Best of Holland North: Dutch Villages, Landscapes & the Keukenhof
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Best of Holland North
We present a balanced, individual tour. Not only along historic towns as Amersfoort, Haarlem, and Leiden but also a relaxing route through many quaint and historic villages in the Amsterdam area.
In the flower blooming season (April-mid May) this bicycle tour in the Netherlands is combined with the flower region. You'll ride past the blooming fields of tulips, up to the famous Keukenhof flower garden
All nights you will stay at a hotel in the city center of an impressive historic town. If you wish, you may add additional days into this program as rest days to explore the cities.
Note: In the period around the Dutch Grand Prix pricing on this tour will be adjusted. Please inquire for pricing for these travel dates.
Highlights
- Medieval cities
- Quaint villages
- Cycling along the coast
- Flowers
- Historic harbours
- Dutch folklore
- Lake Ilsselmeer
Learn More
Learn more about self-guided tours.
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Traveler photos
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Daily program
Average cycling distance is 28 miles/45 km per day.
Day 1: Arrival in Amersfoort
Exploration on foot to the town center. Amersfoort is one of those towns who will surprise you with its interesting historic city centre and town wall.
Overnight in Amersfoort.Day 2: Amersfoort – Weesp
Route through typical Dutch lowlands, forest areas and along heather fields. Passing the quaint fisherman village of Spakenburg, the fortified village of Naarden and the impressive Muiderslot castle as of course the historic town of Weesp.
Overnight in Weesp.Day 3: Weesp – Edam
Along the dikes of the lake IJsselmeer towards the historic water area north of Amsterdam. Visit famous Marken and Volendam to finish in the historic cheese village of Edam.
Overnight in Edam.Day 4: Edam – Haarlem
Cycling by new and older polders towards the famous Zaanse Schans windmill group. Enjoy the Zaanstreek with its typical wooden houses and finally finish in the beautiful historic town of Haarlem with its interesting museums.
Overnight in Haarlem.Day 5: Haarlem – Leiden
From Haarlem to the North sea coast. For this ride we have 2 options available, one for spring (till mid May) and one for the rest of the season.If you will bike in spring the ride will be by the amazing flowers. Enjoy the daffodils, hyacinths and blooming tulips as of course the famous Keukenhof flower garden.
Should you visit afterwards the ride will be along the scenic coastal bicycle path by rolling sand dunes. Enjoy the coastal villages of Zandvoort, Noordwijk and Katwijk before you ride to one of the most scenic towns of Holland, the city of Leiden. Note: Although the route to Keukenhof is included in your route documents, entry is not included. Please be sure to book a time slot and purchase your tickets prior to your tour.
Overnight in Leiden.Day 6: Leiden
The tour finishes after breakfast.Surface and terrain
This tour is easy cycling in mostly flat terrain with distances up to 27 miles (45 km). Approximately 35% of the tour is on dedicated bicycle paths, 35% on on roads shared with traffic, and 30% on quiet roads. The maximum daily elevation gain for this tour is 164 feet (50 m), with a 3% maximum grade percentage. This tour is appropriate for hybrid bikes.
Hotels
These are sample hotels and may vary based on availability.
Hotel de Tabaksplant, Amersfoort
www.hoteldetabaksplant.nlHotel Hart van Weesp, Weesp
www.hartvanweesp.nlRestaurant & Hotel De Fortuna, Edam
www.fortuna-edam.nlHotel Lion D’or, Haarlem
www.hotelliondor.nlHuys van Leyden, Leiden
www.huysvanleyden.nlInterested in visiting other areas before or after your tour? Visit our hotels page to learn more about lodging options.
How to get there
Tour start
Nearest airport: Amsterdam Schipol Airport, Holland
Nearest train station: Amersfoort, HollandTour end
Nearest airport: Amsterdam Schipol Airport, Holland
Nearest train station: Leiden, HollandTips on getting to and from your tour
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Dates
Daily: Mar 25-Oct 1, 2023 (minimum 2 participants)
Prices
Tour package
Per person, double occupancy €1095 Single use room (1 person/1 room) €1385 Bike Rentals
E-bike €63 Included services
- 5 nights in double rooms (shower/toilet) in 3- and 4-star hotels
- Breakfast/breakfast buffet
- Luggage transfer from hotel to hotel
- Pre-tour documentation (tourist and route info)
- Breakdown assistance
- Top-class aluminum hybrid multi-speed bicycle with handlebar bag
- GPS with itinerary (per group)
- Laminated cycling maps
- Equipment insurance
- Equipment delivery in Amersfoort; pick up in Leiden
In the period around the Dutch Grand Prix pricing on this tour will be adjusted. Please inquire for pricing for these travel dates.
Bike rentals
The bikes available and included in the cost of the tour are:
- Koga 8-speed hybrid touring bikes
The bikes available to rent (must be reserved at the time of booking):
- Electric bikes
Tandem bikes and road bikes are available upon request (additional fees may apply).
All bikes are equipped with a route package including:
- Cycling maps
- Handlebar bag
- Repair kit
- Pump
- Water bottle
- Cable lock
Additional equipment available upon request for an additional charge:
- Saddle bags
- Helmet
- Poncho
- Luggage trailer
Pedals:
The bikes will have flat pedals. If you want to bring your own pedals, please bring your own shoes and also the necessary equipment to change the pedals.Helmets:
Helmets are not mandatory on this tour, but available upon request for an additional charge. We recommend that you bring your own helmet for safety and hygiene purposes.
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Route Map
Maps are for information purposes only and reflect typical routes between overnight locations. They may not reflect your actual route.
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Reviews
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★★★★★ David Doehr 3 months ago
Holland is Bike-Centric!!!
Holland was a wonderful tour, and here is specifically why:
The entire country is bike-centric - which means everyone (in cars) yields to bikes,
The bike lanes are impeccable in quality,
Our bikes (rented from Tulip Tours) were outstanding 8-speed, belt drive, touring bikes (best yet out of 4 European tours I have done),
Hotels were all 4/3 star in quality - no losers in the entire route (sometimes there are),
Dutch prefer to speak English if you don't know Dutch, so there is no issue if you don't speak Dutch,
Pieter, from Tulip Tours, did an outstanding set-up and send-off with us (spent over an hour putting on our pedals, making sure we had our equipment setup properly, and then he went thru the Garmin device in detail, as well as showed us all of the printed dailies he made for us, and ensured that we had emergency contact numbers etc., (this proved vital as we had two circumstances when we needed help, and it was handled efficiently and effectively in a short (20 minutes) matter of time,
Our routes (programmed into the Garmin) were expertly designed by a cyclist, and included loops that were spectacular (Kroller Mueller National Park), this made each day special,
Landscapes were beautiful, big skies and clouds, at times the winds blew and it rained, but it just made me appreciate the Dutch resolve, as they were all riding bikes in it.
I highly recommend this tour, we capped it with three days in Amsterdam, which allowed us to take in all of the museums (NDSM is a must!) and a Heineken brewery tour which were all delightful.- What was the date of your tour?
- June 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- Four European tours of 1 - 2 weeks
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Julane July 28, 2019
Holland is better by bike!
We combined this tour with the Best of Holland South tour (Canals, Windmills, and Historic Towns), starting in Utrecht and ending in Amersfoort, The owners of Tulip Cycling, Peter Vos and Liesbeth van Vulpen, did a fabulous job arranging charming and centrally located accommodations and providing excellent bikes with spot-on GPS routing. These two tours offered everything (and more) that you expect to see in Holland: windmills, tulips, quaint towns, history, art, architecture. We recommend doing these tours in April when tulip, daffodil and hyacinth fields are at their peak and the Keukenhof is open.
- What was the date of your tour?
- April, 2019
- How many tours have you completed?
- 20+
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ ManOnThreeWheels June 7, 2019
Excellent Tour and Very Good Service
Bike Tours personnel provided prompt and courteous service from the start to the conclusion of the tour selection and booking.
Recommend
- What was the date of your tour?
- May 19 to 23
- How many tours have you completed?
- Many
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
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★★★★★ Jan53 May 6, 2019
Biking through North Holland
This trip exceeded my expectations! Since most people own and ride bikes, the bike paths in cities and rural areas are extremely well marked and maintained. That, along with the flat topography, made this self-guided trip a really enjoyable experience! The training we received when the bikes were delivered to our hotel was thorough and all of our questions were answered. Since we had both a Garmin and printed maps, we managed to find our way most of the time. It was slightly difficult finding the correct route when we started out in the mornings, but people on the street were more than happy to point us in the right direction. The distance covered each day was reasonable and the only difficulty came from the wind. One day we seemed to be riding into the wind no matter which direction we turned!
The cities chosen for this tour were interesting and beautiful. The hotels were excellent, each with helpful staff present. There was always a convenient location for locking our bikes up at night either inside or near the hotel in a safe area. The breakfasts were amazing!!
Loved everything about this trip!!
- What was the date of your tour?
- 4/18/19
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Gretchen September 15, 2018
Wonderful trip!
A great way to see the Netherlands -- 40-50k per day was very doable, landscape and towns lovely, and the hotels were all very cozy and comfortable. Would highly recommend it, and will be doing another one for sure!
- What was the date of your tour?
- end of July
- How many tours have you completed?
- only this once
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ DebM July 11, 2018
Beautiful ride through Dutch countryside
The local tour company designed a beautiful and varied route through nature preserves, parks, farmland, and old and picturesque towns. Each inn was delightful in its own way. I rated this harder than expected only because we had extremely windy weather.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Late June
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2 on our own, 30+ years ago
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Pedalann June 6, 2016
Beautiful, green Holland
We combined this tour with Ancient and Medieval Cities of Holland, South and rode this tour in reverse, Leiden to Amersfoort. We were impressed with the route as we skirted the Amsterdam sprawl. Instead we spent our days cycling through small villages, lovely nature areas, past polders and along scenic canals as we rode from Leiden to Haarlem, Eden, Weesp and finished in Amersfoort. The tour information, equipment and the GPS were perfect and the hotels, especially those in Edam, Weesp and Amersfoort were especially lovely. We were constantly impressed by the fact that bicycles were the major form of transportation.
- What was the date of your tour?
- May 22 - 27, 2016
- How many tours have you completed?
- More than 15 of this type
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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