Touring in The Netherlands - Guide books, tips etc?

[Sara_H]

Next summer I'm planning a short trip to The Netherlands. I'll be getting a ferry to and from Rotterdam Europort and am probably going to do a mon - fri trip, it may be that I just ride to Amsterdam and back.

Has anyone got any top tips, recommend any good maps or guide books. I'll probably camp to keep costs down, are campsites plentiful? Is wild camping frowned upon?

Thanks in advance, Sara

 

[snorri]

The Rotterdam Europoort ferry terminal is in an industrialised area quite a distance from Rotterdam(think the Ryanair way of naming airports!), but make your way to Rozenburg and on the ferry to Maassluis to reach a more pleasant environment.
Plenty of camp-sites, and wild camping is illegal.
Give way when the sharks teeth road markings on the road/path are pointing towards you.
Read about the knooppunt system of navigating, see video on this website..http://www.nederlandfietsland.nl/en/cycling-daytrips

 

[Bodhbh]

Has anyone got any top tips, recommend any good maps or guide books. I'll probably camp to keep costs down, are campsites plentiful? Is wild camping frowned upon?

Thanks in advance, Sara

I don't know that's wild camping is particularly frowned upon, just with it being so flat it's not easy to find anywhere discrete. That said, I've only ever done it a couple of times and it's been a last minute thing - I'm sure if you put you're mind to it it's no problem. There's a campsite just across the river from the centre of Amsterdamn, but I remember it being pretty rammed when I stopped there (after spending 3-4hours doing the round of hostels and finding everything full).

 

[bof]

Bikes get stolen a lot in Amsterdam and other big cities, not much in small towns
The ANWB (Dutch AA equivalent) have maps which are excellent for cycling with - I don't know where you find them in the UK, though.
Visit http://www.nederlandfietsland.nl/en - looks like the definitive site for cycle touring in the Netherlands
The LF routes can be rather "round the houses" - if you want to get reasonably quickly from a to b they're not the way to go.
The dope in coffee shops is rubbish.
The Dutch get rather arsey if you dont use the provided cycle path/lane and indeed the police may tick you off.
A couple of times I have had problems with skinny road tyres getting in between the tiles laid on cycle paths.

 

[totallyfixed]

I'll send you a pm when I have time later, we toured the Netherlands in August and loved it, in fact we are heading back again next summer, no problems with any of the above plus we found a brilliant organisation that uses families as hosts for the night.

 

[jugglingphil]

I'm thinking of doing a small tour of The Netherlands (1 week maybe) with my family and maybe some friends as well. Kids aged 14-11
Read the following journal on CGOAB yesterday.
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?page_id=297497

Not sure whether to drive and leave car for a week or get the ferry from Harwich to Hook of Holland.

 

[totallyfixed]

I'm thinking of doing a small tour of The Netherlands (1 week maybe) with my family and maybe some friends as well. Kids aged 14-11
Read the following journal on CGOAB yesterday.
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?page_id=297497

Not sure whether to drive and leave car for a week or get the ferry from Harwich to Hook of Holland.

Go for it. I too looked at the link you have posted and found it very accurate, but what on earth were they thinking of wearing helmets , nothing like letting everyone know where you come from I suppose. We cycled to Harwich after first getting the train to Cambridge, much more satisfying riding on to the ship, plus you meet other cyclists. My travelogue which is in several parts - http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/a-ride-to-the-netherlands.139267/

 

[Sara_H]

Go for it. I too looked at the link you have posted and found it very accurate, but what on earth were they thinking of wearing helmets , nothing like letting everyone know where you come from I suppose. We cycled to Harwich after first getting the train to Cambridge, much more satisfying riding on to the ship, plus you meet other cyclists. My travelogue which is in several parts - http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/a-ride-to-the-netherlands.139267/

Many thanks for the message and the link to your travelogue threads - looks really fab. I usually take my self off for a few days when my son goes on holiday with his Dad, so The Netherlands is this years plan!
I'm hoping to get a friend to come along with me, she's been out on a few short rides with me and really enjoys it - I think I could get her addicted!

 

[Brains]

Europort is the tanker terminal on the south side of the mouth of the estuary that is Rotterdam, AFAIK there is no passenger service.

There is however the Stenaline Harwich/hook of holland passenger service, which is the best way into Northern Europe by car or bike.
This is on the northern side of the mouth of the estuary, opposite Europort.
There is a cycle path straight out of the port, if you can work out the first 100m to find it, you are then on the route which will take you along the coast to den Hague or Amsterdam

 

[Sara_H]

Europort is the tanker terminal on the south side of the mouth of the estuary that is Rotterdam, AFAIK there is no passenger service.

There is however the Stenaline Harwich/hook of holland passenger service, which is the best way into Northern Europe by car or bike.
This is on the northern side of the mouth of the estuary, opposite Europort.
There is a cycle path straight out of the port, if you can work out the first 100m to find it, you are then on the route which will take you along the coast to den Hague or Amsterdam

P and O seem to do a passenger service to Rotterdam Europoort.
http://www.poferries.com/tourist/co...ull_-_rotterdam_routes_-_hull_-_rotterdam.htm

 

[Brains]

P and O seem to do a passenger service to Rotterdam Europoort.
http://www.poferries.com/tourist/co...ull_-_rotterdam_routes_-_hull_-_rotterdam.htm

Mmmm ok, then first job will be how to cross the estuary!
There may well be passenger ferries across, but by car it would be a 20+ mile round trip

 

[totallyfixed]

Yes there is, It's the one we used on our last day after visiting the lovely town of Brielle, once across you could do a lot worse than visiting Delft, our first stop on our trip, really beautiful.

 

[slowmotion]

The overnight Stena ferry from Harwich to The Hook of Holland is a really fine ship and enormous fun. Cycle down the ramp, pick up the signposts for the LF1 cyclepath, and pootle along to Amsterdam through the dunes.
It's absolutely essential to book your accomodation in Amsterdam because it's heaving with people all year round. A lovely city.

 

[Will1962]

If you are arriving at Europoort on the Monday, then you have an alternative means of crossing the Nieuwe Waterweg. There is a fast ferry that runs between Pistoolhaven and Hoek van Holland (takes 15 minutes). Pistoolhaven is about 8km from Europoort. You start off heading towards the Rozenburg Maassluis ferry for about 2km, but then double back on yourself. If you don't think you can make the fast ferry in time, then you just carry on to Rozenburg instead.

The fast ferry only runs during the early morning and late afternoon. The P&O ferry gets in at 08:15 during the week and the last of the morning ferries to Hoek van Holland leaves Pistoolhaven at 09:35. See: http://www.ret.nl/en/travel-with-ret/timetable/fast-ferry.html

There is also a bike tunnel between Pernis and Vlaardingen

Will

 

[jugglingphil]

Go for it. I too looked at the link you have posted and found it very accurate, but what on earth were they thinking of wearing helmets , nothing like letting everyone know where you come from I suppose. We cycled to Harwich after first getting the train to Cambridge, much more satisfying riding on to the ship, plus you meet other cyclists. My travelogue which is in several parts - http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/a-ride-to-the-netherlands.139267/

Thanks for (re)posting your account. Looks great. What a great way to see a country, staying with locals.
Interesting point about helmets. Not wearing will please the kids but worry my wife!