Tour along the merged municipalities of Alphen aan den Rijn

Tour of new Alphen aan den Rijn
Cycle past all the merged municipalities of Alphen aan den Rijn: Alphen aan den Rijn, Koudekerk aan den Rijn, Hazerswoude-Rijndijk, Hazerswoude-Dorp, Benthuizen, Boskoop, Zwammerdam and Aarlanderveen. A nice round, which you can shorten yourself using the nodes.

Along windmills, monuments and polders
You depart from Avifauna towards Koudekerk aan den Rijn, a village that originated in the 12th century, with the monumental church as one of the oldest buildings. Then cycle in the direction of Hazerswoude-Rijndijk. You cycle along polders and water. Hazerswoude-Dorp is another nice village with a historic core. Monumental buildings include the old town hall (architect Jan Dekker), the old reformed church and a number of windmills, including Korenmolen Nieuw Leven. Still not enough of windmills? Then also visit Molen de Haas in Benthuizen. The shop with tasty bread, biscuit and cake mixes is open on Friday and Saturday. Via junctions 3 and 5 you will arrive in the village known for its tree nurseries: Boskoop. The Plantarium, the international trade fair for tree nurseries, takes place here every August and attracts people from all over the world. Via Zwammerdam (I wrote a bit about this village last month) you cycle to Aarlanderveen. The meadow landscape around Aarlanderveen is, like many places in the Groene Hart, very rich in birds. You can spot black-tailed godwits, redshanks and lapwings. And to stay with the windmills for a moment: in Aarlanderveen is the only windmill in the world that is still in operation.