Enjoying rural Utrecht

First you drive to the Nieuwkoopse Plassen, one of the last extensive low moor areas that the Netherlands ever had. You will see swamps, but also meadows, flowery meadows and reed beds. You then drive into the cope landscape with its characteristic narrow plots: an allotment pattern whose origins date back to the thirteenth century. You cycle to Harmelen along the Oude Rijn. Further on you make a pit stop at Brazzerie Abrona, after which you drive via the Maxima Park to Kasteel de Haar. Kockengen is an old mining village. The name comes from Cocagne, the French name for "Lucky Land". You cycle over a winding dyke to Woerdense Verlaat. This hamlet was built at the lock in the Grecht, which was already built in 1448. Here you can see the Westveense Molen, a polder mill from 1676.