This is an all-day cycle route across the Netherlands, from Amsterdam to Zyfflich, the nearest place in Germany. It is 131 km to Zyfflich, and then 10 km back to Nijmegen station, to return by train. The route is relatively straight (34% longer than the great circle), yet passes through several historic towns and cities, such as Weesp, Amersfoort, and Nijmegen. It crosses some main landscapes of the Netherlands – the reclaimed peat bogs and lakes in the west, the glacial ridges, and the Rhine flood plain.
You need a whole day for this route, in summer, with west or north-west wind, or no wind at all. It will take at least 12 hours. Return by train from Nijmegen: check the last train before you start. You pass shops about every 15 km. If you want to spread the route over two days, Amersfoort is the best place to stop on the first day. The route to Nijmegen was revised in 2024, the last section in 2023.
Central Amsterdam to the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal
start on the Dam or “Dam Square”. The present Royal Palace is the former City Hall, completed at the height of the city’s glory in 1665.
The original Amstel dam which gives the city its name, was located between the National Monument and the Bijenkorf department store. (The river flowed toward the present site of Centraal Station).
go into the Damstraat, to the right of Hotel Krasnapolsky. Go on along this narrow street, which changes its name at each bridge. (Frequent construction work, you can usually walk through).
at the end of the Nieuwe Hoog straat, turn right along St. Antoniesbree straat. Go on into Jodenbree straat.
at the end of Jodenbree straat, turn left at the zebra crossing, and then right, toward the building with the green facade.
pass this building, the national film school (Nederlandse Filmacademie). The two-way cycle path ends here: cross to the other side of the road, to continue alongside the tram line. Follow the cycle sign for Artis.
cross a bridge, pass a grassed section of tram track, and then go straight on, along Plantage Midden laan.
pass Artis Zoo: flamingos live in the pond, beside the second building.
after the zoo, at the end of Plantage Midden laan, go on across two bridges. From the second bridge, turn left, following the cycle sign for Diemen. (Roadworks 2025. Turn left after the second bridge, then right at the grassed roundabout).
pass the Wereld Museum, and keep right on the cycle lane, again following the cycle sign for Diemen.
cycle on along Linnaeus straat, the route of tram line 19. Pass under a railway bridge.
after the FEBO fast-food and Domino’s, at Transvaal straat, turn left across the tram line. You go into Oranje Vrijstaat kade, beside the Jumbo supermarket.
pass the new shops, and go on along the quayside, past old facades and new housing. At the end, just before the railway line, turn right across the bridge.
just after the bridge, turn left along the cycle path, passing under the railway.
pass the Praxis store, and go straight on at the traffic lights, onto the cycle path, alongside the grassed bank of a canal.
cycle on alongside the canal, a ring canal around a polder. Pass new housing, and then Amsterdam Science Park. The windowless buildings are data centres.
just after the small run-down houses, turn left across the wooden bridge, follow the IJburg signs. If the small bridge is closed, you can cycle on to the end of the path, and then turn left.
when you reach the dike of the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal, turn right.
Along the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal to Weesp
cycle on along the canalside road, under the A10 ring motorway bridge, and under a new cycle bridge. (This section is shared with Route 4).
at the 19th-century redbrick house, nr 553, you leave Amsterdam. Go straight on, along the canal bank.
pass right the 1990’s housing of Diemen-Noord, then a park (converted farmland). Behind the trees, on the left, is Amsterdam’s newest suburb, IJburg.
pass floodgates, separating the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal from the Diem, a former tidal creek. Continue under the new arched bridge, linking IJburg to the A1 motorway.
pass under the triple-girder motorway bridge, and then another motorway bridge (opened 2016), and continue along the canal bank, to the railway bridge.
about 50 m before the arched rail bridge, turn right, follow the sign for Almere/Weesp. Cycle up to the embankment, and make a U-turn to the bridge.
cross the 4-track bridge: this is the main line to Amersfoort, the eastern Netherlands, and Berlin.
go straight on, along the cycle path parallel to the rail line, away from the bridge. At the end of this path, at the underpass, turn left – follow the sign for Hilversum.
after the bend, continue parallel to the railway line, past new housing. Further on, pass the small rear entrance to Weesp station.
at the roundabout after the station, turn right, through the underpass under the rail line.
150 m further, turn left, and then go along the waterside road. This is the river Vecht, which once flowed into the sea at Muiden.
The Vecht is a distributary of the Rhine. In its original course it, diverged at Utrecht from the Kromme Rijn, itself a distributary of the Nederrijn or Lower Rhine. You will cross the Lower Rhine 80 km further on. Distributaries are characteristic of a river delta.
at the next corner, turn left across the lifting bridge, to continue along the riverside road.
turn second right into Slijk straat, a pedestrian street. Check the street name sign, because you might not notice the first side street.
turn second left into Nieuwstraat. Food: cafetaria, ice cream, and baker in the next section of Slijk straat, 50 m further.
continue along Nieuwstraat, and pass the late-mediaeval church of Weesp, built 1462.
at the old Town Hall (nr. 41, built 1776), turn right. Cross the next bridge, and turn left along the canal (Nieuwstad).
16 km from Amsterdam
continue along Nieuwstad. After the last house, you can see a windmill on the left. Turn next left into Utrechtse weg, toward the windmill.
The water here, and the grassed mounds, are the moat and bastions of fortified Weesp. The town first belonged to the Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht, but was later conquered by the Counts of Holland. They fortified it as a border town, at first a defence against Utrecht, and it retained a defensive function until the Second World War. It formed part of three successive defensive lines, the Holland Water Line in the 17th century, and the New Holland Water Line and the circular Stelling Van Amsterdam in the 19th century. The wooden houses at the beginning of the Utrechtse weg were built inside the military zone, on condition that they could be set on fire in wartime.
Weesp to Hilversum
continue parallel to the Vecht, passing the two main windmills of Weesp, De Eendracht and De Vriendschap. Beside the first windmill is a waterside open space to rest.
at the end of Utrechtse weg, after nr. 118, turn right: this is Lage Klomp weg, but the sign is missing. The other road here is a dead end.
at the roundabout, turn left, on the cycle path alongside the main road (N236). The road slopes upwards to a new bridge (2017).
cross the new lifting bridge over the river Vecht, and then turn right at the roundabout. Follow the signs for Nederhorst den Berg.
cycle on alongside the Vecht. After 1500 m, turn off left, follow the cycle sign for Hilversum.
pass a small car park, and continue on the cycle path, which then follows the shore of a lake, Spiegelplas. The lake is obscured by foliage, at first.
about 2 km on, the cycle path turns away from this lake, to another lake (Ankeveense plassen). The church spire of Ankeveen is visible ahead, across the other lake.
stop here, at the corner facing the second lake. 20 m to your left is a small wooden footbridge – hidden behind reeds in summer. It is now signposted as a viewpoint. Cross it, and go to the two benches with a view of the lake. This is classic lake landscape of the western Netherlands.
The lakes were created by turf cutting, from the late Middle Ages onwards. Around 800 AD, the landscape consisted of uninhabited peat bog, from the coastal dunes inland to the Gooi ridge. It was above sea level, with natural drainage. As the bog was reclaimed for farmland, the soil shrunk, making river dikes necessary. Then windmills were needed, to drain rainwater into the rivers (which were now higher than the adjoining land). Turf cutting lowered the ground level even more, and the flooded turf cuttings became new lakes. Some were reclaimed again, from the 17th century onwards. Sources used here, for the settlement / landscape history of the region include Atlas Amsterdam (1999, C. Dijkstra, M. Reitsma, A Rommerts. Bussum: THOTH), and the provincial survey Monumenten Inventarisatie Project Noord-Holland, published by the Provincie Noord-Holland.
go back from the benches, back to the concrete cycle path, and continue. Further on, pass a small brick building beside a weir: it is a pumping station.
just after the weir, at the signpost, turn left across the narrow footbridge. Follow the sign for Hilversum, and the low sign for cycle route junction 38.
continue along the narrow path (Bergse pad). It looks like a footpath, but legally it is a cycle path. (Image is the winter view, in summer you see mostly reeds)
at the end of the path you are on the village street of Ankeveen: turn right, toward Hilversum, over the new cycle bridge.
Ankeveen is a linear settlement typical of the reclaimed peat bogs: the land was reclaimed in regular patterns.
500 m on, at the road junction, go on toward Hilversum. Cycle on along this road for 2 km, to the village of ‘s-Graveland.
at the end of the road, you cross a bridge: stop here and look along the canal.
Like Ankeveen, ‘s-Graveland is also a linear village, built along a canal. In this case, the houses back onto the canal. The village was a favoured place to build country houses for the 17th-century elite of Amsterdam. The name means “the Count’s land”, the s-apostrophe is a relict genitive case, absent in modern Dutch.
from the bridge, go straight on into the narrow road beside nr 40A (Ankeveense Pad, no sign here).
the narrow road continues through fields – you may see storks here. At the end, turn right.
This road is slightly higher than the fields, which you just passed. Here it forms the landscape boundary, between the former peat bog, and the generally forested Gooi ridge.
after just 30 metres, turn off left, onto the cycle path, into the Spanderswoud nature reserve (Goois Natuurreservaat Spanderswoud).
cycle straight on through the wood.
The wood is on sand and gravel, with remnants of former sand dunes. West of the landscape boundary, in the early Middle Ages, there was nothing but bog, creeks and mud flats from here to Haarlem. The marshlands of Holland were one of the last areas in western Europe to be settled. The Gooi ridge is a glacial ridge pushed here by the Saalian Ice Front – the edge of the Scandinavian ice cap during the Saale ice age, about 200 000 years ago. The ridge extends to the Rhine at Rhenen: the section east of Utrecht is known as the Utrecht ridge, ‘Utrechtse Heuvelrug’.
the path ends at the edge of Hilversum: turn left along Bach laan.
30 km from Amsterdam
cycle along Bach laan: the Hilversum television tower is visible above the trees. It is part of the national broadcasting centre, now the privatised Mediapark.
stop where the road bends left. Turn right here, not left, into Bussumer grintweg (“gravel road to Bussum”). Follow the cycle route sign for junction 54, but check the street name sign. Don’t go into Kroon laan.
follow the signs, number 54 in a circle, through the upper-income areas of northern Hilversum. First along Bussumer grintweg, then left into Trompenberger weg, then left into Jacobus Penn weg.
at the circular water tower, cross the inner ring road of Hilversum, go straight on. The tower was built in 1893: this is the highest point in Hilversum, at 27 m.
turn next left, again following the number 54 sign, into Heuvel laan. Cycle on downhill.
at the end of this street, turn right into the Hoge Naarder weg, the ‘high road to Naarden’. This is a ‘cycle street’, with priority for cyclists.
pass (left) the yellow brick Hilversum Town Hall
The Town Hall is a prominent example of early 20th century Dutch architecture, by Willem Marinus Dudok. Hilversum expanded in the 1920’s and 1930’s, and has many examples of the architecture of the period. In the grassed open space is a small monument with sunflowers, for the 15 Hilversum victims of Flight MH17, shot down over Ukraine.
go straight on, over the red asphalt (indicating cycle priority). At the end of the open space, turn left along Melk pad, a one-way street with two cycle lanes.
pass (left) the St. Vitus Church. The road then bends right, past the recently reconstructed market square. The old building at the bend, originally a garage, has been rebuilt as a food hall, Mout.
after the bend, turn right at the boulders, into the wide street with shops, restaurants, and cafés. The street name is Groest, just Groest. If it is busy, you may have to step off your bike.
Groest is the old high street of Hilversum, which was only a small town, on the heaths of the Gooi ridge. It never received city rights, and for centuries sheep grazing and wool-working were the most important activities. Hilversum began to expand in the late 19th century, when the rail line from Amsterdam attracted wealthy commuters to the area. In the 1920’s and 1930’s, it became the centre of broadcasting in the Netherlands, and the economy is now dominated by the media and related sectors.
turn next left into Leeuwen straat: follow the pedestrian sign for ‘Station’. This street is a pedestrian zone.
at the end of Leeuwen straat is Hilversum station. Go straight on, on the cycle path, through the new cycle tunnel under the station.
on the other side, the cycle path climbs back to street level. Turn right here, into Kleine Drift.
go straight on along Kleine Drift. At the end, at the snackbar (nr. 104), turn left, along the wider street with two cycle lanes. Confusingly, this is also called Kleine Drift: there is no clear sign. Don’t turn into Lorentz weg, and don’t go into Ehrlich straat.
continue along this radial road. About 200 m further, as you pass the new housing, the name changes to Minckelers straat.
Hilversum to Baarn
continue along Minckelers straat, which follows an old road to Baarn. About 1500 m from the station, you reach a new housing development.
at the new houses with the yellow facade, go straight on: most traffic turns right. The yellow house should be on your right as you pass it. You are still on Minckelers straat.
after the last houses, the road stops suddenly. At the fence, go through the cattle grid/ gate, and turn left, onto an unsurfaced cycle path.
The road was relocated alongside the rail line, and this section was excavated and re-forested, which explains the sudden end to the road surface.
pass sports fields, and continue through half-open forest, still on the unsurfaced cycle path. Pass the third cattle grid, and turn right, back onto an asphalted road.
cross a busway, go under the A27 motorway viaducts, and immediately go onto the cycle path (to the left of the road).
cross the main road, and then turn left along the cycle path, follow cycle route sign 56. You are now back on the old road to Baarn, and you enter the Province of Utrecht.
37 km from Amsterdam
cycle on along this road, gradually leaving the wooded area: the more open landscape marks the edge of the Gooi ridge.
just before the open field on your right, turn right into Wildenburg laan (there is a pancake restaurant here). Follow the sign for cycle route junction 22.
go straight on, to the grounds of Groeneveld Castle. Pass the small car park, and then turn left along the unsurfaced cycle path, lined with trees.
ignore the next ’22’ sign, stay on this unsurfaced path, and cycle on past an ornamental lake.
at the end of the path, turn right. You are at the front of the ‘castle’, in fact an 18th-century country house. It is now a publicly-owned centre for nature and landscape.
at the castle gates, turn your back to the castle, and cycle away from it, along the tree-lined former avenue. At the end of the castle grounds, you can see the first buildings of Baarn.
cross the main road, and turn right along the cycle path. (This is a one-way path, and you are cycling the wrong way). Further on, you pass a small petrol station.
pass the petrol station forecourt, and immediately go through the gap in the fence, with a barrier to deter cyclists. (It is easy to miss this gate, look closely).
go straight on, away from the gate, along this road through Baarn – first it is called Van Heemstra laan, and then Eemnesser weg.
Baarn is built at the edge of the forested ridge. Since the coming of the railway, it has been an upper-income town, especially because of its association with the royal family. Soestdijk Palace is on the outskirts of Baarn, and ex-Queen Beatrix went to school here.
at the roundabout in front of the police station, turn right, into Nieuw Baarn straat.
at the shops, at Café De Karseboom and Domino’s Pizza, turn left into Laan straat, the old village street of Baarn.
continue along the Laan straat, but step off the bike during shopping hours. Food: shops, and supermarket at nr. 87.
at the end, at the square with the bandstand, go toward the HEMA store. In front of the HEMA, turn right, past Gall & Gall, and Etos.
43 km from Amsterdam
at the next corner, go straight on: follow the cycle sign for Amersfoort, onto Bos straat. Go on along Bos straat, cross Java laan, and go straight on along Ooster straat.
continue along Ooster straat, an old road out of Baarn. About 1 km further, the old houses stop. Go straight on, past repainted 1960’s flats: this is the low-income end of Baarn.
after the last block, at the corner of Ooster straat and Dotterbloem laan, turn right, onto the unsurfaced cycle path (beside the pond). Mind the ducks!
at the end of the path, go straight on, along Zuring laan.
at the end of this street, there is a cycle bridge on your left. Turn left, follow the sign for Amersfoort, and cross the small bridge, into open countryside.
Baarn to Amersfoort
cycle on along this road, Bremeentje. The Amsterdam – Amersfoort rail line is on your right, on the left is the open land of the reclaimed Eem delta.
The land was regularly flooded in historic times, although the Eem is a short river. Between the high ground of the Gooi/Utrecht ridge, and the high ground of the Veluwe, is a low-lying area, the Gelderse Vallei. A channel of the Rhine once flowed through here, and if the Rhine dike west of Wageningen broke, then the Rhine would again flow into the Eem, causing widespread flooding. Even earlier, before the Saalian glaciation, the river Maas flowed through the valley: the ice sheet deflected its course. (After Amersfoort, this route goes through the Gelderse Vallei, along its main drainage canal).
pass Grote Melm, a cluster of historic farmhouses on the bank of the Eem.
continue along the road parallel to the rail line. To the right is the village of Soest, built on the edge of higher ground. Occasionally visible ahead is the spire of the old Amersfoort cathedral, the Onze Lieve Vrouwe Toren.
The apartment tower (on the left) is the northern point of Amersfoort. The city extends north-south, and you are looking at it ‘from the side.’ Because of its visibility, the Amersfoort spire was used as the centre point of the triangulation of the Netherlands. It is the true origin point of the national grid, located at 52° 09′ 22.178 north, and 5° 23′ 15.5 east.
further on, the road (now Hilhorst weg) turns away from the rail line, and then goes under a power line.
the road then turns back toward the railway line. At the end of this road, turn left into Amersfoort, through the industrial zone of Isselt.
go straight on to the traffic lights, and cross the main road (Amsterdamse weg), into Plataan straat.
go straight on, along Plataan straat. At the end, turn left along Soester weg (street name sign bent).
This is Soesterkwartier, a low-income neighbourhood built on the ‘wrong’ side of the Amersfoort railway yard and works.
just after nr 342, turn right, at the sign for Wagenwerkplaats. You enter the former railway works, now partly redeveloped.
This was the central workshop for construction and repair of goods wagons, opened in 1904. Modern railways use far fewer wagons, for the same amount of freight, and the works closed in 2000.
at nr. 310, turn left, then right, then left again, heading toward Amersfoort Station. Pass the former carriage shed, Rijtuigenloods, now an event centre.
after the P+R car park, go straight on, past the oval roundabout. You pass the rear entrance to Amersfoort Station (via an office building, so it doesn’t look like a station).
continue along the wide new street, Piet Mondriaan laan, past offices and new housing. (Piet Mondrian, pioneer of abstract art, was born in Amersfoort).
at the next large roundabout, go past the Pathé cinema, and turn off into Eem laan. Use the cycle path on the left-hand side of this street!
at the end of the cycle path, turn right along the quayside of the the River Eem. Pass right the new square (Eem plein), the centrepiece of the station-harbour redevelopment.
go under the railway bridge, pass the steps, immediately turn right, and make a U-turn to the bridge. There is a cycle bridge next to the tracks.
cross the cycle bridge over the Eem, with a good view of the Koppelpoort – a preserved late-mediaeval city gate. Near the gate is a weir, controlling the water level in the old city.
turn right, and go through the old city gate, under the coat of arms, into the historic centre of Amersfoort.
Amersfoort grew up around a ford on the river Eem, formerly called the Amer. The Eem is formed by five streams draining the Gelderse Vallei, which meet here. The ford was just east of the higher ground of the Gooi ridge, on the easiest route across the low ground, to the high ground of the Veluwe. The flow of the Eem was later diverted around the city to prevent flooding, and the water now flows through a modern drainage canal. It is fed by the Vallei kanaal, which this route later follows.
go along the canal, the old course of the Eem. This was the city’s harbour.
at the end go left, then right, onto the short Nieuwe weg. At the end of Nieuwe weg, turn left along Havik, a canal. Both sides are called Havik: you should be on the right bank – with the uneven house numbers.
go right from Havik into Lavendel straat. At the end of this street, you are at the main square, Hof.
about 55 km from Amsterdam
turn left, go past the church, into Zevenhuizen.
cross the Lange straat, the main street of Amersfoort, straight on into Nieuw straat.
Lange straat is the old main road from Utrecht to the eastern Netherlands and Hannover, the road which crossed the ford in the Eem.
at the end of Nieuw straat, turn left along Muurhuizen. The street is named for its wall houses built on the remains of a city wall.
Amersfoort was granted city rights in 1259, and the first circular city wall was completed around 1300. When the growing city built a new wall (in the 15th century), the old wall was ‘recycled’ as the rear wall of houses. That resulted in the circular street. The old city of Amersfoort was part of the Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht within the Holy Roman Empire. The territory of the Prince-Bishop – the Sticht – comprised the Nedersticht around the city of Utrecht, and the Oversticht (‘over’ the IJssel river). Later the Counts of Gelre/Geldern acquired the Veluwe region, cutting the Prince-Bishopric in two. The three territories gave rise to the modern provinces of Utrecht, Gelderland, and Overijssel.
stop at nr. 59, go into the archway beside this house. (The next house after nr 59 is numbered 99).
pass through the arch: it is recent, but the building dates from 1434. Cross the cobblestone bridge, over the former moat (of the early city wall).
from the footbridge, turn left and then right, into Sint Andries straat.
at the traffic lights, cross the Stads ring, the inner ring road of Amersfoort. Go almost straight on, into Heiligenberger weg, an old road out of Amersfoort to the south.
continue along the newer, wider, section of Heiligenberger weg, follow the cycle signs for Leusden. At Beethoven weg, cross to the right-hand side of the road, and continue.
follow this road, on out of Amersfoort, and over the A28 motorway. The wooded area after the motorway bridge is Heiligenberg itself, ‘Saints Hill’.
go straight on, and pass the country house Lockhorst (now offices). At the traffic lights turn left, into Burg de Beaufort weg: follow the cycle sign for Stoutenburg.
Through Leusden to the Vallei Kanaal
continue along Burg (Burgemeester) de Beaufort weg, into Leusden. This is the north end of the suburbanised village, the old village centre is further south.
cross Groene Zoom, and go straight on. At the end of Burgemeester de Beaufort weg, at the crossing with Zwarte weg, go slightly right, and then straight on, to the new shops, 100 m ahead.
go straight on, between the new apartments and shops. Last shops for 20 km! You cycle on onto Ashchatter weg, go straight on.
at traffic lights, cross Midden weg, and continue along Ashchatter weg, to exit Leusden. After the last houses, cross the new cycle bridge.
50 m further, turn right along Kanaal weg, the canalside road.
This is the Vallei kanaal – the main drainage canal of the Gelderse Vallei. It drains into the Eem at Amersfoort (north of the historic centre).
Along the Vallei Kanaal to Veenendaal
from here you follow the Vallei Kanaal for about 12 km, to the Utrecht- Arnhem rail line. Be careful crossing the roads that intersect the cycle path.
The present version of the canal was built in the 1930’s, but it was originally cut between 1473 en 1481, under David of Burgundy, son of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy. He was Bishop of Utrecht from 1456 to 1496. The canal was earlier known as the Grift or Grebbe, the name ‘Vallei Kanaal’ is recent. The opposite bank of the canal appears to be higher, but in fact the ground level is the same on both sides. This section of canal was fortified in the 1930’s, by building a raised bank with bunkers. That upgraded an older defensive line, the Grebbelinie, first built in the 18th century. It was an inundation defence line on the flank of the Utrecht ridge, flooding the land to the east of the Grift in wartime. (The land on your left, about 3 m above sea level). The Grebbelinie saw heavy fighting in 1940, during the German invasion of the Netherlands. Parts were briefly refortified by German forces in 1945, as Allied forces advanced from the east. The inundation zone was kept free of buildings, to provide a clear field of fire, and it is still relatively open landscape. The Gelderse Vallei is an area of intensive pig and poultry farming – and a stronghold of orthodox-Calvinist Protestantism.
6 km along the canal, pass a weir with fish ladder.
The water flows towards Amersfoort, you are cycling slowly uphill (about 6 m rise from Amersfoort to Wageningen). The tree-lined raised road (left) is a compartmentalisation dike – for dividing sections of inundated land in wartime.
continue along the canal, and then cross a main road (N224).
continue along the canalside path. About 9 km along the canal is cycle route junction 81, at the crossing with Nieuw straat. Behind the stone cone is a grassed area with benches, a good place to stop and rest.
continue along the canal. After cycle sign nr 24235, the asphalted canalside cycle path ends. Turn right over the bridge here, follow number 22.
after 200 m turn left, along De Steeg, again follow number 22 (look out for the sign). This road runs parallel to the canal.
at the end of this road, you are at the rail line Utrecht – Arnhem, the main line to Germany (opened 1845). Turn left, follow number 23.
go on 500 m, until the end of this road. Turn right here, cross the rail line, using the cycle path. Then turn left along Parallel weg – as the name implies, it runs parallel to the railway.
after 2 km alongside the railway, the road goes uphill: stop at the crest of the hill, at the bench. This is the Emminkhuizer berg – an isolated glacial feature.
Although it is only 22 m high, and about 15 m above the surrounding land, the ‘hill’ at Emminkhuizen is the only high ground in the Gelderse Vallei. It was settled early, partly because it was safe from flooding. Stand in front of the bench, and you can see the higher ground on both sides of the valley.
75 km from Amsterdam
after the hill, the road turns away from the rail line: don’t turn onto the narrow cycle path here. Continue along the road, which turns south toward Veenendaal, bends again, and goes under the motorway.
after the motorway, pass (left) a garden with wallabies and deer, and turn next left, into Munniken weg.
after 100 m, you are in Veenendaal, and again cycling alongside the old valley canal. This section is still called the Grift, the oldest name.
Through Veenendaal, back to the Vallei Kanaal
continue straight on along Munniken weg, for more than 1 km. At traffic lights, cross the west ring road of Veenendaal. About 100 m after these traffic lights, turn first right into Dahlia straat.
cycle downhill along Dahlia straat, and just before the supermarket, turn left along Panhuis. Food: in the supermarket, or 5 minutes later in the town centre.
cycle straight on along Panhuis, further on it is called Zand straat. This is the old east-west road into Veenendaal, and it takes you to the town centre.
in the centre, go straight on, through the small square. Hoofdstraat – the main street – is on your right.
about 80 km from Amsterdam
at the end of the pedestrianised street, just before the roundabout, go on to the cycle path (at the boulders). Don’t go around the roundabout, stay on ‘Verlaat’. Check the street name sign, on the new block, at the boulders.
go straight on away from the centre, along Verlaat, and then along Vallei straat. They form a long straight road, out of Veenendaal.
at the end, at the blocks of flats, follow the signs for Wageningen, and go through the cycle underpass tunnel.
turn left at the end of the tunnel, cycle sign for Wageningen. You are now cycling alongside the Vallei Kanaal, again.
Veenendaal to Wageningen
continue along the canal, pass under the ring road, and cycle out of Veenendaal. This section of canal is called ‘Bisschop Davids grift’.
at Meent dijk, the road turns away from the canal. At the next crossroads, turn right, back towards the canal (toward junction 27).
back at the canal, cross the bridge, and immediately turn left, follow the cycle sign for number 27.
continue alongside the canal, at first on a farm access road, and then a narrow cycle path. Go on through open country, for 2 km.
The land on the left was open fields until 2019, but it is being redeveloped as an ecological park, the Binnenveldse Hooilanden.
at cycle route junction 27, turn left across the bridge, and leave the canal behind you. Follow the sign for junction 2.
The canal forms the provincial boundary here, and you enter the Province of Gelderland.
about 1 km further, you reach a T-junction. Turn right along Veen steeg, follow the sign for junction 13.
cycle 3 km along Veen steeg, a long straight road with one bend: the last section is now a cycle path.
This was a beautiful tree-lined rural road (see image), but many were felled, and only the last section retains the old trees. From here you can see the high ground on both sides of the the Gelderse Vallei (Rhenen and Wageningen). The valley is about 8 km wide here, but although the Rhine flowed through it, it is not an Urstromtal. The valley floor was not cut: the high ground on both sides was raised by glacial action.
at the end, just before the bridge, turn left along the tree-lined canal. You now enter Wageningen – home of Wageningen University.
Through Wageningen to the Rhine ferry
at the end of this road, turn right. Use the cycle path, not the access road. The cycle path runs parallel to the Wageningen ring road.
continue alongside the ring road, for about 1 km. Cross the N225 (the main east-west road). Stay on this side of the ring road, now using a parallel access road, along new apartments.
continue to the Hoogvliet supermarket. Food: in the supermarket, and 2 minutes later in the town centre.
in front of the supermarket, turn left along Troelstra weg. Cross the ring road (narrower here), and go straight on across a bridge, into the town centre. This street is called Wal straat.
The bridge crosses the old city moat: the line of the bastions has been restored here. The line of the city walls and bastions is still visible on a map, forming a rectangle. Wageningen is built at a strategic position, where the western edge of the Veluwe ridge meets the Lower Rhine. It controls the old highway, from Utrecht to Arnhem via Rhenen. The town was fortified in the Middle Ages, as the western outpost of the Duchy of Geldern (Gelre in Dutch, see map). The Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht, across the Gelderse Vallei, was a rival of Geldern. Three of the ‘quarters’ of Geldern became part of the Netherlands in the 17th century, and form the modern Province of Gelderland. (The fourth ‘quarter’ is now divided between the Province of Limburg and Nordrhein-Westfalen).
after the bridge, go on straight along Wal straat, past the memorial sculpture (on your right). Don’t turn left into Plantsoen.
200 m after the bridge, turn left into Hoog straat. Step off your bike during shopping hours.
continue along Hoog straat (high street), the main shopping street of Wageningen, but also the old highway to Arnhem.
The historic centre of Wageningen was largely destroyed in May 1945, as Canadian forces advanced toward the western Netherlands. (The Ruhr was surrounded first, and then a part of the Allied armies turned north-west to enter the Netherlands).
go straight on. At the end of Berg straat, just after the last shops, pass Hotel De Wereld, site of the Surrender at Wageningen.
Since the 1950’s, Dutch schoolchildren have learnt about the dramatic events here on May 5th 1945: Generaloberst Blaskowitz surrenders the German forces in the Netherlands to the Canadian General Foulkes and to Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands. Ending five years of German occupation, the surrender at Wageningen is remembered as effecting the liberation of the Netherlands. The only problem is, it never happened: all German forces in the Netherlands and northwest Germany had already surrendered to Field Marshal Montgomery, on the previous day. Both Foulkes (who later became Chairman of the Canadian Chiefs of Staff) and Prince Bernhard (who was originally German, and needed a patriotic image) later promoted the myth of the “surrender at Wageningen”.
from the small square in front of Hotel de Wereld, turn right into Veer straat. (There is no street name sign, go right of the statue).
Veer straat, ‘ferry street’, is the old road to the ferry over the Lower Rhine.
at nr 19 go left: this is still Veer straat.
at the end of Veer straat, continue along Veer weg. Follow the sign (with the ferry icon) for Zetten.
Veer weg is the exact edge of the Veluwe ridge, where it meets the flood plain of the Lower Rhine. The road is under water during major floods. The Nederrijn or Lower Rhine is one of the the two main channels of the Rhine, which splits as it enters the Netherlands. The other is the Waal – which this route crosses later at Nijmegen. Together with the Maas they form the main river barriers between the north and south of the Netherlands. There was no land route between north and south until 1868 (rail line from Utrecht to ‘s-Hertogenbosch).
continue along this road, at the edge of the fields. About 200 m after the last houses, turn right along Veer dam, to the Rhine ferry, Lexkesveer.
The ferry here exists since the Middle Ages, perhaps replacing an earlier ford. The river bank may not be in exactly the same place, but in Roman times this was the main channel of the Rhine, forming the boundary of the Roman Empire or Limes Germanicus.
about 95 km from Amsterdam
Through the Betuwe
cross the Nederrijn by the ferry: you are now in the Betuwe – the island flood plain between the two main Rhine channels.
It takes its name from the tribe of the Batavians – the location and the tribe are mentioned in Caesar’s Commentarii de Bello Gallico.
go on from the ferry, to the main river dike.
The land outside the dike – the uiterwaarden – is flooded when river level is high. The Rhine peak flow is in the spring, fed by melting snow in the Alps. The road from the ferry landing to the main dike obstructed the flow, and it has been replaced by a bridge.
at the main dike, first go straight on (road sign for Zetten). As you go down from the dike, turn right, into Hemmense straat. Follow the cycle route sign for junction 53.
cycle on through the fields. About 3 km from the ferry, you pass a park on the left, with a small lake. There are benches at the lake, a good place to stop and rest.
In the park are the ruins of Hemmen castle, and its restored herb garden. The castle was destroyed during the Second World War – the Betuwe was a front-line during the winter of 1944-1945, after the failure to seize Arnhem.
just after the park, turn left into Hemmen, along Molen straat.
at the church, turn right into Dorps straat, go past the church, and pass through the small village.
Hemmen is an early-mediaeval settlement, built on an ‘oeverwal’ – the raised bank of a former Rhine channel. It was formerly a small municipality, with its own town hall/post office, at Dorps straat 9-10. All the villages in the area, and the former castles, are on similar low ridges: some farms are built on a terp. Until the river dikes were built, the Rhine regularly flooded most of the region. This eastern half of the Betuwe, known as the Overbetuwe, was inhabited by Romanised Batavians in the Roman Empire: a temple and a Roman road were found at Elst, 11 km east of here. The area is now a single municipality, also called Overbetuwe.
towards the end of the village, the road bends right. Just after the bend, turn next left along Zettense pad, the path to Zetten.
at the end of this path, go straight on past the primary school, and then turn right, along the village street of Zetten.
go on through Zetten, passing the shops in the centre of the village. Food: baker, cafetaria and supermarket.
go straight on, past Wilhelmina plein (with a monument). Go straight on, along Stations straat. Further on, there is a cycle path alongside the road.
after the village, where the road bends left, go straight on, along the cycle path, until you reach the railway line.
at the rail line, turn left, past the small station of Zetten-Andelst. Then turn right across the rail line, at the level crossing.
This line, opened 1882, once carried international trains, but got left behind when traffic was concentrated on main lines between cities. It is now known as the ‘old Betuwe line’, to distinguish it from the new one. It is served by a local passenger service, from Tiel to Arnhem.
go straight on, and cycle uphill to cross the new rail line, the Betuweroute
The new Betuwe line is a purpose-built rail freight line, starting in the Rotterdam port zone. It connects near Zevenaar to the main line to the Ruhr.
cross the A15 motorway: it also runs from Rotterdam to Germany. Go straight on, toward Andelst.
stay on this road, which by-passes Andelst. Don’t turn off into the village itself. About 1 km after the motorway, pass the former town hall, an ugly two-story building with a spire.
300 m after the old town hall (at nr. 178), turn right onto Waal straat (sign missing). Follow the cycle sign for Nijmegen, but don’t turn into Rozen straat.
cycle on out of the village, and on towards the motorway embankment.
at the end of Waal straat, you are on the dike of the river Waal, beside the motorway bridge (north-south A50 motorway). The bridge is named after the Roman historian Tacitus, who first described the region
Along the Waal dike to Nijmegen
turn left under the motorway: you now cycle 10 km along the Waal dike, to the Nijmegen cycle bridge, passing the uninhabited flood plain, with some lakes.
The dike has been completely reconstructed in the last few years. It had already been reconstructed two decades ago, but climate change means that the earlier improvements are now insufficient, so the dike was enlarged again.
4 km along the dike, pass the small white church of Slijk-Ewijk, now an art gallery (Galerie 1400) There is a bench on the dike, where you can stop to rest.
cycle on along the reconstructed dike: you can’t always see the river. Pass the suburbanised village of Oosterhout. Across the river you can see a container terminal, and the lock gates of the Maas-Waal Canal.
pass new housing, and then go under Nijmegen’s second road bridge, opened 2013. Use the cycle path.
just after the new bridge, pass a war memorial for the United States 82nd Airborne Division, and other Allied forces.
They crossed the Waal here during the Battle of Arnhem on 20 September 1944. The new bridge (De Oversteek) is named after the crossing. The monument lists the names of US soldiers killed in action here: remember it, when you get to Zyfflich.
pass (right) a recently excavated flood relief channel. Continue toward the railway bridge: behind it is a cycle bridge, but you can’t see it yet.
go under the railway viaduct: stay on the road. Don’t use the waterside path. On the other side of the viaduct, look right: there is a stepped metal ramp, up to the cycle bridge.
go up these steps, and cross the cycle bridge over the Waal. Ahead is the historic waterfront of Nijmegen.
Through Nijmegen
from the bridge, continue along the elevated cycle path. About 300 m from the bridge, you cross a road leading to the historic centre of Nijmegen with the St. Steven’s Church.
This is the old highway into the city, possibly since Roman times. Nijmegen is a Roman city – Ulpia Noviomagus Batavorum – and might be the oldest city in the Netherlands, although Maastricht also claims that title. Later it was a Frankish and Carolingian centre, and a mediaeval trading city. From the Roman period only archaeological traces survive, and many older buildings were destroyed by bombing and shelling in 1944, but the city still has around 700 historic buildings. Since the late 19th century the city has expanded, especially since the opening of the (originally Catholic) university, in 1923. Nijmegen is built on the northern slope of a glacial ridge, where it meets the Rhine flood-plain.
continue past the blue office building, the regional police headquarters. When you reach the street, turn left, and pass three identical apartment blocks. (This is Stieltjes straat, but there is no sign here).
at the next corner, again turn left, follow number 20. Use the cycle path, alongside Kronenburger Park.
In the park is a mediaeval defensive tower, and remnants of the city walls.
at the corner of the park, turn right, and then continue into the pedestrianised street, Lange Hezel straat. Don’t turn into Park weg.
go uphill, along the Lange Hezel straat and the Stikke Hezel straat. This is the old road to the centre, which you saw from the elevated cycle path. Food: restaurants, bars, patat, and a small supermarket. After Nijmegen, you pass no more shops.
pass through the Grote Markt, the historic central square of Nijmegen. Behind it on your left is the 13th-century St Steven’s Church.
120 km from Amsterdam
go on along the Burcht straat, now the main shopping street, passing at nr. 20 the restored Stadhuis (city hall, 1555).
go straight on, past the open space at Kelfkensbos, past the blue facade of the city’s Valkhof Museum, which is closed for renovation
100 m after the museum building, turn left into the park behind it, at the snackbar/kiosk Hunnerpark (follow a pedestrian sign for Hunnerpark/Belvedere). The kiosk should be on your right, as you enter the park.
go on along the footpath, in front of the city wall – this is the longest intact section. Nijmegen was heavily fortified for most of its history. In this small park, Hunnerpark, you can stop to rest.
go left through the gap in the city wall, under the small arched bridge. Then turn right along the footpath, to the Belvedere tower – now a restaurant.
go up to the platform, with an excellent view of the Rhine flood plain.
This was once a defensive tower, at the point where the plateau slopes down to the river. Across the flood plain you can see Arnhem. It is built, like Nijmegen, at the edge of the glacial ridge. It was all formed as one ridge, and the Rhine originally ran north from the Rhine Gorge, and did not even flow here. Diverted by the ice in the last Ice Age, the river flew east, and it cut through the older glacial ridge. Until the Middle Ages, the Rhine flood plain was occupied by meandering channels over its entire width, here about 15 km. When the rivers were enclosed by dikes, the present double channel was fixed. Below the tower is the 1936 Waal road bridge, a main target of Operation Market Garden in 1944.
to leave Nijmegen, you must go downhill, and under the Waal bridge. From the Belvedere tower, go back along the footpath, but keep to the right, and pass the Museum entrance.
continue along the right-hand edge of the square (with the wooden benches). Construction work: renovation of the open space is planned, you may have to go around it.
at the end of the open space/square, make a U-turn right, and go downhill: follow the sign for Waal kade parking.
approaching the river, go right, and under the Waal bridge viaduct: the road then turns to the right again.
300 m after the bridge, turn left onto the Ooyse dijk, follow the cycle sign for the LF3 route, and for junction 48.
pass the 1933 German-Dutch pumping station, and immediately turn right, into Dijkgraaf van Wijck weg, alongside the drainage canal.
Through the Rhine flood plain to Germany
cycle on along the drainage canal. On your left is the reclaimed flood plain of the Rhine, on your right the wooded edge of the Nijmegen plateau.
The Netherlands’ section of the flood plain is called the Ooij Polder. The river dikes never protected the area entirely, and it was often flooded when dikes broke. In the 1990’s, plans were made to use the entire area as a flood retention basin, sacrificing it to save more populated areas downstream. Since the Netherlands can only use its own territory in this way, a large new dike would be built along the border. Earlier, in the 1950’s, the Ooij polder was planned for defensive inundation, in case of a Soviet invasion (source De Ooijpolder: een tragisch paradijs).
after 2500 m, the road turns away from the canal. After another 100 m, there is a crossroads. Turn right here, toward the church, into Persingense straat: follow the sign for junction 63.
pass through Persingen, the ‘smallest village in the Netherlands’. On the right at the church, there is a picnic bench where you can stop to rest.
Persingen is built on higher ground, a donk – former river dunes formed during the last ice age, the Weichsel glaciation.
700 m after Persingen, at the St. Hubertus weg, turn right, sign for Beek.
after 600 m, before you reach the traffic lights, turn left into Alde Wetering weg, follow the signs for ‘Wylerbergmeer’, and junction 64.
continue along Alde Wetering weg, passing two dogleg bends. At the large sheds, turn left, go toward junction 66.
pass sports fields, on your right. Pass the entrance to Wylerbergmeer recreational area, and go straight on, along the concrete cycle path.
pass a lake on the right: this is the ‘Wylerbergmeer’ itself. You pass two small gates here, access to the park.
just after these gates, cross a concrete bridge. Immediately after the bridge, turn right, along a rough clay/gravel track. Follow the new cycle sign for Zyfflich.
There was a map on the corner for a commemorative route: this was the front line in the winter of 1944-1945, with much destruction on both sides of the border.
after 500 m on this unsurfaced road, you reach a grassed dike, about 2 m high. It is called Querdamm, transverse dike. The name is in German, because this is the border with Germany.
There is a border marker on the right: 641A. The border with Germany is open, under the Schengen Agreement, and permanent border controls have disappeared, except for freight traffic. There are random checks by police near border crossings, and occasionally at the border itself.
go straight on: after the border the road is surfaced. It is called ‘Zum Querdamm’. The houses along this road form the village of Zyfflich.
Like Persingen, Zyfflich is built on an east-west ridge in the flood plain, about 5 m higher than the land on either side. It may have been settled in Roman times.
at the fork with the cross, keep left, along Zum Querdamm.
after 2 km, you enter the ‘centre’ of Zyfflich: the bar (Haus Polm), the church, the village hall, some benches on the grassed space, and maps of cycle routes beside them.
The village is part of the Gemeinde Kranenburg and all shops and services are in Kranenburg itself. (It is a small historic town on the Nijmegen-Kleve road, about 7 km away). Zyfflich is known locally, as the place where storks returned to the Lower Rhine, in 1996. The stork was once common here, but had disappeared during the first half of the 20th century. The pioneer stork, which nested at Zyfflich in 1996, apparently died during the cold winter of 2010-2011, but there are now several nests in the region. The nest at Zyfflich also has new inhabitants. If you stop at the benches, facing Haus Polm, then the nest is behind the trees, about 100 m to your left. Occasionally, you might see a stork on the grassed open space.
go to the church to see the war memorial with the names of the local dead.
You are in another country, with a different history. These were ‘the enemy’ for the Dutch, but many have Dutch names, and would have had relatives across the border. Like so many borders in Europe, it divided an older regional cultural unity.
you are 131 km from the Dam in Amsterdam – from here you turn back to Nijmegen.
Back to Nijmegen
to return, go back back along Zum Querdamm, starting beside the benches.
go back through the gap in the dike (Querdamm), across the border, onto the unsurfaced road. When you reach the asphalted cycle path, turn left, cycle sign for Nijmegen.
go over the bridge, and on along the cycle path. Go on past the sport fields.
at the next corner, at cycle route junction 64, turn left. Here you leave the outward route, to take the shortest route route back to Nijmegen.
at the end of the road/path, turn right through the underpass, follow number 61. About 20 m after the underpass tunnel, even before you reach street level, turn left, toward the bus stop. At the bus stop with cycle rack, turn left, alongside the main road to Nijmegen.
pass the traffic lights, and continue alongside the main road, partly on cycle path, and partly on parallel roads.
Even when you are almost in central Nijmegen, there are few buildings. The road is at the foot of the ridge, with the flood plain on the right-hand side.
at the end of the parallel road, at the two No Entry signs, follow the cycle path across the main road. The path then turns, to continue alongside the road.
continue uphill, alongside the main road, using a cycle lane. You should be cycling on the right of the road: using the lane on the other side is dangerous.
at the top of the hill, you are back at the city centre, opposite Hunnerpark. Cross the main road, go left at the edge of the park, and and go around the road junction, onto the inner ring road – St. Canisius singel. Follow the cycle signs for Venlo.
continue along this wide road (St. Canisius singel and Oranje singel), to a very large roundabout (Keizer Karel plein).
go to the right, around the roundabout, to the corner with the theatre. Turn right as you pass the theatre building, and then pass the entrance to the underground car park ‘Keizer Karel’.
at the end of this street, 10 km from Zyfflich, is Nijmegen station, the end point of this route.
Amsterdam cycle routes 
