Exclusive Countryside Bike Tour, The North and Beyond

We start at 10 am at our shop and meeting point with a short introduction and after that we bike behind the central train station where we will take a ferry to the north and start our adventure. We’ll ride up the North-Holland Canal to the outskirts of the city along dedicated bike paths (no car traffic) and enter from there the polder landscape that surrounds the city.

While in the countryside we will bike through the waterland landscape that encompasses the area north of Amsterdam. Your guide will explain how the area has changed over the centuries and how the first settlers of the area developed the landscape for agriculture. We will also bike through three separate little village in the north. The first if Zunderdorp, a pleasant little village with three distinct areas that developed over the centuries

Next up is Ransdorp, famous for being the birthplace of and home of Geertje Dircx, Rembrandt’s wet nurse. In Ransdorp we will stop and climb the tower of the more than 400 year old church with its amazing views of the countryside from almost 100 meters up. Also included in the tower is a room halfway up the climb that houses a display about the last major flood to hit the area in 1916. After the climb we will be stopping in a café for a bit of a rest and drink before continuing our ride, you will also have time to wander about the village and take some more pictures.

The third village is Durgerdam, a previously vibrant shipping village that was able, due to its location and proximity to Amsterdam, prosper throughout the time of Amsterdam being a world class shipping port that in the 1600’s was the busiest in the world.

Other highlights include beautiful waterland landscapes with natural birdlife, working farms with sheep and cows, a ride on the levee with a view of the outer Ij and the Nieuwedammerdijk.

Coming back into town we take a second ferry ride and bike through the eastern docklands before finishing back at our garage.