Holland Lake Ijssel bike tour self-guided

Itinerary lake Ijssel bike tour self-guided from Hoorn (A) or Weesp (B)

Day 1 (A) or 8 (B) Saturday: Hoorn individual arrival in Hoorn (A) or Weesp (B)

Arrival at the starting point, your hotel in Hoorn. In the evening you have your diner in a restaurant in the centre of Hoorn. After your diner in a monumental building from where you can see the traditional sailing ships on the Havenhoofd.

Day 2 (A) or 7 (B): Hoorn – Rijs  35 km/22 miles 

After breakfast you leave for your first real bike ride: along the coast line of the IJssel Lake you cycle to Enkhuizen, another splendid port from the rich Dutch past. From here you make the crossing by ferry to Stavoren in the Province of Friesland (± 80 minutes). From Stavoren it is a one hour bike ride to your next hotel in Rijs.

Day 3 (A) or 6 (B): Rijs – Weerribben national park  45 km/28 miles 

From Rijs, the cycle trip leads via Lemmer. From here you ride along The Tjeuke Lake and several tiny rural villages like Echtenerbrug to Ossenzijl. You’ll be staying overnight in hotel ‘De Kluft’ located in the National Park De Weerribben.

Day 4 (A) or 5 (B): Ossenzijl – Zwartsluis  40 km/25 miles 

Just outside Ossenzijl, you cycle in to the national reserve ‘De Weerribben’. Via Steenwijk, the route leads to Giethoorn, ‘Venice of the North’. You can make a cruise on the canals with a ‘punter’ ( a traditional barge especially used on these small canals) or just make a strol in this fascinating village. The next part of today’s trip leads straight across some huge lakes and ends in Zwartsluis, a nice little town situated at a crossroad of waterways.

Day 5 (A) or 4 (B): Zwartsluis – Harderwijk  70 km/44 miles 

You take a small ferry to Genemuiden and cycle to the hanseatic town of Kampen, a town full of monuments. After this town, the road leads to Elburg, a former fishing-town with a beautiful harbour. Your itinerary leads through heath land and forestries and finally ends in Harderwijk.

Day 6 (A) or 3 (B): Harderwijk – Eemnes  50 km/31 miles 

At the beginning of today’s cycle ride there’s a huge area of woods and moorland, which you’ll be crossing till Nijkerk. You may wish to visit the local cheese farm or the steam pumping station and then head for your hotel in Eemnes.

Day 7 (A) or 2 (B): Eemnes – Weesp  30 km/19 miles

Through Blaricum, a villadom, and the Tafelberg moorlands you arrive in Naarden-Vesting. This is one of the finest walled towns in the Netherlands. Following the pictoresque river Vecht, you reach the finish of your tour in Weesp. If you feel like visiting Amsterdam at night: it’s only 20 minutes by train!

Day 8 (A) or 1 (B): Weesp – End of trip or extension

After breakfast you leave your hotel for you homeward journey.