From Oostzaan to Landsmeer

This cycling tour goes through pure Dutch landscape with the beautiful historic Zaan region and beautiful water-rich nature reserves as highlights. You will continue to enjoy the countless windmills, picturesque buildings and wonderful Dutch views. The starting point is Cafe de Driesprong in Landsmeer. 

Almost immediately after departure you arrive in the Oostzanerveld lake area, a nature reserve that covers the northwest and north of the municipality of Oostzaan. It borders the municipalities of Zaanstad and Wormerland. The Oostzanerveld is a peat meadow area, a landscape consisting of meadows on peat soil. The Twiske recreational area was created after the extraction of sand from under the peat and clay for the Coentunnel route. The Twiske has relatively high natural values, consisting of ponds, swamps, reed lands, sparse grasslands, meadows and park-like areas with forests. The Oostzanerveld is without a doubt one of the best meadow bird areas in the Netherlands. The vegetation is also special and valuable. The Oostzanerveld has large areas of vegetation that are impossible or very difficult to replace. This was the argument for giving the area Habitats Directive status. De Windjager is located in the middle of the water area and is a beautiful windmill in the typical style of the Zaan region. Along the way you will encounter many beautiful viewpoints. Be sure to take binoculars with you to spot the meadow birds.
After you have passed the A7 highway, you head straight to Zaanse Schans. This is located on the Zaan, opposite Zaandijk and next to the Juliana Bridge. It is a well-known open-air attraction with hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. But formally it is not a museum. It was set up with the intention of preserving the historical heritage. 

The houses are also rented to residents, so that not only tourists come to the site. The typical, often green Zaan homes, warehouses and mills were transferred from the Zaan region to Zaanse Schans with low loaders in the 1950s and 1960s. Only the substructure of the De Kat paint mill (originally an oil mill), the Bonte Hen oil mill and the Os oil mill still remain on their original grounds. Later, buildings were also regularly moved to the Zaanse Schans.

The Zaan region is one of the oldest industrial areas in Europe. The inhabitants are called Zaankanters. You cycle further north along the Zaan and turn south again near Wormer. Wormer is one of the oldest places in the Zaan region. The place is mentioned in 1063 in a list of the abbey of Egmond, but is probably much older. From the dike towards Westzaan you have a beautiful view of the low-lying polder area. In Westzaan you pass Stichting Lettergieten 1983. Classic lead letters are still supplied here for letterpress printing. And just outside Westzaan there is a beautiful Water Tower. Just a few more steps through the sometimes windy, open landscape and you will arrive in the shelter of the built-up area of Zaandam. Zaandam is located on both sides of the Zaan. It does not have the structure of an ordinary city. It actually consists of two parallel dikes on either side of the Zaan: East side and West side.

The last place on the route is Oostzaan with some beautiful Zaanse facades. You cycle briefly along the Oostzanerveld, where the Twiskemolen fits nicely into the landscape, and you are back at the starting point.