If you love to ride your bike as much as I do, you probably have a long list of trails and destinations you dream of someday exploring on two wheels. At the top of my list has always been a trip to the Netherlands, the most bike-friendly nation in the world. I recently fulfilled that ultimate bucket list adventure with a 10-day trip to Holland that included a five-day bike tour.
Bike tourism is very popular in the Netherlands. If you’ve considered taking a bike tour there, then read on for insights into what it’s like.
The Netherlands’ Cycling Culture
All of the superlatives you hear about cycling in the Netherlands are true:
- This is a nation with nearly 22,000 miles (35,000 kilometers) of bike paths and 24 million bicycles, more than one bike for each person in this relatively small European nation of 17.6 million people.
- It’s a nation that has giant parking garages built for bicycles, not cars.
- The Netherlands is a nation where bicycles (referred to as fiets in Dutch) are a serious method of transportation, ridden year-round and not merely used for fair-weather recreation and exercise.
- It is a nation where nearly everyone rides a bike, including job commuters, school children, delivery services, and the elderly. Even babies and toddlers ride (with an adult) on family-sized bikes called bakfiets.
(Read the accompanying story about a Canadian family who relocated to the Netherlands and are now full-time advocates worldwide for the Dutch style of cycling and urban design)
Children learn young to ride a bike and navigate traffic in the Netherlands. Photo courtesy of the Dutch Cycling Embassy.
Choosing a Tour Company
After months of research, I chose to book my bike adventure through Holland Bike Tours. They offer 15 different tours, ranging from three to eight days in length, both self-guided and group tours. I chose a five-day self-guided, round-trip tour beginning and ending in Haarlem, a pleasant mid-size city just a few minutes from Amsterdam.
When choosing a bike tour, finding the right fit for how you like to ride is important. Some tours involve more miles per day than I was willing to ride. The tour I chose averaged only 25 to 30 miles per day, which allowed time for a leisurely pace and stops for coffee and lunch. On most days, I arrived at my destination by mid-afternoon.
With a self-guided tour, you ride solo or with friends and family. You’re not riding with a group and there is no tour director riding with you. The tour company plans the route, books your hotels, and (optionally) transports your luggage each day from one town to the next (worth the price!). Holland Bike Tours also provided me with a guidebook and a pre-programmed GPS device that delivered turn-by-turn directions for each day’s journey.
Bike tourism is a big business in the Netherlands and there are numerous companies offering tours with varying formats. In addition to city-to-city tours like mine, another popular option in the Netherlands is bike tours where you stay each night aboard a boat that cruises during the night to the next day’s cycling town. Breakfast and dinner are often provided on the boat as part of the package price. While an interesting choice, it didn’t offer the flexibility my wife and I needed on this trip.
(Read the accompanying story about the growth of bike tourism in Holland, featuring an interview with the owner/manager of Holland Bike Tours)
(main story continues further down)
The Uniqueness of Dutch Cycling
When it comes to fully embracing bike culture and having world-class bike infrastructure, there’s nowhere else quite like the Netherlands. It’s a wonderful place for taking a bike tour or vacation, as I did recently.
Even so, from a North American cyclist’s perspective, I found a few quirks about cycling in the Netherlands that caught my attention:
No helmets
It’s rare to see anyone in the Netherlands on a bicycle wearing a helmet. The only exceptions are tourists and racing-style road bike enthusiasts. The way the Dutch view it, a helmet isn’t necessary since they are traveling at relatively low speeds and using superior cycling infrastructure that minimizes the risk of impacts with motorized vehicles. To the Dutch, if you don’t wear a helmet when walking, why wear one when cycling?
Bike clothes
The Dutch wear their normal street clothes when cycling. You won’t find spandex outfits, biking shoes and gloves, and bright yellow safety vests here. If a business professional is riding to work, he or she may wear a suit or nice dress. Students wear their school clothes. The Dutch see no point in having special clothes for riding a bike. They do, however, keep rainwear available, since rainy days are common in the Netherlands.
Children riding without their parents
Thanks to bicycles and lower crime rates, children gain their independence much faster in Holland than in North America. By age 12, most parents are fine with their children riding their bikes almost anywhere in town, either solo or more often in groups with their peers. It’s no wonder that teens in the Netherlands rate higher on the happiness index than in almost any other country.
Doubling up
It’s not uncommon in the Netherlands to see two people riding a bicycle made for one. They call this doubling up. Teenagers seem to enjoy this habit especially, but families do it too. Sometimes the second person rides on the rear rack and other times they sit on the frame’s top bar in front of the person cycling.
Mopeds
Lower-powered motorcycles such as mopeds and Vespa scooters are allowed on some (but not all) bike paths. It’s unnerving the first time a pack of scooters zooms past you, especially the loud ones. To the Dutch, these scooters are better suited for bike paths because they are too slow to share roads with motorists.
No side mirrors
I consider a rear-view side mirror to be an essential item for safe bike riding. I wish all new bicycles came with them. In Holland, however, you won’t see any mirrors attached to handlebars. The Dutch believe they have a good sixth sense of keen awareness for what’s around them when riding a bike and therefore don’t need a mirror.
Plain bikes
Since the Dutch love to ride their bikes so much, you might expect to see them riding top-of-the-line, premium bikes. Instead, most people in the Netherlands ride rather plain and simple bikes. One explanation for this is that the Dutch are not known as pretentious or showy people. The more important reason probably has to do with bike theft. With so many bikes in Holland, bike theft is a constant problem, especially in the larger cities. A flashy, expensive bike would just be a bigger target for thieves.
About My Tour
Food delivery is a popular service offered by e-bike couriers in the Netherlands.
I picked up my bike the day before the tour was to begin. I chose to ride an e-bike, since that’s what I ride at home in the U.S. and because I’m a senior adult. My bike was a German-made Cube brand e-bike, with a mid-drive motor, internal gears (no derailleur) and a low step-through frame. Like most bikes in the Netherlands, my bike featured a comfortable, upright, cruiser-style design.
E-bike regulations are different in the European Union nations. The maximum motor size for European e-bikes is 250 watts, compared to the U.S. where e-bikes come with motors as high as 750 watts. The maximum pedal assist speed in Europe is 15.5 mph (25 km/h), slower than the 20 mph (32.2 km/h) top assisted speed on most North American e-bikes. Throttles are not allowed on European e-bikes. While the e-bike I rode performed fine for me, there were times when I would have appreciated having more power like my American e-bike or when I missed having a throttle.
Day 1:
My first day’s route started in Haarlem and then headed toward the North Sea coast. It ended in the city of Leiden. After leaving Haarlem, I passed through the large Zuid-Kennemerland National Park, which started off in a lush forest but transitioned into sand dunes and walking trails as I neared the coast. This portion of my bike route along the coast was a very small part of a much larger, six-nation bike highway called the EuroVelo 12, or the North Sea Cycle Route. It is one of 17 long-distance EuroVelo cycling routes that crisscross Europe; they are considered some of the continent’s best bike routes. EuroVelo 12 hugs the coast, running from Norway to the northern tip of Scotland, with the help of a few ferry crossings along the way. The entire EuroVelo 12 route is 4,380 miles long (7,050 kilometers).
The coastal path (quite hilly at times) took me past two popular beach towns, Zandvoort and Noordwijk. Zandvoort is often referred to as Amsterdam’s beach, since it is only 30 minutes away by train from Netherland’s largest city. Dutch people love their beaches. Later in our trip, after completing my bike tour, Kathy and I took the train from Haarlem to the beach at Zandvoort. It was packed with sunbathers enjoying one of the last sunny, warm days of the summer season. Other popular beaches in the Netherlands include Scheveningen and Hoek van Holland.
As I headed inland toward Leiden, my route passed through farmland, tulip fields (unfortunately not in bloom during my ride), and even an old-fashioned windmill. As you near Leiden, you cycle past a more suburban-looking area with upscale housing, parks, and soccer fields. Not surprisingly, I cycled past numerous soccer fields on my five-day tour!
In Leiden, I saw my first underground parking garage for bikes. The Lorentz garage holds 5,000 bicycles, making it far more efficient than a similar-size parking garage that might hold only a few hundred cars. One of the nation’s largest bike parking garages, in Utrecht, holds 12,500 bikes!
Day 2:
This parking garage in Leiden, NL, will hold 5,000 bikes, making it far more efficient than a garage parking cars.
One of the true joys of a bike tour is that you get to see the small towns and countryside that most tourists never see. There’s no better way to see a country than on a bike. Today’s ride took me from Leiden to Gouda, Holland’s famous cheese town. Along the way, I passed through charming towns such as Alphen aan den Rijn, an ancient city that dates back to the first century when the Romans occupied this area. As I rode through the town, I passed a charming market district with block after block of sidewalk cafes and shops. It’s the kind of typically European street scene that makes you want to stop and linger.
Before reaching Gouda, I rode through miles of scenic Dutch countryside, including landscape nurseries and farms around Boskoop. This was followed by the unique lakes region through Reeuwijk which was filled with narrow roads, tree canopies, and prosperous lake homes.
Day 3:
Senior adults and those with disabilities enjoy more mobility and freedom thanks to the excellent cycling network in the Netherlands. Photo courtesy of the Dutch Cycling Embassy.
If I were doing the tour again, I would build in more non-cycling extra days to better explore some of the charming towns we visited. Gouda would be one of those cities worthy of an extra day’s stay. There’s much to see there, plus more interesting bike trails surrounding the city.
Today, however, I had to keep moving. My goal on the third day of the tour was to ride to Utrecht, a bustling university city that is often described as a smaller version of Amsterdam. It is home to the largest train station in the Netherlands, which has its own massive bike parking garage and the adjacent Hoog Catharijne Mall, a prominent shopping destination. Kathy was excited to find a Five Guys burger restaurant in the mall.
Utrecht would have made another good choice for spending an extra day sightseeing. It is regarded by many as having some of the country’s best urban bike infrastructure, which is saying a lot knowing how great the bike paths and routes are throughout the Netherlands.
I was unusually blessed with good weather on my tour, and that was the case again today. I caught rain for a few minutes on the first day while passing through the sand dunes between Zandvoort and Noordwijk. Otherwise, my rain gear remained packed inside my bike’s pannier bags for the entire tour.
Family-style e-bikes, called bakfeits, transport children and often replace a car as the family’s first or second vehicle.
Today was a warm and sunny Sunday, which brought out lots of weekend leisure cyclists. I saw grandparents riding with young grandchildren, teenagers, and numerous senior adults, some of whom looked to be in their 80s. More than one group of road-bike cyclists passed me at a high rate of speed; they are the only cyclists in the Netherlands wearing spandex bike clothes. The Dutch seem to love their cycling so much that they not only commute by bike to school and work during the week but enjoy leisure cycling on the weekends. I couldn’t help but be envious.
You won’t find a better place than in the Netherlands to ride a bike from city to city, thanks to their extensive trails network. Even so, not all of their trails are overly impressive. On today’s ride, I encountered very narrow trails in rural areas, some of which were barely wide enough for two cyclists to pass one another. I experienced a few similar narrow trails on other days. I suspect many of these more rural trails are ancient walking paths put into use long before the advent of cars and bicycles.
Holland has numerous one-lane country roads, only wide enough for one car at a time. It’s amazing how the Dutch seem to manage this situation with little fuss. I can only imagine the chaos that would ensue back in the U.S. if cars (and bikes) shared a one-lane road. I had a few heart-stopping moments on these roads when cars approached from the other direction. Traffic was light and mostly slow-moving on these roads, but when a vehicle passed you there was only inches of space between you and the car. I suspect that part of my reaction stemmed from being new to this cycling environment. The narrow trails and roads seemed to unnerve me much more than they did the native Dutch on their bikes. While I felt tense and stressed, they seemed to be relaxed and take it all in stride.
Day 4:
Today’s destination was the ancient star fortress city of Naarden, regarded as one of the best-preserved fortified towns in all of Europe. The ride included some of my favorite spots on the entire tour, passing through more small towns, farmlands, and large parks. I was especially intrigued by the region including Amersfoort, Baarn, and Laren. These are true Dutch towns, not as heavily influenced by tourism. These towns appeared prosperous, with stately homes and well-manicured lawns. Amersfoort has a charming medieval town center and just outside of Baarn is the beautiful Groeneveld Castle. Laren is known as an artists’ village. This is another section of Holland I would have enjoyed spending more time exploring.
Day 5:
The Nescio Bridge was built exclusively for cyclists and pedestrians.
My final day! I had mixed emotions as the day began, including the excitement of completing the journey but also sadness in not wanting to see it come to an end. Today’s ride would take me back to my starting point in Haarlem.
The first portion of the ride out of Naarden couldn’t have been more pleasant. Much of this portion of the route followed a nearby large lake and through the town of Muiden and its famous castle. As I approached Amsterdam, I rode over the magnificent Nescio bridge, a nearly half-mile-long (800 meters) suspension bridge built exclusively for cyclists and pedestrians. It is one of the largest suspension bridges for bikes in the Netherlands.
To be honest, I was apprehensive about cycling through the heart of busy Amsterdam. In North America, I wouldn’t dream of riding my bike through large cities such as Toronto, Chicago, Houston, or Los Angeles. Plus, I had seen videos of Amsterdam with streets crowded with cyclists, riding tightly side-by-side. I even contemplated skipping the final day and taking a train back to Haarlem. On most Dutch trains, you can carry your bike with you for a small extra fee. Thankfully, I stuck to the plan and completed the tour.
To my surprise, the Amsterdam section of the ride wasn’t nearly as bad as I had feared. The city’s well-designed bike infrastructure is so good that even though you are riding through the center of town with heavy bike traffic around you, it is still manageable. My faithful GPS, with turn-by-turn directions, helped me keep moving through the city.
In all of Holland’s cities, including Amsterdam, you see bikes being widely used for business purposes. This includes bikes used for delivering food and packages. E-bike technology has greatly expanded the usefulness of bicycles. In Holland, I saw commercial e-bikes carrying loads and performing services that in the past would have required a truck. It’s a win-win for the community, businesses, and the environment.
A highlight of my ride through Amsterdam was cycling through Vondelpark, one of the city’s largest and most popular parks. On this warm and sunny late-summer day, the park’s green lawns were covered with people enjoying the day, sunbathing and relaxing. Children, and a few adults, frolicked nearby in the park’s pond.
The final leg of the journey into Haarlem continued to be urban and busy, but still enjoyable.
Benefits of a Netherlands’ Bike Tour
I know a married couple back in America who have made nine trips to the Netherlands for bike riding. After completing my first trip, I fully understand why they keep going back. As great as my tour was, I only got to see a relatively small portion of the country. For a small nation, it’s amazing how much there is to see and do. There are many other cities and towns I would like to visit there. We’ll see what the future holds, but I would jump at the chance to go back.
The Netherlands is an ideal destination for taking a bike tour for many reasons:
- Nowhere else in the world has better bike infrastructure than Holland.
- You have a wide choice of tours from which to choose since bike tourism is so popular there.
- The Netherlands is easy to reach. For international travelers, Amsterdam’s airport is one of the best and busiest in Europe. There are direct flights from many North American cities. For travelers within Europe, train access is excellent.
- For North Americans, the Netherlands is an easy introduction to Europe because nearly everyone speaks English and doesn’t mind doing so. Many restaurants offer English menus. Kathy and I found the Dutch people to be overwhelmingly friendly and helpful to tourists.
- The Dutch mass transit system makes it easy to get around within the country and even to take your bike with you on a train when necessary.
- The Netherlands is a beautiful country, full of history, architecture, canals, beaches, museums, art, charming cities, green parks and forests, and natural beauty. This is the country known for its tulips and windmills.
- In terms of crime, the Netherlands is relatively safe, especially outside the crowded tourist district in Amsterdam. Statistically, you’re probably safer vacationing in Holland than you are staying home back in the U.S.
Have you done one or more bike tours in the Netherlands? Please share your thoughts with our readers in the comments section below. We’d love to hear about your experiences!
