Discover beautiful Brielle and Maassluis

A beautiful polder landscape extends next to the Brielse Maas in South Holland, where Brielle, Heenvliet and Zwartewaal originated. Small villages interrupt the flat landscape. Cultural history is particularly well preserved in Brielle. The old city walls, nine bastions, five ravelins, an eighteenth-century gatekeeper's house and a furnished harbor battery with a bomb-proof guardhouse and many bunkers have been preserved and these defenses still give Brielle the appearance of an old fortified city. Although the atmosphere in Maassluis is very different, this town also offers a special experience. . Maassluis was founded around 1340 as a small settlement, which mainly lived from fishing. In the nineteenth century, Maassluis became world famous for a towage company and the activities on the water expanded to include ship salvage, for example. The National Towage Museum can still be found in the town, but a company has also established itself there that has been providing information services in and around the port of Rotterdam since 1872. The cycle route starts at Paviljoen De Duinrand. A tasty lunch, together with a fragrant cup of tea, coffee or fresh orange juice, is an excellent preparation for the tour. The hospitable service and the wonderful location along the beach of the Oostvoornse Meer provide a very relaxing start to the tour. First you cycle to the Lighthouse on the Maasvlakte, which is officially called Kustlicht Maasvlakte. The black and white striped tower, which is 65 meters high, was built in 1974. It is the highest in the Netherlands. However, the light of the lighthouse was extinguished in 2008, and in 2015 the tower is only used as a radar installation. If you follow the ramparts of Brielle, you will see the Vliegend Hert post mill on the spot where a corn mill had been in use since the seventeenth century. The original mill was also a post mill, which was replaced in 1696 by a stone mill. It burned out in 1810 and was rebuilt a year later. This third mill also burned down in 1882. The mill was demolished, but during the restoration of the fortress in 1970, the dies of the old standard mill were found. A replica of the first post mill was built on top of it, which was given the status of a municipal monument. Then you cycle to the Oostvoorne mill. This ground sailor was built in 1821 and was used as a grist mill. The windmill operated on wind drive until 1950, after which it was mechanically milled. The mill received its first renovation between 1964 and 1966. The mill was so dilapidated at the beginning of the 21st century that it was decided to carry out a major restoration. The mill has been completely renovated and has been fully operational again since the spring of 2004. The mill can also be visited when it is running, except on National Mill Day.