the map someone invariably stopped to help. No cycle path rage in Holland or Germany, just Denmark. And in Denmark it was just shouting rather than anything threatening – no problem. In Holland the volume of bikes on the paths around big towns in the rush hour was very impressive and yet it all flowed perfectly.

With the signposting you just have to understand the systems – then its easy. I didn’t do my research first hence my confusion. The junction network we ended up using is great. I had assumed only one system but there are at least 3 but each type is marked clearly and consistently.

Bearing in mind that the Dutch typically don’t allow bikes on trains…

Bikes on Dutch trains are no problem.

I’ve toured Holland and done this route by bike 5/6 times, kept going back as it’s so good. Check out StayOkay hostels for accommodation,they’re cheap/clean and very bike friendly.

There is also Vrienden op de Fiets which is a network of 6000 people offering cheap B&B, only available to walkers and cyclists. A friend of mine used this while touring, and said it was an excellent way of finding cheap, bike friendly accommodation.
There is lots of good camping available in the Netherlands, including smaller nature/farm campsites if you want to avoid the big motor camping sites.