First time in the Netherlands?
Canals, windmills, bike paths… What more is there? A colleague said he would have a few days free in and around Amsterdam and asked for some recommendations. He could of course just read fietspad, an excellent and quite comprehensive tale of Cycling in the Netherlands… But it also seemed like a useful blog post, so if you have a few days in and around Amsterdam, here’s what I'd probably do if I wanted to geek out on the transportation network for the first time…
These can all be done as day trips from a base in any one of these cities as the trains are generally fast and frequent between… But it might help to have a bike to get around some of the further afield sights and I do recommend cycling between towns and cities if you can… The extent of the bike network is truly the most remarkable thing about cycling infrastructure in the Netherlands. You expect it in the cities, but it surprises you more when it’s everywhere else!
For me, the small streets are one of the most enjoyable things to experience. This is what you get when you design a city before cars were invented, not unique to the Netherlands, but plenty of nice examples. We could use just a few of these small streets in the heart of every North American city to provide a little bit of relief from traffic, a few places where you can sit on a patio and people watch without car traffic getting in the way. Most places, from cities to small towns will also have a pedestrianized centre. At least they do today… But that wasn’t always the case. They were often car parks in the 70’s until the Dutch walked such decisions back. Is there one street in each North America city that we could do the same on?
It’s easy to miss the details as you walk or bike around if not paying attention… The continuous sidewalks can easily go unnoticed when the barrier of the road to cross is removed. Imagine using a pedestrian crossing and the car drivers don’t try and turn across you, the no-right-turn-on-red being the default everywhere, the loops in the bike paths to detect you, the countdown to green timers so you know your turn is coming. It’s more than just the bike paths, it’s all the little details that demonstrate thought and consideration for everybody using the street… Check out my Lessons from the Dutch ride around Eindhoven with Nic Laporte where we try to tick many of those off…
A few Apps
If you’re going to use the trains, get the NS trains app, even if it’s just to figure out platforms and transfer more easily. You can tap in and out with a credit card, it costs extra if you take a non-folding bike on, there’s also ticket machines or you can buy on the app I think. If doing day trips from one base, it can be fun to ride one way and get the train back if it’s too much to ride there and back in one day.
Don’t use Google to get around by bike. There’s a Dutch bike route app called Toertje with various route options, such as nature routes and node numbers. There also the Fietsknoop app that provides an easy way to follow node numbers. Definitely do one city to city trip following node numbers if you have time, it’s a neat system. Failing that, you can usually just follow the red signs that are plentiful and will get you roughly where you need to go.
Another valuable app is one such as Windy that provides a good wind forecast. The wind direction can make a regular bike feel like an e-bike in one direction or like you’re constantly climbing in the other. There are hills and there are Dutch hills! Doing a day trip, take the train into the wind…
Amsterdam
Spend enough time in the Netherlands and Amsterdam probably won’t be your favourite place, mostly because of how busy it is compared to other towns and cities that are equally picturesque but less touristy. I know I’m a tourist too… But there are definitely a few things to tick off in the bicycle urbanism world… If you take the train from Schiphol into the centre, you catch the train right under the arrivals hall in the airport… You’ll likely get off at Amsterdam Central Station, and a short walk toward the centre will take you past the new station bike parkade, a beautiful underwater space that is clean and bright and a pretty unique place to leave your bike. Take a walk down just to check it out for fun…
On the north side of the station there are a few small passenger ferries that zip back and forth from North Amsterdam all day, and they’re free, just walk or ride on and off on the other side. There’s a new promenade of sorts along the north side of the station too which might be fun to enjoy the sun on a nice day.
Heading from the north side of the station back toward the centre, the two tone tunnel under the station creates neat photographic opportunities… I need a slightly more symmetrical version of this photo…
Head further south of the centre (easily walkable or bikeable) and walk or bike through the Rijksmuseum… A 19th-century building housing Dutch golden age painting masterpieces and vast European art collection if that’s your thing. Never been in, I just like the fact you can ride through such a historic museum… Vondelpark is nearby too so check that out…
Head east if you want to ride over the Nesciobrug, one of the longest dedicated pedestrian and cycling bridges in the country… You’ll experience all sort off other things along the way, find a patio to sit on somewhere and watch people of all sorts biking by…
Back in the centre, walk around the 9 streets… There’s tons of nice little streets all over the Netherlands, but these are famous for being a picturesque set of streets filled with boutiques, stylish cafés and galleries. For some reason, the only picture I have here is a quiet garbage day… Not really doing it justice…
The City has been doing a bunch of space reallocation, converting parking to green space, and I probably need to go back and check some of that out. If you see some relatively new planting, it probably used to be something else, probably something more car-centric…
Here’s a quick map of those few things mentioned…
The Coast
As I said, it’s worth getting a bike and riding between towns. If the weather is good, an easy one is the ride out to the coast through the original Haarlem…
And out to Zandvoort where you’ll find sand dunes to ride through… Paved paths everywhere, even in the sand… The Dutch F1 track is tucked away in the dunes somewhere too…
There are plenty of beach cafe’s to grab a drink if the weather is nice…
No map for this one, follow the red signs or the node network first to Haarlem, then Zandvoort.
Rotterdam
I debated where next, every city in The Netherlands has something to offer, and you could likely throw a dart at a map and find something interesting anywhere, but sticking somewhat close to Amsterdam. Rotterdam is just over an hour on the train and might have some pretty interesting things to tick off, I'd put this as a maybe more than a must see… The station itself is pretty unique…
From the outside…
The Cube Houses…
The Markthal…
I do like the leaning trees you often see in Rotterdam…
If you have a bike (or running shoes), do a loop over the The Erasmus bridge…
It lifts btw…
And back through the Maastunnel…
The thing about Rotterdam is it was largely destroyed during the war and rebuilt in a modern style, so it’s not all that nice, compared to the more historic cities and often regarded as being a bit more like a North American city. I mean the centre is still pedestrianized, but you get the idea…
A quick map of the above…
Utrecht
I’ve saved the best for last if transportation is your thing at least… Just a 30 minute train ride from Amsterdam, if you need an example of a city undoing it’s mistakes and plowing ahead with evidence based solutions to accommodate a growing population in the most efficient way possible, well Utrecht is it… If there’s a city that is constantly being redesigned for the traffic it wants, and not the traffic it had, Utrecht is it… Anyway, exit the train station and head for Vredenburg on the north side. Don’t forget to check out the 12,500 capacity bike parking underneath before you head into the centre. You can walk or ride through it but come back to the north side…
Prepare to be amazed at all the people riding bicycles on Vredenburg…
Need a coffee to survive the jet lag? Skip Starbucks and head to the cafe on the third floor of the De Bijenkorf store and enjoy the busiest bike intersection in the world from above…
Or just hangout at street level… Ideally at peak time… Note the wayfinding with realtime capacity to several bike parkades nearby…
Keep heading eastward along Vredenburg until you get to Nachtegaalstraat, a street where the protected bike lanes got so busy they had to take them away and just make the whole street a bicycle street… There’s a few other bicycle streets around the centre if you look for them…
The bridge over the school, a unique way to integrate different land uses while making a bit of a bicycle infrastructure statement…
When we first stayed in Utrecht we stayed at Bunk, an old church that’s now home to pods and small rooms, not realizing when booking that it directly fronts the canal that used to be a busy roadway. This canal might be what Utrecht is best known for, but it’s really just one of many decisions made to create a nicer city for people!
It’s a neat place to stay with some cool spaces hang out inside…
Just outside the centre on the west side is Vleutenseweg, a wide boulevard like street with centre running BRT. This might become more familiar in the Lower Mainland in the next few years. There’s BRT all over Utrecht if you pay attention…
Should probably mention the pedestrianized centre… Enjoy some food or drinks along the canal…
A final quick map of some of those things…
All in, that should provide options to fill up a few days if not more. If limited for time, I'd say definitely a day wandering around Amsterdam, maybe a day out to the coast by bike if the weather is good, maybe one in Rotterdam if you want to see something closer to North America, and definitely one in Utrecht. Have fun Matt…