Cycling in Holland
In 2023 I had the good fortune to be out cycling in Holland in the spring. I was with a group of friends from a cycle club and we filled the barge. It was such an amazing experience in so many ways.
What is a Bike and Barge Cycle Tour?
If you’ve never done a bike and barge trip before, I highly recommend them. There are so many routes, so many places to go, particularly in Europe. Barges are smaller boats, so they have the advantage of being able to go in the smaller waterways often inaccessible by larger river boats. So, while the barge travels to the next destination, you get to ride a bike.
One of the key advantages of the barge is that all your stuff stays on the boat – no daily packing and nothing to lug on your bike except your lunch. It’s so convenient. And, it’s such a wonderful way to really get to know your barge-mates. You spend a lot of time together cycling and eating. I am always impressed by the long term bonds that are created over these shared outdoor adventures.
Being of Dutch heritage, and recalling so many of my mother’s stories of the flowers in Holland, I chose to visit in early April so that I could see the bulb fields: Tulips! Daffodils! Hyacinths!
Springtime Active Travel in Holland – Flowers and Gouda
Leaving at the end of March gave us a bit of time to explore Amsterdam before the cycling began. There is so much to see and do – such a beautiful and quirky city with the leaning houses and unpredictable streets. There were lots of daffodils blooming in the parks, which gave me some hope that we would not be disappointed on the trip. It was still pretty wintery when we left Canada, and we were the first barge of the season, so I was a bit nervous that we were too early for the magnificent blooms.
Our first real cycle day took us through the oldest tulip fields of Holland – I was not disappointed! Millions and millions of daffodils. Millions and millions of hyacinths. The incredible smell of the hyacinths as you cycled past. The extraordinary colours that go on and on – so much yellow! I was so grateful that I could experience this.
And if that wasn’t enough sensory stimulation, we continued cycling to the world renowned Keukenhof Gardens. 80 acres of flowers in this beautiful setting that is only open for 7 weeks each year, welcoming people from more than 100 different countries to celebrate the beauty of the bulb. I was told they plant the bulbs in 3 layers to have a continuous bloom for the short time the gardens are open.
Of course, Holland is not only about bulbs – it is a country also known for cheese. So what better place to go to on your bike than Gouda? We visited a cheese farm and then made our way to Gouda, a charming city with a gothic town hall dating to the 15th century, with a puppet show on the façade enacting the moment the city got its charter in 1272. (The puppet show is a modern add-on – installed in 1961 – but still worth waiting for the time it plays twice each hour.) Unfortunately we weren’t there on the day of the cheese market, but we were able to wander around and enjoy this lovely city.
Another great day in Holland. Lots to talk about over dinner.
The Famous Flower Market in Holland
Our next cycle journey was through the “green heart” of south Holland on our way to Kudelstaart, enjoying the Dutch countryside.
Kudelstaart was where we docked, but the real treat was the bike ride to the flower auction at Aalsmeer. We were all blown away by this market, located in the fourth largest building in the world, selling 43 million flowers each day. I have never witnessed such an operation, or seen so many flowers. They are flown in from different countries in Europe, South America and Africa, they are sold, and they are shipped right away to the sellers across the globe. We learned about the “Dutch auction”, in which the bid starts high.
Cycle Touring Through the Dutch Countryside
But the trip was not over yet. We also cycled one day to a bulb museum. We thought this would be a regular museum in a building – but it was not! The Hortus Bulborum is a unique garden museum dedicated to the preservation of rare and historic bulbs. These are the flowers they saw in 1600’s. What a treat! It was so interesting to see these flowers and compare them to their modern-day counterparts. They were smaller, with slightly different shapes, and was I only imagining that the colours seemed more vibrant?
Then, on to the Zaanse Schans, and open air museum with operating windmills, one dating to 1673. Seeing a windmill from the inside was really quite amazing. The museum was created to preserve the historic buildings, which were moved from different parts of the country. The Zaan region is also known for its green houses. At the time people thought that the green paint made of copper pigment made the houses more weatherproof.
Everyone loves to see wooden shoes when they go to Holland!
We had another day cycling in the Amsterdam area seeing lovely farms and interesting homes. So much to see and process. A tiny country, but rich in culture and history. So many things that are uniquely Dutch. Such a pleasant place to cycle. Our wonderful guide took us to special places where he knew the owner, or had a particularly interesting story to tell, so we all felt we benefited from a tailor-made trip.
And, the icing on the cake – coming back to Canada where spring is just starting. 2 springs in one year!! How cool is that?
Where else can I ride my bike?
Please contact me if you are interested in discovering wonderful places with a new travel community!
3 highlights:
- Smelling the hyacinths!
- The Alsmeer flower market – for sure you have never seen so many flowers in one place!
- Visiting Amsterdam – such a nice city with great museums, nice parks, and of course bikes everywhere
3 things for next time:
- Seeing the things I didn’t get to see in Amsterdam – for example the Upside Down Museum – billed as world’s largest upside down social media experience – looks like a lot of fun
- There are more things to do close to Amsterdam, for example – a day trip to Bruges (Belgium)
- I loved seeing all the daffodils and hyacinths – next time I would go a couple of weeks later to see the tulips
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Cycling in Holland
In 2023 I had the good fortune to be out cycling in Holland in the spring. I was with a group of friends from a cycle club and we filled the barge. It was such an amazing experience in so many ways.
What is a Bike and Barge Cycle Tour?
If you’ve never done a bike and barge trip before, I highly recommend them. There are so many routes, so many places to go, particularly in Europe. Barges are smaller boats, so they have the advantage of being able to go in the smaller waterways often inaccessible by larger river boats. So, while the barge travels to the next destination, you get to ride a bike.
One of the key advantages of the barge is that all your stuff stays on the boat – no daily packing and nothing to lug on your bike except your lunch. It’s so convenient. And, it’s such a wonderful way to really get to know your barge-mates. You spend a lot of time together cycling and eating. I am always impressed by the long term bonds that are created over these shared outdoor adventures.
Being of Dutch heritage, and recalling so many of my mother’s stories of the flowers in Holland, I chose to visit in early April so that I could see the bulb fields: Tulips! Daffodils! Hyacinths!
Springtime Active Travel in Holland – Flowers and Gouda
Leaving at the end of March gave us a bit of time to explore Amsterdam before the cycling began. There is so much to see and do – such a beautiful and quirky city with the leaning houses and unpredictable streets. There were lots of daffodils blooming in the parks, which gave me some hope that we would not be disappointed on the trip. It was still pretty wintery when we left Canada, and we were the first barge of the season, so I was a bit nervous that we were too early for the magnificent blooms.
Our first real cycle day took us through the oldest tulip fields of Holland – I was not disappointed! Millions and millions of daffodils. Millions and millions of hyacinths. The incredible smell of the hyacinths as you cycled past. The extraordinary colours that go on and on – so much yellow! I was so grateful that I could experience this.
And if that wasn’t enough sensory stimulation, we continued cycling to the world renowned Keukenhof Gardens. 80 acres of flowers in this beautiful setting that is only open for 7 weeks each year, welcoming people from more than 100 different countries to celebrate the beauty of the bulb. I was told they plant the bulbs in 3 layers to have a continuous bloom for the short time the gardens are open.
Of course, Holland is not only about bulbs – it is a country also known for cheese. So what better place to go to on your bike than Gouda? We visited a cheese farm and then made our way to Gouda, a charming city with a gothic town hall dating to the 15th century, with a puppet show on the façade enacting the moment the city got its charter in 1272. (The puppet show is a modern add-on – installed in 1961 – but still worth waiting for the time it plays twice each hour.) Unfortunately we weren’t there on the day of the cheese market, but we were able to wander around and enjoy this lovely city.
Another great day in Holland. Lots to talk about over dinner.
The Famous Flower Market in Holland
Our next cycle journey was through the “green heart” of south Holland on our way to Kudelstaart, enjoying the Dutch countryside.
Kudelstaart was where we docked, but the real treat was the bike ride to the flower auction at Aalsmeer. We were all blown away by this market, located in the fourth largest building in the world, selling 43 million flowers each day. I have never witnessed such an operation, or seen so many flowers. They are flown in from different countries in Europe, South America and Africa, they are sold, and they are shipped right away to the sellers across the globe. We learned about the “Dutch auction”, in which the bid starts high.
Cycle Touring Through the Dutch Countryside
But the trip was not over yet. We also cycled one day to a bulb museum. We thought this would be a regular museum in a building – but it was not! The Hortus Bulborum is a unique garden museum dedicated to the preservation of rare and historic bulbs. These are the flowers they saw in 1600’s. What a treat! It was so interesting to see these flowers and compare them to their modern-day counterparts. They were smaller, with slightly different shapes, and was I only imagining that the colours seemed more vibrant?
Then, on to the Zaanse Schans, and open air museum with operating windmills, one dating to 1673. Seeing a windmill from the inside was really quite amazing. The museum was created to preserve the historic buildings, which were moved from different parts of the country. The Zaan region is also known for its green houses. At the time people thought that the green paint made of copper pigment made the houses more weatherproof.
Everyone loves to see wooden shoes when they go to Holland!
We had another day cycling in the Amsterdam area seeing lovely farms and interesting homes. So much to see and process. A tiny country, but rich in culture and history. So many things that are uniquely Dutch. Such a pleasant place to cycle. Our wonderful guide took us to special places where he knew the owner, or had a particularly interesting story to tell, so we all felt we benefited from a tailor-made trip.
And, the icing on the cake – coming back to Canada where spring is just starting. 2 springs in one year!! How cool is that?
Where else can I ride my bike?
Please contact me if you are interested in discovering wonderful places with a new travel community!
3 highlights:
- Smelling the hyacinths!
- The Alsmeer flower market – for sure you have never seen so many flowers in one place!
- Visiting Amsterdam – such a nice city with great museums, nice parks, and of course bikes everywhere
3 things for next time:
- Seeing the things I didn’t get to see in Amsterdam – for example the Upside Down Museum – billed as world’s largest upside down social media experience – looks like a lot of fun
- There are more things to do close to Amsterdam, for example – a day trip to Bruges (Belgium)
- I loved seeing all the daffodils and hyacinths – next time I would go a couple of weeks later to see the tulips