One of many highlights of our month-long journey to Europe final 12 months was taking it sluggish and attending to bike round Amsterdam, the biking capital of the world. The capital and largest metropolis of the Netherlands is well-known for its vibrant biking tradition. Biking isn’t simply merely a software for transportation, train, or leisure. It’s a lifestyle.
In reality, there are extra bicycles than individuals right here and this glorious biking metropolis boasts in depth bike infrastructure and prioritizes sustainable transportation. With lots of of kilometers of motorbike paths all through town, bikes are virtually synonymous with Amsterdam. Outdated Dutch bikes are featured prominently in all vacationer souvenirs, magnets and postcards.
With everybody biking in Amsterdam and bikes parked in every single place we regarded, we instantly felt at dwelling. Cyclists rule the street and so they’re not afraid to let everybody know. They’ll ring their bike bells and almost run over pedestrians or slower cyclists who unintentionally block the bike lanes. Don’t get offended in case you get yelled at by native bikers. It’s all a part of the biking tradition.
Biking in Rome was nice however biking in Amsterdam was an much more wonderful expertise, particularly in comparison with what it’s like biking in car-centric cities like Manila. Beneath are some journey ideas for first-timers primarily based on our expertise biking there.
Many resorts and retailers in Amsterdam lease out bikes for vacationers. Simply stroll across the Amsterdam Central Station and also you’re certain to come back throughout a rental place.
Most cost €10-€20 per day for the standard bike and provide baggage storage, so you may stash your stuff whereas biking for the day. There are alternatives for shorter leases (e.g., 3 hours) and electrical bikes, which price extra. You can too e book bicycle excursions and different guided excursions on-line by way of Klook.
For comfort, we rented bikes from the lodge we have been staying in: Aware Resort the Tire Station. It is a boutique lodge in a quieter a part of town, with the closest tram line a few 4-minute stroll away. From there, you may switch to a practice line on to the airport.
The lodge has a number of different branches (together with within the Museum Quarter), however I booked this primarily as a result of they provided bikes for lease and are positioned close to Vondelpark, a sprawling city park. Aware Resort provides a variety of bikes, together with these for youths, some with cargo seats, and common bikes beginning at €18 per day.
The rooms are trendy and clear and the lodge workers have been all very pleasant and useful. They’ve a safe basement parking space the place they preserve all of the bikes. They’re a cashless lodge, so deliver a bank card for all of your transactions, together with bike leases.
The lodge had good WiFi and provided baggage storage, which you’ll avail of earlier than or after take a look at. The room we stayed in didn’t include breakfast, however the lodge has a on the bottom flooring and you’ll simply purchase meals and drinks from a deli 5 minutes away.
Ebook stays at Aware Resort The Tire Station by way of Agoda right here.
- Windmills
- Vollendam
- Monnickendam
- Canal cruises
- Heineken Brewery Expertise
- Crimson Gentle District
- Vondelpark
- Zaanse Chans
- Anne Frank Home
- Van Gogh Museum
There are many beautiful bike routes in and round Amsterdam to select from. You can plan your route round a number of of Amsterdam’s scenic inexperienced areas, together with Vondelpark, Rembrandtpark, Sloterpark, Eendrachtspark, and Westerpark; you may bike to windmillls; experience by way of a scenic forested park; bike to a fort; or bike to the seashore city of Zandvoort.
However even in case you don’t plan out lengthy rides, merely biking in and across the nearest park or subsequent to canals can really feel so rewarding. The wonderful thing about exploring on two wheels is the liberty to discover numerous neighborhoods, cafes and eating places or head out of town for a day on pure pedal energy.
After arriving from Brussels in Belgium, we spent a day exploring on foot and booked museum visits on the day of our flight, so we solely had one full day to bike round Amsterdam.
We ended up on an 80-kilometer experience to take a look at the long-lasting windmills of Zaanse Schans and crossed over to the coastal village of Marken and again the identical day. It was a protracted experience, however the summer time season meant lengthy daylight, with sundown at 10 pm, so we maximized the experience.
Zaanse Schans
Our first essential vacation spot was Zaanse Schans, a historic neighborhood that has the look of an 18th/Nineteenth-century village. With picturesque windmills subsequent to canals, this Dutch countryside is the postcard-perfect epitome of the Netherlands. It’s the place you may see old-style working windmills, go cheese tasting, have picnics and luxuriate in beautiful pure surroundings.
Zaanse Schans is positioned within the North Holland area about 20 km from town middle, however is a worthwhile vacation spot. Most vacationers go to right here by bus or automotive, but it surely was nice to journey to this iconic spot by bike. We plotted Zaanse Schans on Google Maps and adopted the bike lanes in direction of that vacation spot.
After breakfast and securing the leases, we received a little bit of a late begin round 10 am. Our bike route began from the central Amsterdam space following scenic bike lanes, a few of which handed trendy windmills.
It was an easy route by way of town earlier than crossing the IJ (a physique of water) by ferry. Whereas ready for the ferry to reach, we took pictures with the Kissing Couple statue by the River IJ. This towering sculpture, positioned alongside the bicycle route between Amsterdam and Zaandam depicts a larger-than-life couple in conventional blue and white Dutch Put on, about to kiss.
Crossing the IJ is free, fast, straightforward and handy. Ferries that depart behind Amsterdam Central Station shuttle pedestrians, cyclists and mopeds to locations throughout the water in Amsterdam Noord.
From there, we adopted the scenic bike paths to the city of Zaandam earlier than reaching the polders, tracts of lowland reclaimed from the ocean. Right here, vacationers can get pleasure from a style of rural life with a shocking view of the Dutch-style windmills and distinctive inexperienced wood homes.
From town, it took us roughly 2 hours to cycle by way of the 20-km one-way route from Central Amsterdam to Zaanse Schans due to all of the picture stops and determining the navigation. We received there round midday, in time for lunch.
The Zaanse Schans Park provides free entry to the grounds and vacationer retailers promoting cheese and a number of other eating places.
There are nature paths and viewpoints for climbing. There are additionally mannequin cottages and a Windmill Museum, which you’ll enter for added charges.
We opted for a picnic lunch, getting takeout from De Baleine, a stall that sells Dutch Savory snacks, pastries like Dutch Stroopwafel, espresso and chilly beers.
We tried the Dutch ‘Bitterballs’ with Zaanse mustard, Contemporary Fries with mayonnaise and ketchup, Anker Session Weizen from HOOP beer (a neighborhood craft beer brewery) and mushy ice cream for desert within the firm of some pleasant geese by the stream.
It was nonetheless early within the day, and it appeared like a disgrace to go again to town, so at round 2 pm we determined to squeeze in one other vacation spot.
Marken
From Zaanse Schans, we determined to bike to Marken, a coastal village with a port and conventional homes. Whereas it regarded comparatively close to on the map, getting there and again to town was an journey by way of rural countryside, tree-lined lanes, fields, and a few of the most scenic lanes I’ve ever skilled.
Located 27 km northeast of Amsterdam, this picturesque coastal village with lovely, brightly coloured conventional wood homes, is fairly quiet in comparison with different spots in central Amsterdam, which makes it an incredible vacation spot for cyclists. We solely encountered a handful of different cyclists alongside the identical route.
As soon as an island earlier than it was related with a protracted raised roadway (with a totally bikable and protected bike lane), Marken is small and compact with lower than 2,000 residents. We received right here round 5-6 pm.
Marken lies throughout Volendam (which we had beforehand visited on a package deal tour to go to a clog and cheese manufacturing unit) and it’s attainable to cross from one village to the opposite by boat. The setting seems like a Hollywood movie set or theme park quite than an actual village.
As soon as an essential fishing group, the principle points of interest are the standard colourful homes, well-kept gardens, livestock, the port, canals, bridges, and the church.
We noticed a Wood Shoe Steam Manufacturing facility with an working steam machine right here and a number of other memento retailers. It gained’t take you lengthy to see all of the sights when you get there, however the lengthy route getting there makes it an incredible vacation spot for individuals who like sluggish journey.
One of many essential landmarks here’s a lighthouse on the very tip of the island, which we not went to as a result of we have been ravenous by the point we received there and needed to seize a chunk to eat earlier than cafes closed.
There are a number of eating choices right here by the pier. Most spots have been already closed, however we discovered one restaurant nonetheless accepting friends, so we stopped for early dinner, ordering a hamburger and a surf & turf meal to energy up for the lengthy experience again to town.
Whereas I loved the experience and the surroundings throughout the experience, I used to be nervous that we’d underestimated the gap and the lengthy experience again to the lodge. From Marken, we nonetheless had one other 27 km experience forward again to Central Amsterdam. Fortunately, the beautiful fields lined with wildflowers made the experience again dwelling value it.
It’s wonderful how well-connected the bike paths have been again to town, and shortly sufficient we discovered ourselves surrounded by the acquainted canals and buzz of different common commuters going about their method. We stopped for a breather at Vondelpark, the large city park spanning 47 hectares the place locals have been hanging out.
I can’t assist however be jealous of all of the broad open areas, parks and wonderful biking infrastructure that Dutch individuals get pleasure from day by day. It’s such a parallel universe from what now we have proper now in most of our cities within the Philippines. I hope that bikers in Metro Manila will get to expertise one thing remotely like this sooner or later.
What sucks is that our GPS units ran out of juice, so we needed to swap to a smartphone on the experience again. This could present a steady loop experience. If anybody is aware of find out how to mix Strava recordsdata, please let me know.
It was summer time once we biked and the climate was nice with lengthy daylight and funky temps at night time. We wore breathable biking put on and introduced windbreakers in case it received chilly, but it surely received too sizzling, so we didn’t use them. Water tumblers have been useful to avoid wasting prices. I want we had introduced extra snacks or vitality bars for the experience.
Helmets weren’t supplied and will not be required to bike in Amsterdam. Deliver bike lights and blinkers for biking at night time. Most locations are well-lit although, so it’s not likely wanted. Deliver an influence financial institution since taking pictures/movies and navigation can drain telephones shortly.
- You’ll want to experience as a lot as attainable if you are there.
- Allot sufficient time for the rides you wish to do and plan your routes beforehand.
- Keep away from busy streets till you already know what you might be doing. When you’re not assured using but on the principle streets, observe biking in parks as a substitute.
- Attempt to get away from town middle, particularly in case you’re touring throughout the peak summer time months. It may be more difficult to bike with all of the individuals on foot, automobiles and tour buses in crowded areas.
- Attempt to experience sooner alongside the bike lanes and don’t weave round a lot.
- Don’t randomly cease in the course of a motorbike path and block the best way to take pictures or test instructions. Go off to the facet of the bike path. Most locals bike very quick and are in a rush, so randomly stopping could cause bike crashes.
- Use hand indicators to point in case you’re turning or slowing down.
- Be sure you’re away from tram strains when you could flip, cease or decelerate.
- Let native & sooner bikers overtake you in the event that they wish to cross. At all times transfer to the facet if somebody rings their bell behind you.
- When you’re using in a gaggle, don’t bike all in a row and hog the entire lane. Bike single file behind one another.
- Benefit from the experience!
Try my different social media accounts.
