Hook of holland to Amsterdam

[derrick]

Hi all am planning a trip to holland, there are four of us going although two are not really into cycling in a big way, but they fancy coming along, have been looking online to download a route but can't seem to find anything, went into w h smiths for a proper map, they were not really helpfull, do i need to get a garmin?
has anybody done this route using the cycle paths, and can you recommend someware to stop over night, wan't to do it over two days a slow lesuirelly ride is what we are after, poberbly only two of us coming back on bikes, the other couple fancy the train back,
Cheers Del.

 

[slowmotion]

I've done a Hook of Holland to Amsterdam ride three times in the last couple of years. Great fun, lovely people, and a cycle path network to die for. If you want a brief introduction to the paths, look at the Holland section of this site...
http://www.cycletourer.co.uk/cycletouring/holland.shtml
The cycle paths have numbered marker signs along the way and at every junction. At each marker, they indicate the direction to the next marker. If you know the sequence of numbers along your route, you don't really need maps and certainly not GPS gizmos. The cycletourer website provides a link to

www.fietsersbond.net

The site is in Dutch but do not despair...cycletourer gives you hints on how to use it. The great thing is that you can zoom in on the maps so that you get street by street maps of the route in the towns and cities. Out in the country, you are unlikely to get lost, but it's quite easy to miss a marker sign in the towns.
For general route planning, I found that the maps published by Falk are good. The scale is 1cm=500 metres. This series shows the long distance paths "Fietskaart met Knooppuntennetwerk". You should get numbers 14 and 13 if you want to stick to the coast before turning right towards Amsterdam. There are a whole load of other maps in the same series if you want to try another route. I went Hook van Holland, Monster, Scheveningen, Katwijk, Noordwijk aan Zee, Zandvoort, Haarlem, Amsterdam.
A really good place to get your maps is this website ( get a decent street map of Amsterdam here too)
http://nieuw.dezwerver.nl/
Don't worry that it's Dutch, just pick up the phone and you will be guided through the buying process by delightful Dutch people.

A basic but very central hotel in Amsterdam is the van Onna. I think it's about 45 Euros a night which is very good value for Amsterdam. Book in advance because it gets full very quickly.

If you use the search function on CycleChat you may find a whole lot more information. By the way, the Stena overnight ferry from Harwich is great fun and not too expensive. Booked in advance with a bike and my own cabin in both directions it was £114 last September.

Have fun.

 

[derrick]

Thanks for all the info, looks to be really helpfull.
Cheers Del.

 

[slowmotion]

My pleasure. Another plus for the van Onna is that it has a secure off-street bike garage . Bike theft in Amsterdam is a real problem. The van Onna is budget accomodation, but if you just need somewhere to plonk your body for the night, have a shower and breakfast, it's the business. Hotels in Amsterdam are horrid money. There are a lot of international conferences and bed spaces are limited. Wherever you stay, book really early.

 

[rich p]

Slomo is an expert at Amsterdam but he has an incentive to go there - mum's the word Martin!

When I was there last spring with 2 others we rented an apartment for a few days which was much better than a hotel in many ways. Bikes on the balcony, make your own breakfast/dinner if you want, beer in the fridge and a nice lounge to laze around in.

Oh, and cheaper too1

 

[User169]

Easy to get from Hoek to Amsterdam: get off boat, turn left, keep going to Haarlem and turn right. You’ll only need a basic map – the signage is clear.

Where you want to stay depends a bit on your budget. The places I like in Amsterdam are Lloyd Hotel (Oostelijke Handelskade) and The Toren (Keizersgracht).

 

[slowmotion]

Slomo is an expert at Amsterdam but he has an incentive to go there - mum's the word Martin!

 

[derrick]

Can anyone suggest some were to stay halfway along the coast route, we are doing it the lazy way, the couple we are going with are not really into cycling but they are keen to give it a go.
Cheers Del.

 

[ceepeebee]

Slo-mo is indeed the don here and gave me a few tips for a 3 day tour in Holland last year. We stayed in NH hotels as they had a special deal on and I get points. There's one at Noordwijkerhout which is effectively a conference centre but did v v cheap rates, had a very secure bike park and sorted us right out after a few wrong turns near Schipol lead to us turning a nice easy 60 mile day into a "oh crap it's getting late and we've still got 20 miles to go" sort of day. It's only about 30 miles from Hoek, but is about halfish way. Our first day we made it from Hoek to Heemskerk, which is just North of Amsterdam - the NH there was great - v friendly and the all you can eat Brekkie was well worth the extra.

There's a Dutch only iphone app called Fietsen which will plan routes on the node system which is v v v good, it'll spew out a simple list of points to get between any 2 places in Holland.

The ride up the N1 through the dunes and along the front though - it's just wonderful, I think of it in a dreamy, ultimate cycling experience type of way rather too often.

And the cakes are great.

 

[CopperBrompton]

I love this ride - done it twice, and will definitely do it again.

I second the recommendation for the Falk maps. These have numbered positions on them, and the signs point to these numbers. Once you realise the numbers are places not routes, it's all very clear.

If you want to see the route, I have a trip report with video and loads of photos here:
http://www.benlovejoy.com/cycle/tripreports/amsterdam/

 

[Glow worm]

I did this ride last April and it was fantastic. Although I had GPS, I really didn't need it as everywhere's well signed. It took about 8 hours or so of idle pootling along for me including a lazy lunch so you could probably do it much faster if needed. I think the boat docked at 6am or so and I was in my hotel room in Amsterdam by 2-30. From memory, I think I clocked 73 miles for the route. The return leg took me longer as it was against the wind most of theway, but still v. pleasant.

The bit north along the coast from the Hook is beautiful through the dunes on wide, car free paths. After The Hague you turn right (I turned right at Wassenaar) and weave your way along canal/ riverside routes and quiet roads until entering the Amsterdam through a massive park called Amsterdam Bos then a smaller park called Vondelpark bringing you to the city centre.

 

[derrick]

We have got it all booked now, really looking forward to it now, roll on June, the wife is putting in lots of miles at weekend so she will be well prepared for it, we just need to give our freinds a kick up the back side to get them to do the same, lol.

 

[User169]

The bit north along the coast from the Hook is beautiful through the dunes on wide, car free paths. After The Hague you turn right (I turned right at Wassenaar) and weave your way along canal/ riverside routes and quiet roads until entering the Amsterdam through a massive park called Amsterdam Bos then a smaller park called Vondelpark bringing you to the city centre.

This is a nice route. Leiden would be a good place to stop overnight.

 

[ceepeebee]

Can anyone (I'm especially looking at Delftse Post here aren't I?) recommend a nice rural run that will take us from Bodegraven to Hoek without too much big inner city stuff in between (ie there's the small matter of Rotterdam - we didn't really enjoy Amsterdam sandwiched in the middle of rurality last year)? It can be a decent length ride as we've got tickets for the evening sailing back and a nice long stop for lunch, of course.