Ridin' thru Netherland

[lemppari]

Me and the missus have been planning to ride through the Netherland from north to south in two weeks time. Any suggestions about a nice route without too many km's on motorways? Nice places to visit aside from the highly obligatory TLM?

[Admin Jaap]

Aaaahhh,... the Netherlands.

 

There is a lot to see for such a small country. I don't know what you and the missus like? History, nature. culture? When are you planning to come? Do you stay in hotels or camp?

If it fits I can take you out for a tour and show you some nice places in the eastern part of NL. I live about 45 min. ride from TLM

 

Here's a good starting point: http://www.holland.com/global/tourism.htm

 

A nice place to stay in the deep south is La Chaussee: http://www.lachaussee.nl . Paul & Marielle are great hosts! This is where we had the last V11 meeting in 2010

From there you can have some really nices rides in the German Eifel or the Belgian Ardennes

[lemppari]

We mostly like to ride smaller roads, enjoy the scenery and visit quaint old towns and villages and we carry our canvas cabin with us. I know there really is a helluva lot to see in the Netherlands and it is a hard job to narrow down what one wants to see. What I've thought about beforehand is rides along canals and maybe going to see the 1:1 copy of the wooden Eastindiaman they've built, perhaps maybe see Delft etc.

 

Then again, Delft seems to be amidst a very dense net of motorways and unavoidably, dense traffic. On the other hand, Maastricht could be an alternative and frankly I'd much more like to ride through the Ardennes to Northern France than through Flanders coast. Our goal this season is Normandy and Bretagne.

 

I still have a week to ponder about this, our ferry from Finland lands in Travemünde saturday evening next week. In the mean time, the wife's Nevada still needs some tlc and both bikes deserve some pints of new oil.

[Admin Jaap]

If you want to ride smaller nicer roads I suggest you stay in the north, east and south.

 

Enterin NL in the north: The old fortified city of Bourtange is a nice place: http://www.bourtange.nl/index.php/en

Going south there you'll pass the TT circuit of Assen. The province of Drenthe has some nice roads and outstanding nature. From there you could visit to the canal village of Giethoorn

Comimg from Giethoorn you could visit the Batavia in Lelystad and then ride into the Veluwe  The Veluwe is very quiet with forests and some nice roads.
I live a little more south in the Achterhoek ("Behind Corner"). If you want, and if I'm not away myself, I can take you to TLM in Nijmegen. The riverside in Nijmegen is a great place to sit in the sun and have something to eat and drink. The city itself has lots too offer too.

From Nijmegen you can ride a tour following the river Waal. Very nice scenery!

If you go further south, Den Bosch (or 's Hertogenbosch which is the same) is a nice city. You could then follow the river Maas and end up in Maastricht. There are some nice places along the way and plenty of campgrounds.

[lemppari]

I had eventually been thinking along those lines, too. So let's keep that as a basic battleplan. Pity that we will miss the Assen TT by a week, but buying needless Moto Guzzi paraphenalia from TLM hopefully amply replaces the event! We'll be behind your corner next Sunday or Monday. You have a mobile where I can call?

[Admin Jaap]

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