Belgium Netherlands the bicycle paradise

Welcome to "small Amsterdam", and to the oldest university city in the Netherlands: Leiden. With its numerous canals and courtyards, Leiden is certainly one of the nicest and coziest cities in the Netherlands. After the welcome briefing in 1 of the two remaining Stadstorens (the Morspoort), the bicycles are tested and approved. Then we stroll along the picturesque alleys of Leiden and get to know the birthplace of Rembrandt. We are going with a small but nice group this time in the cycling paradise par excellence: the Netherlands and Flanders. Ride with us for the next few days...

Heavy rain this morning... the weather forecast was favorable from 10.00 am... so we postpone the start for a while... and it paid off... without rain gear we could start today's ride and the sun came out quickly on, the more we drove towards the coast, dunes and beach ... It is Saturday, so quite busy in this area with numerous runners, walkers, cyclists ... but thanks to the perfect cycle paths no one disturbs each other and everyone can enjoy the natural beauty. Soon we get the first view of the sea and the fierce northwesterly wind comes up. We pay a quick visit to the Pier of Scheveningen before driving towards The Hague. A visit to the Mauritshuis should not be missed here... we were able to admire the wonderful works of the great masters such as Rubens, Van Eyck, Rembrandt, van Dijck, Brouwer, Breughel,... but the highlight was of course the " girl with the pearl earring" by Vermeer. This was top shelf enjoyment. Via the "Binnenhof" we drove briefly through the city center of The Hague and continued our route to Delft. There was already a new surprise on the program with a visit to "Royal Delft"... where the world famous "Delfs blue" is made. Our guests also thoroughly enjoyed this tour and exhibition. We still had about 20 kilometers to Maassluis now ... where we were warmly welcomed by the friendly staff ... And how we enjoyed a delicious 3-course menu here ... hmmmmm

a monster stage on the program today from Maassluis to Cadzand. We still drive on Dutch soil and it becomes kind of "island hopping" through Zeeland today. We take the ferry twice and further bridges connect the numerous islands in the South West of the Netherlands. A highlight today is certainly the "eighth Wonder of the World": the Oosterschelde barrier... a masterpiece in the field of water control. What the Dutch have been good at for years... what an impressive building. Everyone is surprised and delighted to see and even drive over this unique structure. Via the picturesque Veere we continue our route to Middelburg, the capital of the province of Zeeland. A little later we take the second ferry to "Zeeuws Vlaanderen". Here they call the population "reserve Belgians"... although we are still in the Netherlands. The last stretch along the beach is beautiful when the sun is already slowly setting... the beaches are pleasantly full, the restaurants are busy. We check in tired and satisfied at the North Sea hotel, another direct hit ... beautifully situated near the beach and what a delicious dinner we are served again. We're going to sleep well tonight!

Welcome to Belgium, Bienvenue en Belgique, Willkommen in Belgien... from today we have to speak 3 languages... the 3 official languages ​​in Belgium... or no... just let us keep it simple. The beautifull North Sea Hotel in Cadzand served us a wonderful breakfast this morning. On top of that, the sun was also of the party... with a good 27 degrees we get another beautiful day. The stage is short, via the nature reserve "Het Zwin", where numerous migratory birds settle every year, we soon reach the Belgian border and arrive in Knokke Zoute. Via small villages we drive along the Bruges - Sluis canal, to Damme. We make a short stop there, including the 800-year-old brick "Schellemolen". We still have a few kilometers left to Bruges now, where we arrive around 13.00 pm... So there is still a lot of time left for us to take a quiet and thorough look in the beautiful "Venice of the North", as Bruges is also called. 

We leave the still very quiet Bruges early... after all, today is August 15, a public holiday in Belgium on which most people still sleep well when we have already done our first kilometers. Another day without any moment of crowds or traffic... what a wonderful feeling it is to be able to enjoy quiet cycle paths for four days... Another day through beautiful landscapes where the cows can graze peacefully in the sometimes vast meadows and modern farms. We are presented with a fairly short route to Ghent... a few nice stops... at, among others, the "crazy bicycle museum"... But then the first towers of our new destination: Ghent. Party town, university town, but above all a lively, modern city, which still has a lot to offer, such as the Gravenstein, the Belfry, the Sint Niklaaskerk, the Sint Michielskerk, the Sint Bavo Cathedral... Around noon we are already at the hotel and we get ready for a nice lunch... Then there is a tour of the city along the most famous monuments... We even get a view of the city from the top of the belfry tower. In the St Baafs see the "Mystic Lamb" of the van Eyck brothers... and we walk through the Graffiti street to the Friday market... At the Korenmarkt we enjoy a nice dinner... where our vegan guests also get their money's worth. It was another nice day... gosh how fast it goes... we're already half way through our trip.

From the hustle and bustle of the city to the tranquility of the countryside is only a few minutes' drive away. We enjoyed busy Ghent, but the peace you find in the vast meadows and picturesque villages is also indescribable. We follow different rivers today like the Scheldt, the Dender, the Durme... and as a surprise we discovered a beautiful Begonia field near Wetteren. It looked a bit like the tulip fields near Lisse, it was that beautiful. Only 7 begonia growers are left in Europe, 4 of them in Belgium, 2 of them in the Netherlands, Kris, the proud owner of the fields, told us. Via Dendermonde and Temse we approached Antwerp. Special was the trip through the tunnel (and elevator) under the Scheldt. And because we are in the "beer country" Belgium, a visit to the Antwerp City Brewery should certainly not be missed at the De Koninck brewery. We were allowed to taste a "Bolleke" and later also tap a "de Koninck Tripel" from the barrel itself. It was an entertaining tour before we cycled to our hotel via the Cathedral of Antwerp, the Groenplaats and the Grote Markt: Hotel Rubens (well how could it be otherwise), right in the center of the city.

We start the e-bikes around 9am, just a stone's throw from the main market. We leave this hectic city back to the Netherlands via the “red light district” and the cosmopolitan port of Antwerp. Soon we enjoy peace, wide fields, beautiful forests and arrive in Kalmthout. There is one of the vast heaths of Europe where a beautiful piece of nature is again presented to us. Forests, lakes, heathland... and the perfect habitat for foxes, deer, martens, beavers and wild boars. It is also home to the Canada goose. Due to the very high number of foxes, there are hardly any rabbits left there. From the observation tower we enjoy and photograph the area extensively. When we leave the park, we return to the Netherlands. Farms, quietly grazing cows, numerous streams and rivers are part of our route. Until suddenly a new surprise awaits us... The Edelweiss Bike Travel - Transporter is parked on a dike. Nic prepared delicious Dutch specialties and vegetarian salads for us in a beautiful picnic area. Everyone enjoys it. We now have a good hour left before we reach a 38 meter high water tower just outside of Dordrecht. Are we going to visit a water tower now?! No... we'll sleep there for the next 2 nights... it's our hotel for the next 2 days: Hotel de Watertoren, which actually serves as a water tower in the last century... In the eighties it was still used as an antenna mast and since Sold by the municipality at the beginning of this century for 1 guilder (half a euro). Today Tom and Lisa are the proud owners of this special hotel restaurant. Another highlight today was the 21st birthday of our van driver Nic! This includes a nice cava... Happy birthday, Nic!!!

The seventh day of our tour : a rest day in Dordrecht... Everyone chose not to cycle for today. Mary Leigh and Gary visited relatives in Rotterdam, while Cooper and Dough visited Dordrecht. A small town by the water, with some sights such as the harbor, the large Church, the museum of Gijn where you can see how the wealthy families and their staff lived in the 19th century. So rest today and enjoy an excellent dinner in our "Watermill" again...

the last day... and what kind of 1!? Perhaps the most beautiful cycling day of the entire tour from Dordrecht to Amsterdam. We all decided to put on our Edelweiss Bike Travel shirt to enter the Dutch capital as proud as a peacock. But first there was still almost 100 km to be covered... At the start of our tour, our guests had reacted anxiously to this, but after a super good cycling week, and a rest day yesterday, they were at the start of this last one with full conviction marathon ride. Soon we reached the 19 world famous windmills of Kinderdijk. Unesco World Heritage and built at the time to pump the water from the lower polders higher up... Via the mini ferry we arrive in Gouda via the beautiful polders. Today is market day and we take the time to view the numerous stands with fish, cheeses and of course many other products. We got another great route served today, via polders, canals, lovely farms,... In Meije we enjoyed a nice lunch in Brasserie De half Maan. We still had 35 kilometers left and a wonderful surprise was served to our guests with a boat trip on the "Zonneveer", with skipper Job. He proudly told about the solar-powered, self-built boat with which he sails through the "Nieuwkoopse Plassen" 3 times a day. Not far now to our final destination: Amsterdam. In the Selva Restaurant, on the 24th floor, we were allowed to enjoy the last supper. Not only delicious, but also a beautiful view of the city. The trip has already come to an end... What a nice trip it was again, with very nice people.