Enkhuizen, Hoorn and Oosterleek

Beautiful fields colour the area around Enkhuizen, Hoorn and Oosterleek yellow, red, purple, white and pink. In the endless seas of colourful bulb fields, different types of tulips, daffodils and hyacinths wave in the spring and gladioli, dahlias, carnations and asters in the late summer as you cycle past. The route starts in "Haringstad", the appropriate nickname that Enkhuizen was given in the Middle Ages because of its past as a centre for herring fishing. In the meantime, the city has grown into an important tourist centre in which water is the main focus: you will see marinas that promote recreation on the IJsselmeer and the Markermeer and the Zuiderzee Museum is also located in the town. You leave from De Port van Cleve in a south-westerly direction and eventually come across the first attraction of this tour in Oosterblokker. You cannot miss it, because the windmill De Krijgsman dominates its surroundings. The mill was built in 1897 on the site of two other mills. The first was destroyed by a storm in 1862, the second burned down in 1896 when lightning struck. Although the mill was out of operation between 1925 and 1934, the mill can still grind corn. This is done on a voluntary basis. The mill can be visited on Tuesday afternoons, Saturday mornings and all day on Fridays. You cycle to the hamlet of Schellinkhout, where you can see the Groote Molen (Great Mill) along the foothills of the Markermeer. The exact year of construction of the mill is unknown, but it is estimated that the mill was designed and built between 1603 and 1638. The polder mill is an octagonal ground sailor that is covered with reed. The mill has an old Dutch sail cross, a cross with wooden rollers and a Flemish vang.