Cycling trips around Amsterdam

Netherlands is a cycling heaven, we all know that. But experiencing it is something else. Everyone cycles here. All the time. Come hail or snow or rain or wind, you can’t keep a Dutch person off their bike! It’s true.

And it definitely helps that the infrastructure for biking is excellent in the Netherlands (it also helps of course that the country is completely flat!). There are cycling paths of course within cities, but also linking the villages and towns of the country. You can easily cycle from anywhere to anywhere, through cycling paths which are away from the main roads. They are wide, well paved and mostly pass through fields, next to canals and other picturesque locations. Where you are not disturbed by cars or anything else, and can cycle safely.

Random house on the ride

Cycling in Netherlands is amazing, and is my favourite activity here (whenever the weather is good of course😊). I definitely am not Dutch enough to want to cycle in the cold, rain and wind! But on warm sunny days, I do like to go for a long bike ride in the country. The routine is always the same – ride through scenic routes to some nearby village or town, explore the place, its museums etc., eat at a nice restaurant by the water, and then cycle back home. These bikes rides are excellent weekend activities, a mix of exercise and exploring the outdoors. Below, I am sharing some of the longer rides I did.


Abcoude (35 kms, March 2022)

Abcoude is a small town south of Amsterdam, and you just need to cycle next to Amsterdam's Amstel river to get there. The first part of the ride is the same as the bike ride to Ouderkerk which I had done before, along the river, with farms all around. And then you veer off course a bit to get to Abcoude, riding through fields and canals.

We cycled along the farms along the Amstel, and then stopped for lunch at Abcoude. That day had turned out to be a sunny but very windy day. So biking though gorgeous was tough. At times we felt that we kept cycling but not moving! It was tough. It was too cold that day to take off gloves to take photographs even. So maybe that’s why, this is one of those rides I don’t remember a lot of, except that it was the first one to get out of winter hibernation mode.


Amsterdamse Bos (25 kms)

Amsterdamse Bos or the Amsterdam forest is the local forest of Amsterdam. It’s a huge green area about 2500 acres, just a 10 mins bike ride from my place. It has everything – lakes, ponds, forests, parks, cherry blossoms, restaurants, theatres, spas and so on. And it’s very popular with Amsterdammers for multiple adventure activities, like running, walking, cycling, rowing, camping and so on. The Bos is always an easy pick to go and cycle. Anytime, anywhere.

Bos in winter

I have cycled there often, whenever I need to get some fresh air and exercise on short notice. And it’s always a pleasure to explore it. It has miles and miles of tracks, and most of the times we just go wherever the path takes us. All tracks are lined with tall trees, green in summer and bare in winter. There are multi waterbodies everywhere, and it’s fun to cross the small creeks while cycling.

Bos in winter

A few times I remember specifically though. Once was when we cycled there on a very cold and foggy day in winter - there was fog everywhere, it was just so magical, I cannot forget that ride. The water bodies, the grass meadows, the people running, everything was engulfed in fog.

Cherry blossoms in Bos

Another time we cycled to the Bloesempark, which is a cherry blossom park in the Bos. It was full of circles of cherry blossom trees, laden with pink flowers and surrounded by loads of people. It looked nice. And another time was during lockdown in 2021 winter, when cycling there, we just stopped on one road and enjoyed seeing the planes fly by just above our heads as they landed into Schiphol. They felt so close, I felt we could almost touch them.


Haarlem (45 kms, September 2022)

Haarlem is a small city, very close to Amsterdam. It is quite popular with people who like to live close to Amsterdam but don’t like its noise and crowds. We decided to cycle on a supposedly warm day in September. The whole ride was about 45 kms and was mostly next to the road, though patches of it were inside in the greens which made for a fun ride. We however got caught in a rain shower in between and so had to spend some time at an outlet mall right in the middle of Amsterdam and Haarlem.

Haarlem fall colours

Haarlem is quite similar to Amsterdam, with its canals and typical Dutch architecture. In fact, it’s also sometimes known as Mini Amsterdam (it’s on my visit to Haarlem I realised that after a point most of Holland’s towns start looking similar 😊). After reaching the city centre, we first visited the Frans Hals museum which mostly housed paintings. I liked the still lives from Heda Claesz but overall wasn’t very impressed.

The city outside was fun to walk through, especially the main church and square were quite grand and nice. Haarlem is painted quite often in the Netherlands with the church as the highlight. Also Haarlem lends its name to one of the major counties of New York. So it was nice to be there.

The streets next to the canals also looked stunning, with fall colours in full bloom. The ride back was more away from the roads, and so much more fun. And this is the fun of cycling in the Netherlands, you can easily make a day out of it and get some exercise too. Without any planning😊.


Lisse tulip fields and flower parade (50 kms, April 2022)

Lisse tulip farms

The tulips are quite the high point for the Netherlands, as it signals the start of spring. And the tourist season. I had already been to the Keukenhof gardens and the tulip fields, but I still wanted to bike through them. So one sunny spring day, we set off to see them, without a plan or any information even. We just started cycling towards Lisse, the heart of tulip fields in the Netherlands.

Tulip fields

The ride till there was quite ok, as a large chunk of it was just straight biking along the road, all around Schiphol. But once we reached the fields, it was bliss. There were rows and rows of multi-coloured tulips, anywhere and everywhere we cycled. With cute houses and windmills next to them. And we kept cycling among these enchanting flowers. It felt surreal to be there. Most of the tulip fields had red and yellow flowers, though we saw some pink and white ones too (I saw the white tulips for the first time). Sometimes we got down for a few photos, but for most of the time, just admired them and kept biking.

The high point of the day though turned out to be that the day was also the date for the annual flower parade in the area. So all the villages on the route were buzzing with activity since morning as the flower parade would pass through them later in the day. All the restaurants were full, and people were just sitting outside their houses with food, getting ready for the parade. It felt like such a festival, with everyone ready to wave the tableaus and bands as they marched through.

Flower parade

And it did not disappoint. There was a long line of tableaus, made fully of fresh flowers (hyacinths, tulips and other seasonal varieties) passing by you, with music playing along them. The tableaus were striking, with flowers in different colours making it very easy to depict colourful scenes. All the tableaus had a theme and were quite elaborate. And when the hyacinth tableaus would pass, the air would fill up with their fragrance.

And in between there were marching bands from different cities. As well as some businesses marketing themselves. It was fun to sit by the side of the road, and enjoy seeing them pass through. It was so lovely to be there that day. After the long day, we didn’t cycle back though, just took the train back from Sassenheim to Amsterdam (something else that makes cycling easy in the Netherlands, the well-connected railway network makes it easy to do even partial rides).


Monnickendam (55 kms, June 2022)

Monnickendam

Monnickendam is a small fishing city north of Amsterdam, in an area called the Waterland. Apparently this whole area was earlier a swamp, and is built on totally reclaimed land. The ride there was through country fields and gorgeous canals. Many of the canals were lined with houseboats all the way, and some very grand ones. Monnickendam was a very picturesque city too, with coloured houses and lots of boats. We walked through its old streets, and went up the church tower museum.

After lunch, while coming back, we thought of going to the island town of Marken for a detour but as it had been a long ride already, we decided not to. And kept cycling back to Amsterdam. This was definitely one of those bike rides where we got too tired, and coming back was a challenge. Especially as we ran into a lot of closed routes while coming back. But we did make it back, safe and sound.


Muiden (33 kms, July 2021)

Muiden

This was my first long bike ride in the Netherlands, on a sunny summer day. I cycled along the water, towards the city of Muiden. As it was my first cycling trip, I liked it. Though I am not sure if it was that good or not😊. The path was sometimes next to the roads or cities, which wasn’t impressive. And the parts through the countryside, were more fun.

Muiden castle

Muiden cafe

Muiden was fun though, a small little picturesque city. With narrow streets, old houses and decorated with flowers everywhere. And with a nice little castle in it. It was a beautiful day and I enjoyed spending the afternoon there. As it was sunny, it was full of tourists too. Biking back was tough though as it was my first long ride, but totally enjoyable.


Ouderkerk aan de Amstel and Ronde Hoep Loop (40 kms, July 2021)

Cycling to Ouderkerk

This is one of my favourite cycling tracks, as it starts along the Amstel river, within 10 mins of my place. And the whole cycle path is along farms, beautiful houses and people boating in the lakes. It’s a fabulous experience on a sunny summer day. Which was when I cycled there😊. We first cycled till the town of Ouderkerk and then did the Ronde Hoep Loop. We had to take a few short ferries across the small canals too during the Loop.

Lunch at Ouderkerk

We then took a break and had lunch next to a canal in the town centre. It felt so idyllic, it was perfect. I liked Ouderkerk too. It felt like a nice place to live. I have heard since about people who move from Amsterdam to Ouderkerk, to still be able to enjoy Amsterdam life close enough. And the cycle ride back was as enjoyable as cycling there. The only disturbance were the 100s of racers who frequent this path – they bike so fast, they are almost a hazard to other cyclist’s safety. The rest of the ride was fabulous, it is a bike ride I can see myself doing often.


Het Twiske (64 kms, May 2023)

The Twiske is a huge green recreation area just north of Amsterdam. It was polder land earlier, and still is full of waterbodies everywhere. I have been there before by car, but this time decided to go biking. And what a spectacular ride it was.

Landsmeer houses

As we biked north from Amsterdam, we cycled past some gorgeous villages, like the Landsmeer, Den Ilp, and Jisp. They were full of gorgeous houses with canals all around. And housed in bright green fields, it was so refreshing to cycle there. We also passed by fields with farm animals, where the cycle paths were lined with bright yellow flowers, all along (wild sarson).

Cycling paths

We stopped first at a small café next to a water body, where a group of rowers had come in their boats and were having a lunch break. All at least in their 60s! And then we cycled to the Twiske, taking a break next to the lake. Everywhere there were wild flowers, it was just awesome to be there – definitely one more of my favourite cycle rides. The ride back got a bit tiring, but the landscape kept us motivated. And we reached back on time. I realised later, that this was my longest ride till date.


Vught (20 kms, August 2022)

Vught lake

I did a short course in South Netherlands, near the town of Vught and stayed there for a few days. And as I am slowly becoming Dutch, one of the warmer days, I just picked a bike and went out in the area for a long bike ride. Without a trail, without a plan. Just where I felt like cycling too. We first passed the nearby lake, called the Ijzeren Man (the Iron Man). (One of the other days, I came to the lake to swim too, it was a great experience as it was extremely warm and not too deep either)

After the lake, we just kept cycling along the fields and farms. We saw a few Christmas tree farms on the way. And a few balloons in the air. We also passed by a few other cyclists, they are everywhere. It was a nice refreshing ride, before the winter kicked in soon.


These are all my rides to date, but hoping to do a few more this summer...


Things to do around Amsterdam