Rural Amsterdam

Want to get away from the city for a while? Have you had enough of the hustle and bustle? Then you should especially cycle this tour. Because if you step on your pedals from Central Station, you will be in an oasis of tranquility in no time. As soon as you have crossed the Schellingwouderbrug (junction 52), you have already left the city behind and the vast Waterland stretches out in front of you. An open peat meadow area where old stream channels of the peat rivers Ae and Die meander through. Cycling along equally winding dikes and roads you wind through a flowery area, with endless grasslands, swaying reed borders and numerous ponds. In the small villages, such as Durgerdam and Holysloot, the typical Waterland houses (often made of wood and with many curly details) and bridges remind us of the times of yore. As if time stood still here for centuries. Halfway along the route you enter the village of Zuiderwoude. A so-called ribbon village where houses used to be built side by side on a dike. This increase was necessary because the peat here at the time held the water like a sponge. But the area was drained and the peat settled in. What remains is a historic ribbon farmers village with beautiful farms and wooden houses around a lovely church.