Benthuizen, Bodegraven and Waddinxveen

Grassy meadows, surrounded by ditches. Narrow, elongated plots seem to continue forever and are only interrupted by the occasional narrow road, a waterway, a lake or a pond. Sailboats are outlined on the waters like dots on the horizon and if you look even further, you will see the skyline of surrounding cities rising above the peat meadow area. National Landscape Het Groene Hart is the largest of the twenty Dutch landscapes and is uniquely situated in the Randstad, surrounded by busy cities. Meadow birds that are endangered in the Netherlands, the black-tailed godwit, the lapwing and the oystercatcher, find peace and space to breed here. At the start and end point of the route in Benthuizen you will find Profile Hans Janssen. Before you start the tour, it is a good idea to take your bike in here for a thorough check. After a service and the repair of any defects, you will receive a 10 euro discount with the bicycle discount pass and you can safely set off. The cycle route takes you past two beautiful mills. The first is a round stone tower mill called De Haas. The mill still serves as a corn mill and was built in 1772. The mill was decommissioned in 1956 and fell into disrepair. In 1974 the mill was placed on the list of monuments and this allowed the mill to be restored with government subsidies. The mill was completely restored in 1985 and is now operated on a voluntary basis. The mill can be visited on Saturdays and it is possible to buy flour in the shop. The second mill is a national monument and is called Nieuw Leven. This hollow post mill is located in the heart of Hazerswoude-Dorp and dates from the seventeenth century. Originally it was a polder mill, which moved to its current location in 1815 or 1816. Here it served as a corn mill. There used to be three pairs of millstones in the mill, of which two remain. One of these couples is driven by an electric motor, but these millstones are no longer capable of grinding.