Cycling through the salty wind on Goeree-Overflakkee

The sea is never far away on Goeree-Overflakkee. So neither does the wind and that wonderfully characteristic salty air. This bike ride takes you through the dunes, along the beach and through Ouddorp and Stellendam.

Dunes of Goeree
From the Deltahaven you enter the Duinen van Goeree after Havenhoofd: a nature reserve where beach and forest alternate. You can enjoy the silence in the forest, while on the beach you can get a breath of fresh air with the sound of the surf as background music. In Ouddorp you drive through the old village center. You can see some beautiful buildings here. The Dorpskerk is also a picture, it originally dates from the fourteenth century.

The Schans
You cycle along the edge of the Westduinen, a rugged landscape with original dune grasslands. A little further on you cycle along the shore of the Grevelingenmeer. You cycle past De Schans, a former military fort from 1665. You cycle through the polder to Stellendam where you will see Molen Korenlust from 1865, among other things.

Wooden bombs
During the Second World War, the Westduinen functioned as a… fake airfield! The Germans had placed fake wooden planes here to mislead Allied bomber pilots. It worked. Until the Dutch underground managed to send a message to England about these fake planes. The RAF's response was characteristically English: two more bombs were dropped. Made of wood... In the fifties, ironically enough, military radio masts were placed here.